The Confluence The Journal of Colorado Plateau River Guides Number 28, Winter 2006 Hank Stewart and Sand Wash Headwaters Institute The Boatmen Stories of Diamond Down Arthur Wheeler Hell’s Half Mile John and Parley A Book Review The Galloway’s Testify Poetry Glen Canyon Diary: 1955 Dam Solution Otis “Dock” Marston Moab To Hite: 1964 Historic cabins near the Sand Wash ferry on the Green River in Desolation Canyon Photo credit: Dan Miller DISCLAIMER: The opinions and statements made within The Confluence the pages of The Confluence are those of the author and do ...wants to be the quarterly journal of Colorado Plateau River not necessairly represent the position of the guide member- Guides. CPRG has a fiscal sponsor, Living Rivers, a 501(c)(3) ship, the board of the Colorado Plateau River Guides, nor river advocacy organization that promotes river restoration. our fiscal sponsor. If you have an opposing or supportive viewpoint, please send your comments for publication. CPRG is dedicated to: CPRG RIVER EDUCATION for 2006: Contact your • Protecting the rivers of the Colorado Plateau employer for registration information and details. • Setting the highest standards for the river guiding profession Cataract: April 24-27 • Providing the best possible river experience Contact: Arlo at Sherri Griffith Expedition • Celebrating the unique spirit of the river community Loma/Westwater: May 6-9 (Westwater 8-9) Contact: Amie at Adventure Bound Guide Membership is open to anyone who San Juan: Sept 5-7 works, or has worked, in the river industry of Contact: Kristen at Wild Rivers the Colorado Plateau Land Based: Date TBA General Membership is open to those who Contact Kirsen at Rim Tours love the Colorado Plateau A SPECIAL THANKS to 2005 donors for the river educa- Membership dues tion programming: Utah Guides and Outfitters, Utah State $20 per year Parks and Recreation and Tag-A-Long Expeditions. $100 for six years $295 for life A SPECIAL THANKS to 2005 river education instructors: $495 as a benefactor Alyssa Van Schmus, Black George Simmons, Dan McCool, Jeff Arbon, John Dohrenwend, John Weisheit, Kent Frost, General meetings and board meetings Melissa Memory, Peter Fitmaurice, Stephanie Miller, Steve will be announced Young, Sue Phillips and Tim Graham. Officers A SPECIAL THANKS for financial assistance to develop President Daniel Phillips the CPRG web page to Robert E. Tubbs, Jr., and to Kealan Vice-President Vacant Partlow and John Weisheit for web page construction. Secretary/Treasurer John Weisheit Past President Annie Payne Visit the site at: www.riverguides.org Directors IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! All general memberships Bluff Vacant to CPRG have been freely extended for one year because no Grand Juntion Vacant issue of The Confluence was produced in 2005. Green River Vacant Moab Vacant Finances: Before the printing and distribution of this issue, CPRG Vernal Vacant had $3452 in the bank. UGO Rep Lars Haarr General Membership Meeting Minutes Colorado Plateau River Guides Spring 2005 PO Box 344 Moab, Utah 84532 The meeting began at 11 a.m. on April 9th at Dano’s house, 435.259.1063 233 Aspen Ave., in Moab. In attendance: Dano Phillips, Fax: 435.259.7612 Steve (T-Berry) Young, Nancy (Monk) Allemand. www.riverguides.org [email protected] The attendees waited for others to show for 15-20 min- utes. When none did, they began talking about what CPRG We need opinions, articles, poetry, artwork, and photos. needed to do first. Dano mentioned that CPRG didn’t have Please include graphics with your text submission. its own Utah business license and would need one to at- tain 501(c)(3) status in the future. All three agreed it would Editor this isue Kealan Partlow be beneficial to get CPRG’s own non-profit status and to Managing editor John Weisheit get out from under Living River’s umbrella. Printing Times-Independent Wanting to hold elections at the meeting, the three at- tending decided to proceed. All board positions were open ISSN: #1078-425X except Secretary/Treasurer. When Dano was elected in Note: Printed on a blend of tree-free kenaf and post 2003 to be president, approximately 15 people attended consumer recycled paper. that meeting and it was decided to hold elections with the members present. And so it was decided to go with that set precedent. Nancy and T-Berry voted to re-elect Dano as a second-term president. Dano accepted. All three talked about who CPRG could contact to see guides’ organization vibrant. if anyone would agree to be an area director. Dano said he Here’s my chance also to thank Living Rivers for be- would contact Dee Holliday of Holiday River Expeditions ing our fiscal sponsor, as we’ve dodged the rain under the and Bob Quist of Moki Mac for nominations for Green River umbrella of their 501(c)(3) non-profit status. We were sup- area director, and Nathan Sosa of Wild Rivers for San Juan/ posed to get our own 501(c)(3) by December 2004, and Bluff area director. He also said he would talk to Dennis have failed to do so, but are still slowly working on it. The Smoldt, manager of Moab OARS, about taking on the po- problem, you may guess, is lack of help. Getting this non- sition of CPRG Treasurer in the future. profit status takes lots of energy, some money, and time. T-Berry said he’d talk to the Canyonlands Natural His- We’ve had no one, or no team, that has taken on such a tory Association (CNHA) about once again sponsoring big responsibility. And so we are still under the Living Riv- CPRG under their 501(c)(3) non-profit status. This idea ers umbrella until we find our way to our own. was due to the attendees’ feeling that Living Rivers turned Here’s another issue guides have mentioned to me. many members, past and present, off. They don’t like CPRG’s affiliation with Living Rivers. LR, Dano made the motion to adjourn the meeting. T-Berry they say, is too political and carries too much of a stain of seconded. It ended at 12 p.m. anti-dam sentiment for an educational organization like CPRG. My response to those with that view I dispense The Prez Sezs here: CPRG needs Living Rivers’ sponsorship now to main- tain the website (http://www.riverguides.org), and to give Hi All -Hope everyone had a fulfilling year of guiding and us non-profit power. Not all of us may agree with LR’s stand, private trips, living out in those places where we all benefit and so let that be the impetus to get our own status. We from the wisdom of perspective. Having some exciting need to know what you want to do, and we need your pres- water certainly did us all some good–the Dolores for early- ence at meetings to engage in discussions about these season fun, Cataract up to its old tricks, Westwater and very important matters. Dinosaur and Desolation and San Juan moving along at a Indeed I am optimistic that we can climb from our cur- clip, we can all agree, that helped us slough off the low- rent position of inactivity and misunderstanding. There’s a water blahs. This season found us enjoying what we had lot to do, but more importantly, a lot we CAN do. Don’t feel almost forgotten. It was a gift. scolded, don’t feel guilty, but just ask yourselves how you The Utah Guides and Outfitters (UGO) decided to run want to assist the Colorado Plateau River Guides toward a Cataract interpretive trip, with a River Education Semi- the goals of education and celebration of the river commu- nar held on the day before the launch. The programming nity. Let your friends know of our focus and open forum. was organized by John Weisheit. For the Dinosaur Edu- You, the members, have asked for it, and now I need you cation Seminar, many thanks go to Tim Mertens of Dino- help in making it so. saur Adventures. CPRG would also like to thank Steve To all a good winter. See you out on the water next Young of the National Park Service, Jeff Arbon of Utah season! State Parks and Recreation, and the staff of Tag-A-Long Expeditions. For financial assistance we’d like to thank Right side up, Dano UGO and Utah State Parks and Recreation. I won’t mince words–CPRG needs your energy to keep From the Secretary/Treasurer its solvent force going. With over 300 members to whom cards were sent earlier this year for the Spring General by John Weisheit Membership Meeting, only two folks showed. We need members to fill Board of Director slots. No attendance, no I do not agree with the understanding of the issues as pre- vote. Without participation, without input, all our chambers sented directly and indirectly with the CPRG members in have gone flat. Where do you want CPRG to go, and are the preceding article/minutes. The board of CPRG has you willing to take it there? never determined that CPRG is an education only organi- This Prez Sez is my chance to state frankly, to every- zation, nor has it ever determined that it is an advocacy one out there who may read it, that CPRG is not an anti- only organization. At present CPRG protects the Colorado motor organization. I have heard much talk, indeed much River in every way possible. disgusted talk, that CPRG does not support outfitters and I also do not think that Dano and others have correctly guides who choose to use motors.