4 Great Summer River Journeys
COLORADO RIVER | Colorado • Utah The very name, Colorado River, evokes a sense of Palisade to Loma: Launch east (upstream) myth, powerful whitewater, and a sweep of dra- of Grand Junction at Riverbend Park in LENGTH: 6 to 120 miles, plus 112 miles of river (and matic landforms from glaciated summits at the Palisade (dams block the river above there) reservoir) possible below Continental Divide to the grandest of desert can- for this Class 1–2 section. For 30 miles the WHITEWATER: Class 1–2, plus yons. Epic, intriguing, forbidding—all describe the Colorado meanders among cottonwood Class 4 in Westwater and path this artery takes as one of ten major rivers bars, islands, and the edge of Grand Junction Cataract Canyons radiating from the highcountry soul of the West, while cliffs of Colorado National Monument SEASON: spring, summer, fall and none compares to this river in its journey from dominate to the south. GAUGE: Utah state line Rocky Mountain peaks to Great Basin Desert, Ruby-Horsethief Canyon (this is local SOUTHWEST PERMIT: yes, for Westwater from cliff hanger trails to interstate highways, and parlance, though Horsethief Canyon comes and Cataract Canyons; from hardscrabble towns of oil boom-and-bust to first, and the two are indistinguishable camping permit for Ruby- trendy destinations for leisure. This river storms to most people): High-volume Class 1–2 Horsethief Canyon through four states and 1,450 miles, ending in extends from Loma to Westwater Canyon. CAMPING: yes Mexico’s Gulf of California. Upper reaches, not Ancient black Precambrian schist underlies OUTFITTERS: guided trips, covered in this book, drop from highcountry to tall red sandstone walls in this reach of rental craft for some sections cross northcentral Colorado and include intense 27 miles—two easy days to the brink of HIGHLIGHTS: extended trip, rapids, several moderate reaches, and a number of Westwater Canyon in Utah.
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