Green River - Flaming Gorge 2024

This stretch of the Green River has crystal clear waters through a red rock canyon lined with ponderosas and mild class II rapids.

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Green River - Flaming Gorge 2024

Paddlers: Roger Faaborg, Mike Koliha

20240912

I traveled from Longmont to Dripping Springs campsite near Little Hole, UT. I ate late lunch of Pho in the Rock Springs Tai restaurant; dilapidated on the outside, fine on the inside with good food. The only other guests for lunch were two older women (careful here, one could have been in her 40's and the other in her 50's) from Colorado driving a white Honda CRV! That said something that the only two customers were both from Colorado driving identical cars. I guess we Coloradans like our Tai food!

The road from Rock Springs to Dutch John winds along a broad ridge with views to the west of a wide valley. If you're headed north, there is a Wyoming boat inspection station about 40 miles from the Utah and Wyoming border. Looks like a lonely job but someone has to keep the Wyoming waters protected. Apparently Flaming Gorge and the Green River in Utah are infested with New Zealand mudsnails and curly pondweed (plant). The mudsnails are so small over a dozen could fit on the tip of your finger.

I ate dinner with Roger and Mike at the Green River Bar Grill and Steak House in Dutch John, UT. Roger and I shared a 16 inch vegetarian pizza. It was heaped with vegetables and cheese. We found out on the way out that they make the dough there. The pizza turned out to be one of the better ones I had in a long time. Not what one might expect from a restaurant where the nearest pizza competitor is probably at least an hours drive away. Service was rather curious. We had two waitresses helping us. English was clearly the first waitress's second language so we helped her with the random word searching she did. The second doubled as the bartender and perhaps the chef. I ordered a beer from one waitress that was delivered by the second and then after I drinking about half of the beer the first waitress showed up with another beer not realizing a beer had already been delivered. Both were very friendly.

A family with three children under eight sat nearby in the restaurant. We saw them on the river in a raft the next day. Yes, Dutch John is a small place.

A 4AM visit to the outhouse revealed a sky filled with spectacular stars! I do miss the dark skies of the rural country. Seeing the stars gives me a better sense of my place in nature.

20240913

Mike cooked pancakes and turkey bacon this morning. He's not keen on blueberries, but didn't prevent me from adding some to my pancakes. I had a couple of fried eggs. The grill he brought has a cast iron skillet which turned out to be an excellent cooking surface for the pancakes and eggs. I didn't bring coffee for this trip - yowzers!

We visited the Flaming Gorge dam visitor center. Roger and Mike chatted with the attendants seeking additional information about the float. They provided some information, but suggested talking with the many outfitters in the area. I noted that the reservoir is almost full of water. I reflected on the many dives I made in the reservoir and the river.

Today's floated started at the Flaming Gorge dam spillway ending about 7 miles downriver at Little Hole. This area acquired the name from the bright red rock formations. The canyon has majestic ponderosas and smaller junipers and piñon pines. The water from the dam is taken from the lake and varying heights by a special system to maintain an ideal temperature for the fish. The river's clear water offers incredible views to the bottom and the ability to spot the many fish. This section of the river boasts 15,000 fish per mile of 18-20" Brown and Rainbow trout. Because of the abundance of fish and the beauty of the canyon, this river is packed with fisherman (and woman) in drift boats. Drift boats look like slightly scaled down dory boats with places for the fisherman to stand or sit. They also have a weight attached to a rope that can be dropped into the river as an anchor to hold the boat against the current to allow fishing in one spot. All the fishing folks I chatted with fished with barbless hooks. There are minor rapids on this stretch all considered class II or less. This stretch of water is really about the fishing not the whitewater experience. It's a very peaceful float that can be accomplished in under four hours. When we floated it the flows were ~1800 cfs.

After the days float, we shuttled my car to our planned takeout at John Jarvie Historical Site. It takes about an hour each way and runs on all manner of road surfaces from dirt/gravel, to crumbling asphalt, to pristine pavement. Roger had wanted to float further down the river toward the Swinging Bridge but Mike didn't want to paddle the flat water below the Jarvie takeout.

Tonight was Mike's night to prepare dinner. He cooked delicious cheese hamburgers complimented with chips from Roger, potato salad from Lance, and brownies from Roger's wife Diane.

20240914

This morning was yet another delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage compliments of Mike's grill.

We loaded boats and gear into Mike's pickup and made the short two mile drive from Dripping Springs campsite to Little Hole boat ramp #3. We'd gotten such an early start we took our time rigging the boats and starting out. It was another blue sky calm day as we started out.

The water remains spectacularly clear on what is known as section B. We float from Little Hole to the John Jarvie takeout. On one very small ripple, a standing wave appeared to be a block of transparent acrylic providing a perfect view of the rocks and vegetation on the bottom. The number of florescent green plants diminished as we moved further down river. There were still plenty of fish. The canyon opened up a little, but remained impressive to take in.

This section only has a couple of notable rapids. The key one being Red Creek Rapid. Red Creek comes in on river left and 100 meters further on is the rapid. The easy line is river left. At 1800cfs this rapid is rather benign. It could be run on river right, but would require taking the boat over a reasonable size pour over or make a quick move back to river center to avoid the pour over. River center has too many rocks to dodge for the drift boats or rafts but could be fun in a kayak. We got out to scout but pulled over river left too soon and were faced with wading or fighting through willows. I had decided to get back in the packraft and pull over just above the rapid entrance to avoid both obstacles. However, once in the boat I instead followed two rafts just entering the rapid thereby skipping the scout. In the packraft the rapid was just a bouncing ride barely even splashy. I guess after a summer rafting the rapids of the Middle Fork Salmon and kayaking the Arkansas through Brown's Canyon and Fractions, the rapids on section A and B of Flaming Gorge were just a walk in the park. (It's nice my skill level has finally advanced.)

Before this point I'd realized that the key to my car - and our shuttle car - was back in Mike's vehicle at Little Hole - whoops!

We exited at the main Jarvie boat ramp hoping to find someone to give me a ride back to Little Hole. A shuttle crew had just finished dropping off vehicles, but Mandy, the supervisor, said there wasn't room. It could have been that insurance liability prevented me receiving a ride. Either way I understood and started looking for another ride. I decided to walk the short distance to the Jarvie Historic site. Roger and Mike took my boat and paddle and proceeded to float to the historic site. Walking I flagged down a car and asked if they were going to Dutch John. The driver, Tray, paused and then said yes and that he'd be happy to give me a ride. Turns out he was looking for Swinging Bridge which is maybe 20 miles more down the road, but instead generously offered me the ride. Keep in mind it's about an hour drive to Dutch John. Tray, his wife and their granddaughter were just out for a driving tour. Lucky me! Once at Dutch John I started walking toward Little Hole assuming that someone headed that direction would stop and pick me up. It didn't take long. Scott in a GMC Denali pickup gave me a ride.

Ya' know, pickup trucks aren't just for the ranch these days. In fact, this truck felt more like a refined Bentley than something to be used to haul hay to cows, parts for the combine, or manure to the garden. It was luxurious on the inside with a wide screen, plush seats, and wood trim highlights. The driver lamented and pondered about all the liberals clustered along the Front Range. As much as I tried to keep my mouth shut, I feel he got an inkling that I am one of those liberals when asked I said we were camping out. Ah well, we left on good terms as I stood beside Mike's truck.

I drove the hour back to Jarvie Historic Site. We loaded up the two vehicles and drove the hour to Dripping Springs campsite to end a relaxing float and a slightly stressful (on my part) shuttle.

Roger made a terrific flavored meal of fajitas. Tonight was our last night at Flaming Gorge.

20240915

We caravanned together as far as the Subway in Craig Colorado where we ate lunch together. Then, at Roger's request, we drove through Walden and Laramie to make our way home. We stopped in Walden to stretch our legs stepping into the North Park Pioneer Museum. Wow this place is packed with stuff! There isn't much verbiage or descriptions, but there is a friendly docent and all kinds of wonderful old stuff to explore. I'll definitely stop again to explore more the next time I find myself in this part of Colorado.