On the Way to the Desert…

I am nearly ready to head west toward Hanksville and the put in for the Dirty Devil River. Most of my gear is packed, there are just a few things left on the list to do. I will be on the road Monday morning. I called Tag-A-Long in Moab a couple of days ago to confirm my shuttle, and there was bad news. The river trip that I was going to get a ride with canceled completely. So I am on my own now. But thanks to email communication with Shane of HikeRaft.com I have a backup plan. I will drop my gear just south of Hanksville on the river, at Dry Valley Wash down the “dump road”. From there I will drive back to town and leave my truck, walking back to the river. When it comes time to take out 12 or 14 days later, Shane pointed out a safe takeout above Hite, down Sheep’s Crossing Road. I will takeout there, tie up the boat, grab my pack with food and water, and head to Highway 95 to try and hitch a ride north to Hanskville. Problem solved. On the bright side I save 50 dollars and get an extra day on the river.

I have been watching the water level of the Dirty Devil steadily drop over the last week or so- potentially more bad news. Today it is below 20 CFS- you can see the real-time graph here. But according to Shane, if I put in lower, at Dry Valley Wash, I will be saving myself a couple of miles of dragging the boat across sandbars. Sounds good to me. The temperature has been cooler and that may have something to do with the decreasing flows. With some luck, as it warms next week, the flows will increase. The 10 day forecast is for highs in the 70’s to mid-80’s. I hope this will help melt some of the snowpack to give me some good floating days.

I have been looking at maps and have decided on a couple of overnight trips. It looks as if I can easily walk up No Man’s Canyon, hopefully exit at the head, and drop back in for a walk down Larry Canyon. I am hoping the same will be true for a walk up Twin Corral Box Canyon and back down Sams Mesa Box Canyon. The exit and entrance involved in this hike may be a bit more strenuous, if possible at all. I will also explore Poison Spring Canyon and Happy Canyon, possibly with an overnight stay in each.

My next post will be at the end of May or in early June. I will have lots to share and plenty of trip photos. Be sure to check back for that.  For more information on this trip and others, visit the Desert Explorer website.

Dirty Devil River Float- Itinerary, Equipment, Logistics

The time for the first trip of the summer is nearly here. I will float the Dirty Devil River from about 14 May till about 27 May, giving me roughly about two weeks on the river. The float is only about 80 miles and can be done in much less time; 8 to 10 days would be sufficient. But I have plans to explore at least 6 or 8 of the canyons draining into the river. I’ll do 4 or 5 dayhikes, maybe more, and at least 2 or 3 overnights in the longer canyons. I have been studying the maps, but haven’t really decided yet which to explore. I will most likely choose them at the last minute, when I am standing at the mouth of the canyon looking up into it. I am considering mostly those draining from the east for overnights: Robbers Roost Canyon, No Mans Canyon, Larry Canyon, Twin Corral Box Canyon, Sams Mesa Box Canyon and Happy Canyon. There are plenty of choices!

I will need at least 9- 1:24,000 mapsheets for the float and hiking, possibly as many as 12 depending on how far upcanyon I choose to go. I will start with the 9 mapsheets that cover the river- I am picking those up next week- and decide then if I need others.

I have begun packing for the trip. As I am going solo, there will be a good size pile of gear and food. I like to pack early, then re-pack about a week out, then do a final packing a day or two before heading out. This allows me to really see what I am thinking about bringing along, and gives me plenty of chances to leave gear behind that I won’t need as well as plenty of chances to make sure nothing is left behind. Since I am hiking and backpacking on this float trip, I will need to cater my packing list to cover all three activities. This leaves plenty of room for overpacking, not something I want to do on a shallow river such as the Dirty Devil. From all accounts I have found so far, there will be enough dragging of the boat across sandbars as it is, without adding un-needed weight to the boat.

I have tentatively scheduled a shuttle with Tag-A-Long Expeditions in Moab. the shuttle will cost 50 dollars. They will meet me at the takeout near Hite Marina on 14 May. I will leave my truck there and they will drop me at one of the two bridges where the Dirty Devil meets the highway near Hanksville. I have not decided yet if that will be west of Hanksville, or north. On my way to the takeout near Hite I will recon both possible put-ins and make that decision.

Besides exploring the river and hiking and backpacking up the side canyons, I will be on the lookout for ruins and rock art to photograph. I also plan, as usual, to work on my primitive skills. Although it will be early in the season, I will be searching for edible plants. I have a list of plant parts to try this year, including cattail pollen and the young, spring shoots.

Visit the Desert Explorer website for more details on this and other desert topics.

San Juan River, Primitive Fishing Skills, White Rim Trail Solo Ride

San Juan River Launch Dates

The launch calendar for the San Juan River is online. The San Juan River referred to is the section found in southeastern Utah, with the put-in just outside the town of Bluff at Sand Island. We drew our launch for 22 July, with our take-out about 28 miles downriver at the town of Mexican Hat. Ours will be a family float this year, my wife, son and I taking about five days for this short stretch of river. The float can be expanded to nearly 84 miles to the “final” take-out at Clay Hills Crossing. Just below Clay Hills is a rather new and impassable waterfall blocking the way to the upper reaches of that “lake” below. A portage around the waterfall could add innumerable miles to ones itinerary; you could float all the way to Glen Canyon Dam.

Unfortunately for those who missed the lottery date, the Sand Island calendar is nearly full in May, June and July. March, September and October dates are nearly all open, April and August are about half-full. The mid-summer dates are full for launches from Mexican Hat as well, but outside of May, June and July there are more open dates if you are considering floating from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills only. Either way, if you are hoping to get on the river act quickly as every day more red rectangles appear in each month of the calendar, indicating full launch days. If you have a limited window for floating, do not despair. Check the launch calendar daily for cancellations. Updates are posted every weekday and you might get lucky and find the date you need open. For more information on floating the San Juan River visit the Desert Explorer San Juan River page.

Primitive Fishing Skills

Last week my son and I worked on primitive fishing implements. Using a deer leg bone, an old metapodial (the elongated toe bone in the hind leg) we created a couple of skewers, or gorge hooks. Gorge hooks are straight pieces of bone in this case, sharpened on both ends. they can be made from hardwood splinters as well. A leader is tied at the center of the piece. To bait them, the gorge is turned sideways, parallel to the leader, and the bait is slid over both. Once the gorge is swallowed by the fish, tugging releases it from the bait and allows it to turn sideways and lodge inside the fish.

The process began by crushing the bone with a hammerstone, with a concerted attempt to create long, thin splinters of bone. Once this was accomplished the chosen splinters were snapped to about 1 1/2 inches in length, close to the desired final length. Next the abrading process began. I used a slab of flat but rough sandstone to abrade and form the gorge. I held the bone between my thumb and forefinger, moving it back and forth, mostly on the long axis of the piece of bone. This helps to avoid flaking off larger pieces of bone and helps create a more symmetrical finished product. Each gorge pictured below took about 1/2 hour to create. For more on primitive fishing skills and survival fishing kits, visit the Desert Explorer Primitive Skills pages.

White Rim Trail Solo Ride

I have begun working on my packing list for my unsupported White Rim ride. It will not be till August, but since I had some free time I started to compile my gear list for the trek. I will take five days to do the ride, averaging about 25 miles per day, with one day to sit by the river. I will be pulling a BOB trailer with all my gear behind me. The majority of my carried weight will be in water. I will not be able to resupply water until the end of day 3 when I camp at either Hardscrabble or Labyrinth campsite. Both are on the Green River and they are just a few miles apart. I will decide which I will use this week. I will be able to resupply on day 4 as well as that will be my free day at one of these river campsites. The final day will be the ride out.

I have not yet decided on which BOB trailer I will use. They have two single-wheel models, one with a shock and one without. They weigh 17 and 14.5 pounds respectively and both have a maximum load capacity of 70 pounds. I will make an attempt at keeping all my gear at 20 pounds or less; ultimately I would prefer it weighs in at 15 pounds. But with bike tools, shoes (other than my riding shoes), and 5 days of food, 20 pounds is more realistic. Add to that 1.5 gallons of water for days 1, 2 and 3, and 1.5 gallons as a buffer- 6 gallons total, and I have added 48 more pounds. This brings my total towed weight to about 85 pounds if I choose to tow the BOB Ibex model, with a load of about 68 pounds, just under the load limit.

I will continue to refine my list and eventually post the packing list on the Desert Explorer website as the ride draws nearer.