Desolation Canyon and Grey’s Canyon in Utah is a gorgeous stretch of river, running through canyons very reminiscent of a scaled down grand canyon and with similarly scaled down rapids, mostly class II and a couple III- at the low waters we had. We spent 7 days paddling, swimming, eating, and camping.
We’ve been quarantined pretty hard for 5 months now. No eating in restaurants, no playdates, nothing. When I got a permit for this river via cancellation we decided to invite another family. We knew it did increase our risk some, but they’ve been quarantined as well and both families got tested. Adam said yes quickly to our invite. Hazel and Margot were thrilled to see their friends Rebecca and Jeremy and spend a week with them.
A long drive Sunday had us pulling into the campground around sunset. Several groups were rigging for an early launch, so we decided to have a relaxed morning and launch later. we rigged our boats and launched on Monday, me rowing our raft with lots of gear, and Adam paddling our inflatable kayak we loaned him. Although he’s paddled kayaks before he doesn’t really have any white water experience, but did great. Two miles downriver we stopped for lunch. Unfortunately during lunch I noticed that my raft was leaking badly from a repair. Although I had tested the repair I think either increased pressure from the heat, or the weight of all the gear had caused it to blow out. So our first night’s camp wasn’t very far down river. We unloaded the boat and I attempted another repair. We still had some leaks that led to the raft being nicknamed bubbles, but we made it down the whole river. Day two had us reloading the raft and heading into the long slow flat water section that starts the river. Some pretty brutal winds meant we didn’t get very far that day or the next.
Those delays meant unfortunately we didn’t get as much time to hike and explore the canyon further down, but we were able to make up the time and get out on the day we intended. We had a really nice time. Lots of beautiful campsites, some nice hikes. We saw some great wildlife including bighorn sheep, deer, beaver, bear and more. The rapids were fun but still easy enough to keep the right side up for both myself being fairly new to rowing a raft and for Adam paddling the kayak.
It was the longest trip in the wilderness for either set of kids. There was some whining and complaining and some squabbling, but I’m confident that ultimately everyone had a good time and will look back on it fondly.
Desolation 2020
