GREEN RIVER JOURNEY: DESOLATION AND GRAY CANYONS with CloudRidge Naturalists
GREEN RIVER JOURNEY: DESOLATION AND GRAY CANYONS
May 27-June 2, 2012
7 Days/6 Nights
Drs. Geoff Hammerson, Emmett Evanoff, Mike Scott, Ed Wick, and Steve Cassells
Cutting a series of chasms in the 10,000-foot-high Tavaputs Plateau, the Green River forms a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon at Bright Angel Creek. Desolation Canyon, first named by John Wesley Powell more than a century ago, is best introduced in this excerpt from his journal: “The canyon is tortuous, the river very rapid, and many lateral canyons enter from either side. Crags and tower-shaped peaks are seen everywhere, and above them long lines of broken cliffs.” Below Three Fords Canyon, the buttressed walls of Desolation give way abruptly to a giant’s staircase of gray, cream, and ochre as the river emerges through the portals of the Book Cliffs—which Powell called “one of the most wonderful facades in the world.” Remote and wild, these Green River canyons have witnessed the travails of both the famous and infamous. Not long after Powell’s expedition, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid repeatedly sought refuge from the law in these labyrinthine canyons. 
Here and there, abandoned homesteads mark the end of a steadfast frontier endurance. A rich legacy of cliff dwellings and rock art provides a tantalizing glimpse of ancient life-ways. The 30-minute flight by small plane to our put-in, much of it over the Green River’s canyons, provides a spectacular introduction to the river drama that awaits us. Riffles and rapids—more than 60 of them—season this 5-day, 84-mile oar-powered raft journey as we explore the geology, ecology and archaeology that symbolizes the magic of this river wilderness.
Price: $1,650 (includes a $600 deposit)
Group Size: 20
Trip Rating 2-3
Price Includes: 5-day raft trip (oar-powered) by Holiday River Expeditions, charter flight to the river put-in, take-out transfer, all instruction by our 5 leaders, 13 gourmet meals while on the river, all beverages on the river, gratuities to our raft guides, two nights’ lodging (May 27 and June 1) at the Best Western River Terrace in Green River, Utah, and final group dinner in Green River on June 1.The journey begins at 8 pm on May 27 (at our hotel). June 2 is a travel-home day.
Does not include your travel to or from Green River, Utah from your point of departure.
Tags: Butch Cassidy, Cloudridge Naturalists, Educational trips, experts, Green River Rafting, sundance kid, Tavaputs Plateau