After a restful night in a screened in cabin at Sand Wash, we awoke to a less than blazing sunny day. It was still warm, and the water was warm, but we wouldn't be frying.
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| Sunup
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We rigged up and got checked out by the river ranger. While loading up we saw a great blue heron, a beaver on the far bank (a surprise in the middle of the day), and a wild horse on top of the bluff opposite the launch area.
We parked the trucks where they would be picked up and shuttled to the take-out for us by River Runners' Transport, then shoved off. The current was lethargic; the water warm; the weather hot. The really good news was that the mosquitos were non-existent.
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| Rigging | Camden Loading Lifejackets |
The first order of business was to make sure the boys were comfortable in the water. Lathum jumped in and had a grand time frolicking around, but Camden was a little unsure of this whole floating-in-the-water thing.
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| Camden Confidence Building |
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The topo map shows a fairly narrow side-canyon at about mile 93. There aren't many narrow side canyons on this part of the river, so we decided to explore it.
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| Side Canyon at Mile 93 | ||
Camden is destined to be a herpetoligist, and from the moment we spied our first lizard he was in hot pursuit.
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| Xxx Lizard |
The canyon is littered with huge flat sandstone slabs which looked as if they had been quarried but weren't.
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| Tall Slabs | ||
| Randy | Camden | Joni Measuring Camden |
At one point I glanced up and got a cold chill. Hanging above me were two large chunks of rock. They had already broken loose, and were held tenuously by a slight pinch from their neighbors. It looked as if one freeze-thaw cycle or the vibration of a sonic boom was all it would take to let them loose.
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| Widow Makers | |
We were fascinated by how nature's randomness produces amazing art, like a stick figure trapped in a wide spot in a crack. When I see something like that I wonder if maybe someone else is having a little fun. No matter, it was cool.
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| Stick Art | |
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| Looking Out to the Green River |
We found one or two blue-tailed lizards as well as the other more common brown ones. Those blue-tailed guys are fast! We never did catch one. I don't know what the proper name for any of the lizards / skinks we saw are. We found a few frogs which of course we had to catch.
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| Blue Tailed Lizard | |
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| Frog |
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| Randy in the Donut
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Randy and Lathum in the Ducky
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| Lathum in the Ducky
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We had gotten a late-ish start and spent time poking around the side canyon, so we didn't make as many miles as we had planned. But sandbars are abundant in this part of the river, and we picked a sandy island at mile 86 to relax for the night. We were treated to a great sunset as we unloaded and started dinner.
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| Camp at Mile 86 | |
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| Camden
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Camden Long Jumping
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Diana had done all the meal planning and shopping. We each suggested two dinners and anything else that seemed like a good idea; we cooked in teams of two. I was on the first night with help from Diana; we fixed a stir fry and my favorite apple-cherry-raisin pie turned into a cobbler. It came out great, thanks to charcoal-cooking in the dutch oven. The magic ratio for a dutch oven is 2:1 — meaning twice as many briquettes on top as on the bottom. We used 14 on top and 7 on the bottom for everything in our 12" oven, and it all came out perfect.
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| Cherry Apple Raisin Cobbler
No bisquick on top yet... |
We ate dinner while watching the golden sun recede from the canyon heights.
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| Evening Clouds | Sunset |
Next: Swimming Lessons and Petroglyphs
This page last updated on 2016-09-16.
