Whitewater_Adventure's Blog

Last week, I had the opportunity to go on a 4-day trip with the folks of Adventure Bound USA. The company’s owner contacted me a few weeks back and said "You have to try one of our trips." How could I resist? So I put aside some time, and made the decision to go. I was a little nervous, because I was going on a 4-day trip alone, without knowing anyone. But it was a chance I was willing to take, all in the name of research, right? I had no idea what kind of people was going to be on the trip. I packed up my bags on a Friday afternoon, and headed to Steamboat Springs, the meeting spot.

Day 1

The plan was to meet at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and leave from Steamboat and drive 3 hours west, to the Gates of Lodore, our put-in spot. The staff was very helpful. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I had to pack all of my belongings in a dry pack. Before this trip, I had never even used a dry pack before. All my trips that I had done were no more than 1-day. I immediately connected with one family, who actually ended up being the family of one of the raft guides. After talking briefly with them, and explaining why I was on the trip, they accepted me into their circle. I totally felt like one of the cool kids. After everyone finished packing, we hopped into the van and headed west. I had never seen northwestern Colorado before. The mountains disappeared and everything looked very dry. We made a couple of stops along the way. Within a couple of hours, we were to our destination, the fabulous Gates of Lodore. It was beautiful. The walls were huge!

When we arrived, the raft guides were waiting on us. We immediately got to work. They hooked us up with life jackets and helmets and went through the safety speech. At that time, everyone in the group had to make the decision whether they wanted to sit on a raft or ducky down the river(yes I'm using "ducky" as a verb). For those of you who don’t know the term "ducky". It’s basically a one or two person raft, also known as an inflatable kayak. I had never done it before, but I was ready to give it a try. I partnered up with a girl named Meagan, who also never duckied before. Now it was time to hit the river. Now get this, in order to ducky, you had to flip the ducky and get back into it without anyone’s help. I was terrified. I knew I couldn’t get back into a raft on my own, so I was worried I was going to have the same issue with the ducky. We weren’t on the river but 10 minutes, before we had to prove we could do it. Thankfully, I had no problems, other than looking like a beached whale. Everyone passed the test.

For most of the morning, we rafted calm waters, before stopping for lunch. By the way, all of the meals on the trip were awesome. After a quick lunch, we jumped back on the river. As the day went along, the river got wilder. Our first rapid was called Disaster Falls. We stopped and scouted the rapid before doing it. After taking a look at it, I decided maybe I should sit this one out. The rapid was very technical. It was very important to be able to maneuver between rocks, because there were a lot of them. In a ducky, the last thing you want to do is hit a rock. So they deflated my ducky, and I hopped in a raft. The rapid seemed like a piece of cake, in a raft. That’s because they rafts are huge, and packed with everyone’s things.

After Disaster Falls, we weren’t too far from our campsite. We camped at an area, called Pot Creek. It was a nice little area, with a good beach and lots of room. We all set up our tents and relaxed a bit.

The crew prepared our dinner and we sat around the campfire, drank adult beverages and we all got to know each other. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. By the time 9:30 rolled around, it was time for me to go to bed. I was exhausted. We rafted 8.5 miles.

Day 2

On the second day, we all woke up to a nicely prepared breakfast, pancakes and bacon. Yum! This day was our shortest day of the trip. We were only going to raft about 5 miles or so, but we were going to encounter a lot more rapids. There were three rapids we scouted; Harp Falls, Triplet Falls & Hell’s Half Mile. On each rapid, I chose to sit in a raft. I wasn’t confident enough to ducky the rapid. I am pretty confident I could have done them, but I was too much of a wimp. Just like the rapid the day before, these rapids were also very technical. There were a lot of rocks, and you had to be able to turn quickly.

Hell’s Half Mile was the biggest rapid of them all. When we came up on it, a raft from another company was stuck on a rock. I had the pleasure of watching them pull the raft off the rock. I just wish I could have seen it when they got stuck. Hehe. Anyhow, Hell’s Half Mile also had a few pour-overs, which you want to avoid. I decided to get on the first boat that was going through the rapid, that way I could see all of the other rafts and duckies come through. Everyone made it through the rapid just fine. A couple of the duckies, however, went over the pour-overs, the one place they needed to avoid. But all was well and the adrenaline was high. After Hell’s Half Mile, it was time to head to our campsite, called Rippling Brook. This campsite was awesome. It had a perfect swimming hole. As we set up our tents, our raft guides put together a few duckies and made us the coolest obstacle course. The duckies were turned upside down, and the trick was to run across them as far as you could, without falling. Let’s just say I didn’t make it past ducky #2. But it sure was fun trying. Several of the campers joined in on the fun. Even the raft guides did it. After eating lunch, we went for a hike. If you ever do this trip, my recommendation…WEAR GOOD SHOES. It’s a fairly steep hike, up to a small waterfall. The waterfall was refreshing for those who decided to get underneath it. I, on the other hand, wanted to stay dry. On the hike back down to camp, I took a pretty good tumble and scraped up my arm. That, my friends, is why I recommend good shoes. Once we got back down to camp, it was time for dinner. The crew prepared a great meal, and I enjoyed another beautiful night around the campfire. This night, I stayed up late and got to know the crew a little better. They were awesome. We stayed up until about 1:00 a.m. and I got my butt beat at horseshoes, by one of the raft guides.

Day 3

I woke up very tired and it was an early morning. Breakfast was awesome. We all packed up and got on the river. On this day, I decided to ducky alone. I loved it. When you’re in a ducky by yourself, it’s a lot easier to control. It’s a lot more responsive. I duckied the entire day. We started the morning off with a few easy rapids. It wasn’t long until we hit very calm water. This was the point of our trip, when we noticed the surroundings started to change, from red cliffs to limestone. The water also changed. That’s because the Yampa and Green Rivers combine. On the last couple of days, the river was an amazing green color; I am assuming that’s why it’s called the Green River. When it joins the Yampa, it turns Brown, because of mud. All of the water from the Yampa comes from snowmelt. Water in the Green River is released from The Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Right where the Yampa joins the Green, there’s a huge wall, in an area called Echo Canyon. It’s called Echo Canyon, because you can yell and hear your echo up to a dozen times. And we definitely tested it out. Echo Canyon then turns into Whirlpool Canyon. They call it this, because the water is moving in so many different directions. That's where we stopped for a quick lunch. Once we got back on the river, we only had 3 miles until our campsite. On the way, we encountered a couple of rapids. They were small, but had some good waves with them. We also crossed over into Utah. Our campsite was called Jones Creek. That’s because there’s a creek that flows straight into the Green River. We put up our tents, and then took a long hike along the creek. The hike, roundtrip was 4 miles. And once again, I was wishing I had brought better shoes. The hike is not strenuous. It takes you alongside Jones Creek, to a waterfall called "Butt plug falls."(That’s seriously what they call it.) They call it this, because you’re able to plug it with your bottom. And when you unplug it, the water will douse the person standing underneath it. It is really cool. Also nearby, you can hike to an area and see pictographs and petro glyphs left behind by the Fremont Indians. It’s pretty cool. And on the way back to camp, there’s an area in Jones Creek called the Jacuzzi. It’s a place in the creek you can get in and soak your feet. When we got back to the campsite, there was plenty of time to clean-up while the crew prepared our final dinner, Steak. This meal was my favorite. We were all exhausted from a very long day, and went to bed early. We had rafted 12 miles, plus hiked 4 miles. And the next morning, was going to be an early one.

Day 4

We woke up to our final breakfast. The fourth day was the hardest. We all were so exhausted. But after today, we were going home. I once again started the day off in a ducky. I duckied with Meagan. We hit one rapid they call Greasy Pliers rapid. This was a fun one, because there were some pretty big waves. We rafted about 5 miles, before hitting some major flat water. I mean, FLAT. This water was very dead and the mosquitoes were awful! Other than the mosquitoes, the trip for the next 5 miles was very calm. After the calm water, we drifted into Split Mountain. This was the final leg of our trip. Boohoo! At the beginning of Split Mountain, we stopped and scouted out a rapid called Moonshine. This rapid was unlike any other rapid we had encountered on the trip. This rapid actually looked like something you would see on the Arkansas River. There was a lot of water, and it was moving fast. Because I am a wimp, I decided not to ducky the rapid. I kind of regret that decision, because this rapid was very inviting. There were lots of big waves, which is exactly what I like.

But regardless, it was still fun in a raft. Shortly after, you hit a couple of more rapids, called S.O.B and Schoolboy. These rapids were very similar to Moonshine, just not near as big. But there were lots of big waves. We stopped for lunch. After lunch, we only had about 3 more miles to go, until the end of the trip. The crew re-inflated my ducky and I braved the last rapid of the trip, called Inglesby Rapid. It was fairly easy, but gave me just what I wanted…some waves! Two miles later, we were done with the trip. When we got to the boat ramp, there were a couple of vans waiting. The crew let us change into some dry clothes, and we were on our way back to Steamboat Springs.

My Analysis:

What an incredible experience. I went into the trip with low expectations and came out with many wonderful stories to tell. In fact, my family and co-workers are begging me to shut up about it, already. The trip was way more than I could have imagined. The experience was incredible. I was shocked that I could have so much fun, with people I had just met. I felt like I was in a different world. But I wasn’t. I was only 5 hours away from Denver. The crew was amazing. My lead guide’s name was Lynn Schuett. What an incredible guy. I couldn’t have asked for a better person. I felt very safe and trusted his judgment before heading through rapids. Not to mention, his personality was incredible. He fit in so well with everyone on the trip. There were three other guides on the trip; Clarice, Ian and Mike. They were so helpful and so much fun to be around. The guides made the trip so special for me. And lastly, the people on the trip were some of the best people I’ve met. Mike’s family made me feel like I was one of them. They were so much fun to be around, and I truly feel like I’ve made some lifetime friends. Already, I’ve recommended this trip to everyone I know and now I want to recommend it to everyone I don’t know, my devoted readers. This was such a great experience for me and I would love to see others go through it, too. There are plenty of trips still available trough September and there are even more options on the Colorado and Yampa Rivers. I hear those trips are fun, too.

Run: Ladore Canyon-4 Day Trip

Departure Dates: Call for Departure Dates, Plenty of space available through September

Guides: Lynn Schuett (Lead Guide), Mike, Clarice, Ian

Company: Adventure Bound USA

                    (800) 423-4668

                    www.raft-colorado.com

Price: Call for Prices