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Return to The Chute of Muddy Creek

Floating Through the Muddy Creek Wilderness: Tomsich Butte to Hidden Splendor
Friday & Saturday, June 16-17, 2023 | Average CFS: 185

This year Jackson was really hoping we would be able to make it over to the San Rafael Swell so we could float through The Chute of Muddy Creek before the water levels dropped, but for a while there it was looking like we might not be able to make it happen this season. Luckily, the water levels of Muddy Creek have continued to stay high enough for a couple of weeks and on Friday afternoon as I was leaving work we made a last minute decision to give it a shot on Saturday morning. All of my river gear was still packed in the Jeep and ready to go, so we headed west into Utah and met up in Green River before making our way over to Hidden Splendor to drop off my Jeep at the take-out.

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Cordova Canyon Ranch in Arches National Park

Monday, June 12, 2023

After spending the weekend along the Dolores River near Gateway, I had taken this Monday off from work so I could return to Arches National Park for another short hike into Cordova Canyon. This time I wouldn’t be hiking alone and would be joining up with the Cordova family for whom the canyon is named. Last spring I was contacted by Gabe Cordova after he had come across my recent Trip Report from Salt Wash and Cordova Canyon while researching and planning a trip for him and his family to come out and visit his great-grandparents old homestead in the canyon. After corresponding back and forth with the details, he invited me to join them on their hike and I jumped at the opportunity since I rarely ever get the chance to visit these historic places with people who actually have a connection to them and I thought it would be nice to hear some of the family history along the way.

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Lower Fisher Creek in Cottonwood Canyon

Sunday, June 11, 2023

This morning I was looking for a shorter hike close to home and thought I would make my way back over to Gateway so I could hike along Fisher Creek into lower Cottonwood Canyon. Hiking into this canyon has been on my to-do list for way too long and my interest was rejuvenated yesterday as I floated past the mouth of Fisher Creek on the Dolores River, so I figured it was finally time to make it happen. I woke up early on Sunday morning and then drove west through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway for the second time this weekend.

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The Dolores River: Fisher Creek to the Colorado River

Gateway Canyon: Fisher Creek to Dewey Bridge | Average CFS: 2,170
Saturday, June 10, 2023

This weekend Jackson was only free on Saturday so we planned a day trip to float down another section of the lower Dolores River from Fisher Creek to the Dewey Bridge Campground since it’s not too far away from home. Although most people run this stretch starting from Gateway, we decided to launch closer to Fisher Creek so that we would be able to easily finish it in a day while also skipping Stateline and Rockslide Rapids. While this kind of day trip would typically require a very long shuttle that would not make it worth the effort for most, living in the middle of the shuttle made the logistics a little easier for us. After work on Friday, Jackson and I dropped off his vehicle at the Dewey Bridge Campground and then returned home for the night. Then on Saturday morning Diane rode with us down past Gateway as we looked for a spot to put-in and then she drove my Jeep back home for us. This way we wouldn’t have to return to pick it up later in the day which would have required at least an additional four hours of driving time!

San Rafael River: Fuller Bottom to Lockhart Box

Friday – Sunday, June 2-4, 2023

This weekend Jared and I met up in the San Rafael Swell so we could float the San Rafael River with our packrafts while there was still enough water left this year. Although our last packrafting trip together on the Dirty Devil River may not have gone as well as we had hoped, Jared was looking forward to getting his packraft on a river that actually had enough water this time and I was looking forward to a return visit into the Little Grand Canyon! I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way over to the Swinging Bridge at the mouth of Buckhorn Wash, where we planned to meet up. I arrived a couple hours before Jared was going to, so I drove a little ways down the Mexican Mountain Road and found us a campsite just as it started to rain.