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Tag: andys mesa

River of Sorrows: The Dolores River

Slick Rock Canyon | Big Gypsum Valley to Bedrock
Friday – Saturday, June 14-15, 2019

Early Spanish explorers called it El Rio de Nuestra Señora de Dolores, or the River of Our Lady of Sorrows translated into English. Today it’s known as the Dolores River, which begins as snowmelt high up in the San Juan Mountains near Bolam Pass and empties into the Colorado River in Utah after traveling through the canyon country of western Colorado. For a long time I have wanted to float the Dolores River through Slick Rock Canyon, which begins at Big Gypsum Valley and ends at Paradox Valley, but since the water of the river is usually siphoned off at the McPhee Reservoir upstream there is typically only a very short window of time to actually do it, if there is any opportunity at all! So far I had never been able to make the timing work for a trip, however, with the high snowpack in the San Juan Mountains this year it looked like I was finally going to be able to get my chance!

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The Rain Man Site

Sunday, November 15, 2015

I decided last minute on Saturday that I was going to head down to Slick Rock Canyon of the Dolores River to try and visit a new pictograph site on Sunday. I texted Marty in the late afternoon to see if he was available to go with me. He was up for it, so we met just outside of Whitewater bright and early on Sunday morning to drive down to Big Gypsum Valley for the hike. On our drive along the Unaweep – Tabeguache Scenic Byway we caught the sunrise over the Dolores River near Uravan.

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