Yampa-Green Rivers

Yampa-Green River 2013 Trip Report

Dinosaur National Monument, CO & UT

(Note see MFS 2012 Trip Report Blog for basic raft trip details)

 

Another beautiful river trip that Liz and I have been lucky enough to make is on the Yampa & Green Rivers in Northwest Colorado and Northeast Utah (see maps). You start on the Yampa River and about halfway through the 6 day trip you run into the Green River. The whole route is in the Dinosaur National Monument and if you are into Dinosaurs, this is the place to go. Not far from the take-out is a whole mountain of bones on display.

Liz and I have made three Yampa-Green trips; 2005, 2006 and the last just this past year 2013. This is another permit only river and we were invited all three times by our ACC friends who got a permit and needed experienced raft captains. This is not totally correct. On the 2005 trip we were invited to crew on the paddle raft since we were new to rafting. When we got to the launch site I was told none of the other paddle raft crew wanted to be the Captain so I ended up with the job. At the time I had never even been on a raft so it was On the Job Training (OJT). We actually had a great time but this got me started into being a raft captain.

For this trip I borrowed a 16’ Cataraft (CAT) from one of our ACC friends. This was my first river trip using a CAT so was very excited and interested with how it would handle compared to the round rafts I usually used. The frame on a CAT is much more substantial than a round raft because it actually provides the mounting structure for the two pontoon tubes and all the other parts. It was also not a breakdown frame which meant I had to carry it out to & back from the river on top of my truck (See pic). Because the CAT has so many more attachments and pieces to assemble I put it together on my front lawn several weeks before the trip. I made sure I had all the components plus the right number and size of straps required. Liz decided at this time to take our inflatable kayak (IK) and use it instead of riding on the raft with me. The IK is no kid’s ducky that you see some outfitters renting. This is a serious white water kayak and I bought it several years previously to use on a MFS trip (instead I used an oar raft for first time).

The Yampa-Green is one of our favorite river trips. The scenery rivals the Grand Canyon (at least from the water) and although there are several interesting rapids, they are not as big or difficult as compared to the Middle Fork of the Salmon. There is really only one bad rapid called Warm Springs and it can be a raft flipper if not on you’re A game (See video of my run. BTW the video does not do justice to this rapid. There are big holes that are not evident that must be dealt with). There have been fatalities here because the water is snow-melt (very cold) and a swim can be long. The last day the river goes through a gap in the mountains appropriately called Split Mountain. There are multiple rapids in this last run to the take-out and is definitely the high point of the trip.

The weather can be extremely cold or extremely hot. On our 2005 trip we almost froze to death and both Liz and I had on every bit of clothes we had in our bags while on the river trying to stay warm. This was before we bought Dry-suits. On the 2013 trip the weather was perfect and dry. On our last night on the river a forest fire broke out across the river on top of a plateau and we could see flames jumping into the air with lots of smoke (see pic). We kept an eye on it hoping it wouldn’t jump the river and cause us problems. It eventually died down and did not become an issue.

Because this is a more leisurely type river trip we had a layover day where we did not break camp but spent the day hiking. There are a number of pictures of our hike up a canyon to the top of the surrounding mountain overlooking the river and our camp. On the trail we walked right by a rattlesnake (see pictures). He didn’t seem to want to bother us so we didn’t bother him. We also found some very large cat paw prints on the top (see picture). This print was as big as my out-spread hand and there were a lot of them. Not sure what kind of cat it was but this is mountain lion country. They tell you that you will see a mountain lion just as it jumps on you so we were all watching each other’s back on the way back down plus stepping around the rattlesnake.

The last set of pictures is of all the rafts and trip members. Great group of friends and we had a great time. Liz ran the whole river on the IK so was very proud of her.