Typical Green in the Fall!
"...so I climb the cliffs and walk back among the strangely carved rocks of the Green River bad lands. These are sandstones and shales, gray and buff, red and brown, blue and black strata in many alternations, lying nearly horizontal, and almost without soil and vegetation. They are very friable, and the rain and streams have carved them into quaint shapes. Barren desolation is stretched before me; and yet there is a beauty in the scene. The fantastic carvings, imitating architectural forms and suggesting rude but weird statuary, with the bright and varied colors of the rocks, conspire to make a scene such as the dweller in verdure-clad hills can scarcely appreciate.
Standing on a high point, I can look off in every direction over a vast landscape, with salient rocks and cliffs glittering in the evening sun. Dark shadows are settling in the valleys and gulches, and the heights are made higher and the depths deeper by the glamour and witchery of light and shade. Away to the south the Uinta Mountains stretch in a long line, -high peaks thrust into the sky, and snow fields glittering like lakes of molten silver, and pine forests in somber green, and rosy clouds playing around the borders of huge, black masses; and heights and clouds and mountains and snow fields and forests and rocklands are blended into one grand view. Now the sun goes down, and I return to camp."
J.W. Powell, May 24, 1869
The Day BEFORE the Trip
It is highly suggested that you arrive in Moab at least the day before our trip. (ahhhh, for the location challenged, that is Moab, Utah, duh...) At that time we will go through everyone's gear to consolidate gear like stoves, etc., and you will be able to visit grocery stores and the like after we meet. Our meeting and camping place will be:
Moab Valley RV & Campark 1773 North Hwy 191, (435) 259-4469. The camp is located north of town at the intersection of SR 128 and SR 191. The town of Moab is located south off of I-70 on State Road 191. There are numerous ways to get there and it is up to you to plan, where you're coming from. Most likely get to I-70 towards the town of Green River, Utah! (From the east, there is the Cisco turnoff from I-70 that winds through the beautiful countryside and brings you into Moab. This is State Road 128.) GPS: Lat. 38deg 35min Long. 109deg 33min; elevation: 4,021feet.
DAY 1
Meet at Tex Riverways, our Outfitter, at 8:00 am. We have a short meeting about canoeing and the river. Pay all outstanding fees, if any. Buy lots of Tex River paraphernalia. Load bus and trailer with gear and leave vehicles/keys with Outfitter. Drive about an hour or so to our put-in spot, Mineral Bottoms. We will travel down an old trail, Horsethief Trail Road. The dirt road is generally flat until we get near the river. Then we drop down approximately 550 feet with switchbacks in less than a mile, (pucker factor 7). Once at the bottom, we unload bus and trailer, pack the canoes and push off. It will be around noon or so. We will travel about 7 miles and stop at Horsethief Canyon, mile marker 45.5. This stretch of river will take us from BLM land onto Canyonlands National Park property.
