Whitewater Kayak Workshop on the Green River

There are a few considerations when planning your arrival in Green River, Utah ahead of your river trip departure. If you have any bulky gear beyond our standard large and small river bags, please drop that gear and any personal beverages off at our headquarters no later than 12 PM Mountain Time the day before your departure.  The scenic flight to our remote put-in, while striking, has limitations for extra baggage. Rest assured your belongings will be safely shuttled to the put in with your river guides.

Please plan to attend the pre-trip meeting at our Green River, Utah warehouse at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. A Holiday employee will give you your waterproof bags, a brief orientation on how to pack and prepare for the flight, and let you know what time to meet in the morning (typically 6:15 a.m.). You can also pick up any last minute items from our store at this time (look over our packing checklist to see what we carry).

Meet back at our warehouse bright and early for the quick drive over to the Green River airstrip. Planes from Red Tail Aviation will be waiting to fly you up the river to the remote airstrip. Your guides and instructors will meet you at the airstrip and lead you on a stunning 45-minute hike down to the river and the rafts. From there, it’s river time!

On the first day, your instructor will cover the following:

• Familiarization with equipment.
• What to expect on the trip.
• Loosening and stretching.
• Safety.
• Getting in and out of the kayak.
• Learning the forward and reverse strokes.
• How to exit the kayak while rolled over in the water.
• Learning the sweep stroke.
• How to enter and exit eddies (back current on the river).

Your Holiday guides will provide lead and sweep raft support for the group as well as handle all the logistics – keeping you well energized and nourished for a solid first day of paddling! Camp will allow you time to stretch, rest, and even explore a side canyon while dinner is prepared.

If the orange sunlight hitting the canyon walls doesn’t wake you up first, your guides’ “HOT COFFEE!” call will signal that it’s time to wipe the sleep from your eyes and start another exciting day of learning and paddling! We’ll keep floating downstream and hit the first few rapids of the trip. We may stop and check out a scenic side canyon or petroglyph panel. Keep practicing your kayak skills, enjoy lunch on the river, and paddle in to one of Desolation’s famous cottonwood groves for our evening camp.

Also:

• Learn various types of braces.
• Learn how to read the river.
• What to do in rapids.
• How to ferry across the river.
• Learn the draw stroke.
• Learn sculling.
• Begin learning how to roll.

The scenery and the rapids just get better as we go. Explore an old homestead and look for more archaeological artifacts left behind by the Fremont Culture. Join your guides in scouting rapids, taking opportunities to stretch the legs, and continuing to stay well-fed and energized for the paddling to come! Camps these nights will depend on river mileage, but will prioritize beaches with safe eddies to practice your kayak rolls and paddle strokes.

And:

• Continue practicing the same skills introduced on Day 2, but in more depth and detail.
• Strive to improve in each of the various areas and execute each skill more automatically.

One more day to hone your skills and soak up the magic of the river. In addition to playing in the rapids and going over items learned throughout the trip, we’ll get to explore one last cultural site before taking out at the base of Gunnison Butte at Swasey’s Beach.

Our vans will be waiting to carry you and all the gear back to our Green River warehouse, a 15-minute drive. Except to arrive back at the warehouse between 3:00 and 4:00pm.

This is a sample itinerary intended to give an idea of what the trip will be like. Kayak instruction will be a top priority; campsites, hikes, and cultural sites may vary. Keep an open mind, be flexible, go with the flow, and enjoy rafting Desolation Canyon!