The Yampa and Green Rivers Through Dinosaur National Monument
On this river trip, Gerald and Susan Wilgus paddled solo boats while accompanying a regular ARTA float trip; Susan in her Vista Blade, and Gerald in an outfitter's ducky (alas, my knees aren't up to a 5-day trip anymore). The Yampa was running at 4,700 cfs and when it met the Green River another 9,000 cfs was added to the flow.
Paddling these rivers is an incomparable way to visit the remote canyons of Dinosaur National Monument, little changed since 1869 when John Wesley Powell's expeditions rowed their way down the Green River. The river courses set by faults evident in the canyon walls as well as downcutting of a precedent river, we traveled through three distinct canyons; The Yampa, with its monolithic Permian sandstone streaked with desert varnish and ending at Steamboat Rock, Whirlpool Canyon, a V-shaped canyon cutting through a jumble of the Lodore Formation and younger, tortured rock, and finally the jaw-dropping Split Mountain, where the Green River cuts through the heart of a high anticline in the Jurassic, Morrison formation.
At these spring water levels even the riffles were huge, and gusty winds that could catch your paddle blade kept us on our toes (and sometimes barely in our boats). In rapids like Tepee, Little Joe and Big Joe, the waves were large enough to put in three or four forward strokes to catapult the boat and catch air. There were holes to avoid and stopper-waves to punch in the named rapids, making this a true intermediate-level river. All solo boats portaged Warm Springs rapid because the upper drop would have been a class-IV rescue. The lower portion was big enough, with the force of the river flowing into Godzilla, a huge hole. One ducky paddler swam and while Susan dropped into the jaws of Godzilla she was able to carry enough momentum to climb the keeper wave at the exit. The trip ended with a day of a constantly lively run through Split Mountain after paddling the slow water of Island Park.
Good company, great hikes to features like butt-crack falls, cold nights and warm sun with cooling winds rounded out this trip. A stop off at the Dinosaur Quarry was an added bonus.
Gerald