Moab Oasis in the Desert

Wether you live in Moab or any wester high desert community you know that finding native grass and wildflower seed can be very difficult. Mountain Meadows Wildflower and Grass Seeds offers the best selection and service of any company I've found. Areas from 200 square feet to an acre can be covered in an amazing array of native plants. I have planted two different seed mixes on portions of our 1 acre lot here in Moab. The first was the Western Xeriscape Seed Mix it produced a beautiful array of flowers and grasses which we used to outline our back patio area. The flowers and grasses take very little water or maintainance. The flowers bloomed well into the summer and the grasses maintained the full, cool appearance through the fall. This mix contains 17 unique plant species covers all western states for locations below 7000' in elevation. The Second mix we just planted at the end of last fall in random locations around our property to provide color and shape in our very open desert yard. The Southwest wildflower seed mix is very colorful and designed for zero maintainance after it comes up. We're in the middle of a week of March snow, but we are looking forward to watching the progress through this spring. The seed mix is designed for southern California across to New Mexico. Areas in Utah such as Moab or Saint George are ideal for this mix. If you decide to try some out for yourself or get some as a gift for a friend tell Shirley hello for me!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” Edward Abbey

Cataract Canyon is the poor mans version of the Grand Canyon. It’s not that is boring it’s simply less frequented and MUCH easier to get a permit. During big water years such as 2005 (75,000 cfs peak) the white water is HUGE class V. Take a peak for yourself at the National Park Service site for Cataract Canyon .

is relatively straight forward. Follow the tongue and pound through the tail waves, most parties don’t scout this rapid but that should depend on your comfort level.

Whether you're on your way to go biking on Slick Rock Trail, climibing at Wallstreet, or just need a pick-me-up, Dave's Corner Market is the place to go. Not only does he have the best mocha's in town ( or in the world for me) there only $2 ..... YAA.....It doesn't get any better than that.

Dave's the mayor of Moab as well.

The Atlas Mine Uranium tailings pile was the last "super fund site" under the care of the D.O.E. It has sat on the banks of the Colorado River since 1962, slowly leaking radioactive material and other contaminants such as ammonia into the river. The battle had long gone on over the decision to move the pile or cap it in place. In 2005 a final decision to move the pile was approved by the department. Current details of the project can be found at The DOE Moab Project Website.

This is a definite step in the right direction for this community, and it's millions of visitors.

My Past Desolation Trip Logs and Photos:

Deso 2001 (low water) ; River Trip Photos ;

The Shuttle – It’s long, even using a shuttle service most people plan a full day for travel.
Mileage: Green River to Sand Wash via the Hwy route = 137 miles paved + 38 dirt (~3.5 hrs). There is an alternative route which go up Nine Mile Canyon, this route is shorter by about 50 miles, but there’s an extra 30 miles of dirt road so the total drive time is about the same. For more detailed information visit the BLM website for Desolation Canyon.

Float Time - Typical trips average 10-15 miles a day, but it varies depending on where you are in the canyon. The first 25 miles of the canyon are flat water so plan on covering some miles the first two days. Once you reach Jack Creek Rapid the gradient picks up and the miles pass by much quicker. The rest of the canyon has a relatively similar grade; the only thing to watch out for is the WIND. If a storm is moving through be prepared for some relentless winds. Most trips see a breezy day here and there but I’ve spent three days covering 6 miles. Take home message…give yourself some leeway on time and if you happen to have a small outboard for your raft, bring it.

Camps – At most flows the camps are plentiful and beautiful. In high water (above 15,000 cfs) there are fewer camps especially in the upper 25 miles. Overall there are probably 50-60 camps, so I’ll just recommend a few of my favorites.

Jack Creek Rapid (RM 70) - Several camps on river right starting in the lower half of the rapid/riffle. Nice Cottonwood gallery, good hiking.
Below Rock Creek (RM 53) – You must be 1 mile below Rock creek to camp. Scenic camp on river right. Rock Creek Canyon - Excellent hiking, clear cold creek, many petroglyphs, historic Rock Creek Ranch.
Range Creek (RM 31.5) – Camp on river right at the tail of the rapid. Now world famous for Indian artifacts and ruins; this canyon is owned by the State of Utah and travel in the canyon is permit regulated. Range Creek Canyon Permits and Information: http://wildlife.utah.gov/range_creek/index.php

Just remember that all of the river left side of Desolation Canyon is Indian Reservation and you must have a special permit from the tribe to camp on that side of the river (BLM land starts up in Gray Canyon at RM 24).

Rapids - The two canyons contain 43 named rapids and each one will put a smile on your face. As I mentioned before the rapids are straight forward at all water levels bet there a couple that I reccommend scouting on your first trip.

Steer Ridge (II-III): Scout on river left (RM 56.7) about 200 meters above the rapid. Run on river left, watch for large debris piles top of rapid river right and river center. Other obstacles are sticky table top boulders. toughest at flows below 2000 cfs.

Three Fords(III): Scout on river right (RM 36) at the large beach just below wire fence rapid. walk downstream 200 meters to get a good view of the rapid. at flows below 10,000 cfs run channel on far river right. At higher flows the rapid really opens up so run which ever line looks the funnest. The run is staight down the groove between some medium sizes holes and small boulder pourovers. If flows ar below1,500 cfs the run really starts to narrow up.

River: Green River
Put-In: Sand Wash (RM 97)/ Take-out: Swasey Beach (RM 12)
Class: II - III Flows: 1,800 c.f.s
Duration: 8 Days
Permits: BLM Vernal, Utah
More Desolation Canyon Photos

Bright tailed and bushy eyed, that's how are started my first Desolation Canyon trip. July 2001: Utah had been in the grips of deep and growing drought. The Green River was pushing a measley 1,800 cfs through Desolation Canyon as we prepared for the our humpback chub population estimate survey. Over July-August, we planned on completing three trips through the canyn to create a mark recapture population estimate. Each trip would consist of two crews, one would work the lower 45 miles of the canyon and the other would work the upper 45 miles. Each crew had 8 people and 4 boats, 2 oar rigs and 2 sport boats.

Sport Boats??? ...Picture the Zoidac boats that the navy seals use or the boats Green Peace use. Infaltable tubes, a rubber outer floor, a solid aluminum inner floor, and a solid transom holding a 40 H.P. motor. Now imagine guiding it through rocky class III rapids. I did constantly before I did my first trip. I had run these boats in high water conditions through class II water, but the thought of running 90 miles of fairly technical ROCKY water was keeping me up at night. These people thought I knew what I was doing and I didn't want to look foolish.

From Moab, the shuttle is a solid day of driving if you're running the whole thing. We typically left Moab by 6 am dropped the boats in the water by noon and sent drivers off to Green River with the trucks and trailers. The shuttle drivers would fly back the next morning. A small plane would drop them on the plateau above the river and they would hike down. the flight was around $100 per person. Another option is to just leave your rigs and trailers at the put-in and have a company like "River Runners Transport" of Vernal run you vehicles to the take-out for about $175 per vehicle (2 min).

We plan our trips for 8 days, but our milage shedule is quite different from the typical float trip. The crew working the lower streatch heads out the day the shuttle drivers leave and motor the first 45 miles of the canyon in about a day total time. We stay at specific sites which the our program has monitored for more than a decade. After sampling for 7 nights they motor out to the Swasey Beach take-out. The upper crew spends the night fending off the mobs of mosquitos at the Sand Wash put-in. I know it's the desert but if you come here be prepared for some crazy biting bugs!

On my first trip, I was on the upper crew, I didn't sleep so well listening to the mosquitos planning my demise just outside my tent. Day Two, we covered a whopping 7 miles and set into sampling. The majority of sampling for humpback chubs is done with nets called trammel nets. they entangle the fish and have to be checked every 2 hours. Our netting schedule starts around 3 or 4 pm and we do our last check around 11-12 pm. The next day nets are set a 5 am and checked until about 11-12 am when the nets are pulled. Then we eat, pack, and head to our next site to start it all agian. In addition to netting we also electrofish at night. Eletrofishing is done from a special boat with a large generator and a special device which regulates pulses of electricity which are sent out through the water to stun fish. I won't go into all the detail of it other than to say it's very loud, and a little dangerous.

It's been so long all the days of sampling blend together now but there were many details of the canyon that still stand out in my mind. First, as you get about 20 miles down river the canyon grows into a deep, stepped, winding gorge that takes your breath away. The formations are very unique and dramatic dashed with sparse pine trees that seem oddly out of place. Desolation Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon at Bright Angle Falls (over 5000 ft)...Wow. Second, bears, black bears to be exact. This place is in the desert, a desolate desert. The last thing I expected to see or worry about were bears. Third, the hiking was an endless adventure. lucky we have large enough crews to afford several hours of hiking each day. From crystal clear creeks like Rock Creek, to hidden cliff dwellings, and even an old still (whiskey I believe), I found something new on every hike.

Finally, the boating is fun, even in low water. I would rather have run one of the oar rigs, but I had a realy good time motoring a sport boat. All of the rapids are straight forward. We scouted Streer Gulch and Three Fords. Three Fords is the biggest rapid at most levels up to about 10,000 cfs. I remember after I ran it I said to the outher biologist in the boat that it was the biggest thing I'd ever run a sport boat through. She looked at me like she had just trusted her life to a 4 year old. She got over it. As we moved down to the lower canyon, which is called Grey Canyon, the rapids and riffles became increasingly shallow. Often we had to pull our motor up and use canoe paddles to guide our over sized boat through the shallows. This was most challanging in Coal Creek Rapid. Coal Creek is a mix of a couple of good sized holes and lots and lots of sneaky flat rocks. It's pretty interesting trying to catch a small eddy in a 1,500 lb boat with a canoe paddle!

As our trip ended we headed off to the traditional finish of every Desolation Canyon River trip....Rays Tavern in Green River. Great burgers and steaks, plus free pool. Hope to see you out there.

Following logs will cover different details about changing flows and a few side ventures.

My next series of posts will cover past river trips in the canyons of the Colorado River, Green River, San Juan River, and even the Selway. These trips logs will present both the details of the trips and their logistics as well as some anicdotes and lasting memories of the people and places.

In the hundreds of miles of river I've traveled in the last five boating seasons, one stretch always stands out in my mind.... So I'll start with Desolation Canyon Trips on the Green River.....


"I have seen so much of this desert, but I know so little. Its instruction is addictive. . .the desert's forms. . .feed an internal aesthetic as ingrained as instinct; they provide the perfect crucible for imagination's hunger."


Raven's Exile: A Season on the Green River. Ellen Meloy

In 2001 I landed the impossible, a full time permanent job in Moab, Utah. I had recently left graduate school and was now in Idaho completing my 6th year of season fisheries work. I had become accustomed to not having a real home, not knowing what the next year would hold, and working in the most beuatiful areas of the west. Two of those things were about to change significantly.

I had worked on the Green River several years in the past and visted Moab when I could, but never imaginged an opportunity to live and work there. Now it was a reality, I accepted a postion with the Utah Division of Wildlife as an endagered fish biologist. I would be working on three primary rivers; the Colorado River, Green River and San Juan River, covering over 400 miles of river. I couldn't believe It.

Within two weeks of starting I was working on the lower Green River in Labarynth and Stillwater Canyons looking for Colorado pikeminnow (an endangered species in the Colorado River Basin). The people I worked with and met were just as interesting as the location. Ten days at a time working and camping together with other odd balls from all over the country, makes for plenty of entertainment.

As the year went on I also worked higher up the Green river in Desolation Canyon chasing the elusive Humpback Chub and on the San Juan River removing stipped bass which had migrated from Lake Powell into river. Every project and every year to come were there own world, their own story.