Floating Across Dinosaur National Monument: Gates of Lodore to Split Mountain
Monday – Friday, September 23-27, 2024 | High CFS: 1,800 – Low CFS: 911
We run down to the mouth of Yampa River. This has been a chapter of disasters and toils, notwithstanding which the Canyon of Lodore was not devoid of scenic interest, even beyond the power of pen to tell. The roar of its waters was heard unceasingly from the hour we entered it until we landed here. No quiet in all that time. But its walls and cliffs, its peaks and crags, its amphitheaters and alcoves, tell a story of beauty and grandeur that I hear yet—and shall hear.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 17, 1869
After finally getting the opportunity to float through Yampa Canyon at very high water last spring in Dinosaur National Monument, Jackson and I turned our attention to the Canyon of Lodore this year as we continue to work our way through more sections of the Green and Colorado Rivers on the Colorado Plateau. Although I initially had some issues getting us a permit earlier in the year, Jackson managed to come through and secured us a Low-Use Season permit for late September, which was the time of the year we had hoped to take on this trip down the Green River. While many parties seem to raft this stretch of the river in four days, we scheduled a five-day trip so we could take our time and really enjoy getting to know the canyon. After inviting our usual river friends along, we ended up with most of the same people who were with us on the Yampa River last year with just a few additions and subtractions, which would be perfect since we had such a great time together on that trip.
Following a nice weekend hiking in the mountains and searching for rock art, I finished packing my river gear into the Jeep on Sunday evening and then picked up Jackson early on Monday morning for the drive up to the Gates of Lodore. To our surprise, when we arrived at the boat ramp there was a Mild to Wild raft loading up and waiting for their passengers and one of the guides for the trip happened to be Jeff, who was our guide in Cataract Canyon earlier in the summer. It was nice to see him again and catch up since we had a great time on that trip, too. After rigging our boats and making sure our vehicles were ready for the shuttle, we took off from the ramp shortly after 11:00am and floated through the Gates of Lodore. It felt great to be on the water again with warmer than usual temperatures and plenty of sunshine. These weather conditions would stick with us throughout the entire trip, which may not have been great for photography, but was almost perfect weather for a river trip, especially at this time of the year!
As I alluded to above, I had quite a frustrating experience trying to get a permit for this trip earlier in the year. I didn’t want to blemish our amazing experience in the Canyon of Lodore with that negativity in this Trip Report, but I thought that the experience should still be documented for posterity’s sake. So if you are interested in that part of the story, you can find it posted here: Dinosaur National Monument Permit Disaster
We left the boat ramp late on Monday morning and followed the current of the Green River towards the Gates of Lodore.
The humble beginnings of the Canyon of Lodore.
Looking back through the Gates of Lodore.
One of the party suggests that we call this the Canyon of Lodore, and the name is adopted. Very slowly we make our way, often climbing on the rocks at the edge of the water for a few hundred yards to examine the channel before running it. During the afternoon we come to a place where it is necessary to make a portage. The little boat is landed and the others are signaled to come up.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 9, 1869
Bob & Lisa
The Canyon of Lodore
The canyon walls grew taller and taller…
After making it through Winnies Rapid we stopped to go on a short hike up into Winnies Grotto.
Winnies Grotto
Looking out from the narrow canyon that contains Winnies Grotto.
To-day we take the boats down to the bay. While at this work we discover three sacks of flour from the wrecked boat that have lodged in the rocks. We carry them above high-water mark and leave them, as our cargoes are already too heavy for the three remaining boats. We also find two or three oars, which we place with them. As Ashley and his party were wrecked here and as we have lost one of our boats at the same place, we adopt the name Disaster Falls for the scene of so much peril and loss.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 12, 1869
After navigating the river through Disaster Falls with no issues, which is where Major Powell lost a boat on his first trip through the canyon, we stopped to spend our first night camped at the mouth of Pot Creek, which turned out to be a very nice campsite.
There was a nice view up the canyon from Pot Creek.
Pot Creek Camp
On Tuesday morning Jackson and I were up early so we could go for a short hike along Pot Creek. We ended up hiking about a mile up the canyon to where the going got rougher and where we also had a nice view back down the canyon.
A lovely morning in Pot Creek Canyon.
We climbed up to the top of this ridge behind camp on our way back down.
There was a nice view up and down the river from the ridge.
After returning to camp we had breakfast and then loaded up the boats for another day on the water. Today was going to be a short day on the river mileage-wise but it was also going to be our main rapids day with Harp Falls, Triplet Falls and Hells Half Mile all on the schedule before reaching camp at Rippling Brook. Hells Half Mile was also going to be my very first time running a Class IV rapid in my ducky, so I was a little bit nervous about it.
Light and shadow filled the canyon as we left Pot Creek and floated downstream toward the rapids.
The colorful soft light was looking very nice in the bends of the canyon this morning.
Here we have three falls in close succession. At the first the water is compressed into a very narrow channel against the right-hand cliff, and falls 15 feet in 10 yards. At the second we have a broad sheet of water tumbling down 20 feet over a group of rocks that thrust their dark heads through the foam. The third is a broken fall, or short, abrupt rapid, where the water makes a descent of more than 20 feet among huge, fallen fragments of the cliff. We name the group Triplet Falls. We make a portage around the first; past the second and the third we let down with lines.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 15, 1869
Bob and Lisa at the bottom of Triplet Falls. We did not scout this rapid, but none of us had any issues getting through. I actually had a lot of fun running this one even though I was a bit nervous going in.
Leaving the Shadows
Lodore Canyon Views
During the afternoon, Dunn and Howland having returned from their climb, we run down three quarters of a mile on quiet waters and land at the head of another fall. On examination, we find that there is an abrupt plunge of a few feet and then the river tumbles for half a mile with a descent of a hundred feet, in a channel beset with great numbers of huge boulders. This stretch of the river is named Hell’s Half-Mile. The remaining portion of the day is occupied in making a trail among the rocks at the foot of the rapid.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 15, 1869
Here’s Jackson getting the air out of his drysuit before we tackled Hells Half Mile after scouting the rapid from the shore.
This is a short video of Adam going through the upper portion of Hells Half Mile.
Here’s Cara going through the same section.
No one in our group had any issues getting through Hells Half Mile and I was glad to have finally paddled through my first Class IV rapid!
After making it through all the major rapids in the canyon, it was just a short and easy float to our campsite at Rippling Brook.
Soon we are on our way again, and stop at the mouth of a little brook on the right for a late dinner. This brook comes down from the distant mountains in a deep side canyon. We set out to explore it, but are soon cut off from farther progress up the gorge by a high rock, over which the brook glides in a smooth sheet. The rock is not quite vertical, and the water does not plunge over it in a fall. Then we climb up to the left for an hour, and are 1,000 feet above the river and 600 above the brook. Just before us the canyon divides, a little stream coming down on the right and another on the left, and we can look away up either of these canyons, through an ascending vista, to cliffs and crags and towers a mile back and 2,000 feet overhead. To the right a dozen gleaming cascades are seen. Pines and firs stand on the rocks and aspens overhang the brooks. The rocks below are red and brown, set in deep shadows, but above they are buff and vermilion and stand in the sunshine. The light above, made more brilliant by the bright-tinted rocks, and the shadows below, more gloomy by reason of the somber hues of the brown walls, increase the apparent depths of the canyons, and it seems a long way up to the world of sunshine and open sky, and a long way down to the bottom of the canyon glooms. Never before have I received such an impression of the vast heights of these canyon walls, not even at the Cliff of the Harp, where the very heavens seemed to rest on their summits. We sit on some overhanging rocks and enjoy the scene for a time, listening to the music of the falling waters away up the canyon. We name this Rippling Brook.
Major John Wesley Powell,
June 16, 1869
An evening view from the nice beach at Rippling Brook.
Rippling Brook Campsite
After relaxing around camp for much of the afternoon, Jackson and I went for a short walk to the waterfall along Rippling Brook.
Jackson climbed up the logs to the top of the first waterfall, but I stayed below.
I think he was trying to avoid poison ivy here when he reached the top.
After another lovely night at camp we had breakfast, packed up and were on the water around 9:30am on Wednesday morning. Today we would be leaving the Canyon of Lodore behind and entering Whirlpool Canyon, which was much more familiar territory to me.
My IK packed up and ready to get back on the river.
Our group leaving Rippling Brook and setting out to finish floating through the Canyon of Lodore.
Cara
Adam
Adam & Cara
A few miles downstream we stopped at Limestone Draw so we could hike up to a spring and hanging garden above the canyon.
Hanging Garden & Spring
I was surprised at how much water was flowing out of the spring here. I walked under the cold water to cool off and immediately got brain freeze!
We stopped to check out a great overlook looking up the canyon on our way back down, too.
Stripes & Limestone
Our rafts down at the Limestone Campsite below.
Downstream from Limestone
After our hike up Limestone Draw it was time to finish our time in the Canyon of Lodore.
It wasn’t long until Harpers Corner came into view.
It was pretty exciting for me when the Mitten Park Fault came into view since I’ve only ever seen it from the other side before.
Mitten Park Fault into Steamboat Rock
Looking back up the Canyon of Lodore one last time before we reached the mouth of the Yampa River and Echo Park. From this point on we would be on more familiar waters.
The Green River: Whirlpool Canyon & Split Mountain Canyon
And just like that, after two and a half days we left the Canyon of Lodore and started making our way through Echo Park and around Steamboat Rock.
We made sure to get a good up-close view of Steamboat Rock and listened to the echoes.
Weber sandstone above the Yampa River.
Jackson and I scrambled up a steep slope to visit some petroglyphs we hadn’t been able to stop at the last time we were here.
Looking back to the confluence from near the petroglyphs.
After our short hike we were back on the water and floating around the southern point of Steamboat Rock as we worked hard to catch up with the rest of the group.
We made a lunch stop at the big beach in Mitten Park and then continued following the river into Whirlpool Canyon.
Between the Shadows
I was a bit disappointed on our Yampa trip last year since the water was moving very quickly and we managed to miss the DJ inscription in Whirlpool Canyon, so I was very happy to finally see this historic inscription left by Denis Julien in 1838.
Bob in Whirlpool Canyon
Harpers Corner from the other side.
Steve & Pirie
This turned out to be our longest day on the river so far when we finally made it to the campsite at Jones Hole 3 around 4:00pm.
The rafts all lined up at Jones Hole 3 shortly before sunset.
There were actually a few clouds in the sky when we woke up on Thursday morning and the sky even became mostly cloudy when we left camp around 10:00am. It actually felt a bit chilly in the shade and we didn’t really want to get splashed this morning.
Jones Hole Morning
Hardscrabble Mountain
A cloudy morning in Whirlpool Canyon.
Even though it was mostly cloudy as we floated through the remainder of Whirlpool Canyon, some light occasionally slipped through and lit up the canyon walls.
The clouds started to clear as we left Whirlpool Canyon and entered Island Park.
Island Park Views
Diamond Mountain View
We made it to camp at Island Park early in the afternoon and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the shade.
Last Light Lineup
The rugged cliffs of Ruple Point.
It was a beautiful evening in Island Park.
After four amazing days, Friday had finally arrived which meant this would be our final day on the river. This also happened to be the chilliest morning of the trip, but I was still up before sunrise and went for a walk along the Green River at dawn. I’m also happy to report that I never had to put the rainfly on my tent once during the trip. After breakfast burritos and packing up camp we were back on the water around 9:00am.
It was a slow and cold float through Island Park.
Jackson & Split Mountain
My feet finally began to warm up as we reached Rainbow Park and Split Mountain.
At this water level the rapids in Split Mountain Canyon were all very easy.
We stopped for one last quick lunch at Hatch Beach.
Split Mountain Canyon Views
Leaving Split Mountain
We made it to the Split Mountain Boat Ramp shortly after 2:00pm and I was back home by 5:00pm. I quickly unloaded all my river gear into the garage and then loaded up my typical weekend camping gear into the Jeep since I would be leaving the following morning to spend the week on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the Arizona Strip. I was in the middle of a very busy two weeks! I have to admit, I’ve been dreaming of floating through the Canyon of Lodore for a a long time and this trip was everything that I hoped it would be!