The first time I laid eyes on the San Juan River at Sand Island, I knew that someday I would raft the river. It was a year before my goal was accomplished. For me, it was one of those trips that you never forget. Not so much because of the thrill of whitewater but because of the beauty of the land and the excitement of discovery.
The San Juan River between Montezuma Creek and Lake Powell is a float trip with a couple of rapids thrown in to keep things moving. We ran the river in the fall, the water was low and cold and the rapids were tame. It was a perfect time of year for a relaxing trip on the river. (You need a permit to run this section of the San Juan River. See information at the end about the details.)
We decided to put-in at Montezuma Creek. Not because of anything I had read about this stretch (actually, I never found *any* information about this section before our trip) but because we wanted another day on the river. It turned out to be a good decision!
We left our cars at Valle's in Mexican Hat. A driver took us back to the put-in where we launched on the river in solitude. The first 2 days of our trip we didn't see any people until we neared Bluff. We did see coyotes, cattle, insects, blue herons and the occasional fish that made an airborne appearance.
The days were great - sunny, hot and quiet. Sunscreen and hats were the order of the day. Being October, the nights were slightly longer than the days. As soon as the sun set the temperature started to plummet! Out came the warm clothes and many nights we were in our warm sleeping bags by 9 p.m. We had temperatures in the low 30s at night during the entire trip. (After this trip I bought a new sleeping bag rated to 0 degrees!) In the morning, the appearance of the sun soon sent the temperatures climbing into the 80s. What contrast! Shorts and t-shirts during the day, fleece and down at night. How do animals survive in these extremes?? We never had any rain but it certainly was cold for a bunch of "weather wimps".
Since our permit covered a put-in at Montezuma Creek, we decided to add the additional 17 miles to our trip even though I was unable to get any information regarding this stretch beforehand. It turned out to be a great decision, as the amount of sightseeing was a wonderful prelude to the more popular section of the San Juan. In many ways, I enjoyed this section more than the more crowded Sand Island section. The solitude was fantastic - we didn't see any other people until we intersected the suspension bridge outside of Bluff - and the amount of Anasazi sites was impressive. Finding the put-in required a bit of luck and assistance. We had been given directions by the folks at Wild Rivers in Bluff and we found a nice spot along the river to get our gear organized. Luckily the locked gate wasn't locked and it wasn't until I spoke to the people at Valle's that I learned that there was another put-in by the Texaco Station in town.
We got on the river around 1 p.m. - Phoenix time - since the only person who had a watch was from Phoenix. The day was lovely, sunny and warm bordering on hot with a clear blue sky. For October, I was delighted at the weather and the lack of crowds on the river.
Our river map didn't cover this section. So the distance we traveled was guess work. We guessed wrong at first about our speed. The current was running about 3 mph (1700 CFS flow) and we stopped to explore cliff dwellings and check out some sand bars. Since we had a late start our first day we only travelled about 10 miles of the 17 mile stretch before camping. That put us a bit behind "schedule" for the next day. Not really a problem though. As all we had to do was clear Sand Island on the 2nd since that was the date our permit was for.
While the vegetation along the San Juan isn't stunning - tamarisk dominates the river banks - the abundance of ruins was staggering. We saw a few cliff dwellings and heaps of petroglyphs. At every turn there seemed to be some evidence of Anasazi occupation. I was overwhelmed. You could spend months exploring this stretch on foot and not see everything. We didn't manage to get our permit to visit the Navajo Nation side of the river so we were unable to land and explore the side canyons to the south. (We forgot that the Navajo Nation goes on Daylight Savings time while the rest of Arizona doesn't. Oops. The permit office was closed when we arrived.) Even still, there were more than enough places to visit on the north shore of the river.
We managed to get a few miles under our belt before we were forced to locate a campsite for the night. We had failed to get permits for the Navajo Nation side and so our camping was limited to the north side of the river. Next time, we will have the correct permits in hand but on this trip it didn't make much difference. We found a nice sandy spot above the high water level and set up camp.
We made camp just as the sun set. We got the kitchen setup and started cooking. Dinner was sweet and sour chicken - courtesy of Don - and it was wonderful. As a side bonus, the rice came in boiling bags which we saved and used the rest of the trip to strain our dish washing water. (We had neglected to bring a strainer even though all waste water must be strained before dumping it into the river. Oops.) One bonus of eating *everything* is that there is very little material to strain out of the dishwater. The most we ever had was about one tablespoon worth. There was plenty of food and it tasted great. Don had planned ahead and had already cooked the chicken which meant dinner was ready quickly. The temperature dropped dramaticly as the sun disappeared. I am not used to this kind of weather. Out came the long pants and jackets and gloves. Next trip I buy windproof fleece to keep me warm.
Coffee and a small fire added to the enjoyment of the evening. We turned in early since everyone was tired from their respective drive out.
The sun was just lighting the horizon when I rose in the morning. I am not an early bird but on this trip I was up before dawn every day. I enjoyed the solitude in the morning as the others didn't stir until the sun came up and the temperature started its ascent. I made some coffee to help keep the chill away and watched the sky go through its morning ritual. We saw very few animals during the day but I would walk along the shoreline and try and identify the numerous tracks that animals passing during the night had left. It would be interesting to bring a nightscope next time and watch the activity along the shore at night. Beaver had left many traces of their presence - trees chewed, holes in the bank for dens, tracks along the shore - but except for startling a small group when I was learning to navigate the raft we didn't see any.
Breakfast was breakfast burritos! I will use this idea for future trips. We were all eating a lot and the food disappeared as soon as it was ready. I think it was the cold weather than accounted for the increased appetites. We packed up camp after talking for quite some time and then hit the river. We needed to reach Sand Island since today was our "official" put-in day. We discovered that we were not as far along the river as we thought. My map didn't even cover the area we were currently on so judging distance was a problem. We finally saw the suspension bridge outside of Bluff and soon landed at Sand Island. We ate a late lunch, looked at the petroglyphs and signed in since the ranger wasn't around. According to the log, another party had launched today. This shouldn't have occurred since I had the launch permit and there was only one permit a day issued. Oh well. We discovered that other things which "weren't supposed to happen" occurred along this stretch. It made me appreciate our quiet little 17 miles even more.
We continued down river for 3 miles and camped on a sandy beach that was close to an Anasazi finger and toe trail. After dinner we toured the area by flashlight and discovered hundreds of potsherds littering the ground at the base of a sandstone cliff. I think it must have been a pueblo site since the area was raised above the surrounding land and loaded with potsherds and flakes of stone. I spent an hour looking at the potsherds and found many that looked like pots Bill and I had seen in the Edge of the Cedars museum in Blanding. I found 2 potsherds that appeared to be a white glaze on jet black pottery. Interesting. Unfortunately when I tried to locate them again in the morning I couldn't! Drat. I certainly don't claim to be very knowledgeable regarding Anasazi pots but the examples I had seen so far had been black on white, not white on black. I found some potsherds that were exquisetly thin and delicate. Quite different from the more typical potsherds that littered most sites I have seen.
Morning wake up call was the howling of coyotes on the far shore. They seem to cry just as the sun is starting to make its appearance. I would use this call as my alarm for the rest of the trip. Don was up early and we ate a quick breakfast of cereal before heading back to the area we had surveyed the evening before. We wanted to try and climb the finger and toe trail and explore the canyon above. I wanted to look at the potsherds again in the light. And there were petroglyphs to ponder. We bushwacked back to the area and after several attempts to scale the finger and toe trail we decided against it. Instead we occupied ourselves looking at potsherds and petroglyphs in the daylight. We tore ourselves away after a couple of hours to get on the river again.
The current carried us along at a slow pace. Don was reading on the back of the raft he was in. I read a bit and watched the passing cliffs for petroglyphs and ruins. I had a pair of binoculars along which came in quite handy. Charles would adjust our course once in awhile to keep us in the main channel. At 1500 CFS the river was quite shallow in spots. We had to drag the raft across sandbars a few times.
We stopped at Riverside Ruin for lunch. We sat in the shade of some tamarisks and enjoyed our lunch. Then we walked the 1/4 mile to the ruins. They were in pretty good shape considering their convenient location to the river. There were a few potsherds lying on a rock that people had collected (the current thought is not to do this as the potsherds lose their value when they are moved) but basically the ruin had been picked clean - like most popular ruins. From the ruins you could see another ruin on the Navajo Nation side. Next trip we will visit that one when we have our permits. This ruin had pictographs - the only ones I had seen along the river (not that there weren't others, I just didn't find them). There were some graneries associated with the ruin along the cliff. It was a pleasant location.
Back in the rafts we floated down river. We passed Comb Ridge, one of my favorite places in the world. Geology is amazing when you see it on such a grand scale. Comb Ridge is 80 miles long, a huge uplift of sandstone that tilts at a rather steep angle and forms quite a barrier. The road transects it in very few places. (Later on I climbed to the top of the ridge and looked down. Then you really get a sense of space from up there.) We camped on a large sandbank just past Comb Ridge. Under the cottonwoods, it was one of the best spots we camped in.
Unload the rafts, set up camp, make coffee, start dinner. Don and I cooked, and then we all sat around our little charcoal fire and talked into the evening. The moon was approaching a new moon and the nights were getting darker, which made star gazing even easier.
Up to watch the sunrise and enjoy my coffee. We got an early start for us and after breakfast we broke camp and loaded the rafts. It took us about 2 hours from when we awoke to when we started down the river. We passed Chinle Wash - another place I will visit with the proper permits - and then entered the "narrows" area of the river. The canyon walls towered above us and the river wound back and forth through the rock strata. It was easier to locate our position on the map since the river meandered so much. We saw fewer people, fewer ruins but the scenery reminded me of a mini-grand canyon. Don spotted a large herd of mountain sheep up on the hillside. I counted 7 - the most I had ever seen at once.
Since the rock walls were steeper in this area, it also meant that the rapids appeared. At our current water level they were easy enough to negotiate but I bet they can get pretty wild in the spring. The map only showed 3 or 4 rapids, but from the amount of riffles that we crossed, I'd say that there can be a lot more at certain water levels.
We stopped to scout 8 Foot Rapid and enjoyed a lunch break. The first of three commercial day tours passed. Their raft was motorized to make the long journey from Sand Island to Mexican Hat at this water level. While I thought it was nice for the people to be able to see this lovely region, I was certainly glad that we had several days to tour this stretch - and no motor to break the silence of the canyon.
8 Foot Rapid proved to be quite easy at the low water level. There was only one way to run it. We bobbed through the waves and noticed a strange phenomena. We were entering the Mexican Hat Anticline and the rock layers were bent upwards. This gave the river the appearance of dropping dramatically - it appeared that we were being sucked into the center of the world! What an optical illusion.
Not quite certain of how he discovered this, but Don was hanging upside down off the back of the raft. He said the view was intreguing, so I tried it. Weird. With your head just off the water level, it appeared that the sky was liquid and you were underwater. Much like the surface of the water appears when you are scuba diving. The water was so calm that we could see the reflection of the canyon walls off the water. We spent 15 minutes or so viewing the world from this perspective.
The map showed an old drill hole along the river. I spotted a stone structure so we pulled off to investigate. We discovered several structures - one of which had been a cabin as the fireplace still remained - and the drill. The first small structure we decided must have been a cellar or the explosives storeroom. We wandered around looking at rusty tin cans (coffee and tobacco cans) and the large pieces of cable that littered the area.
We made camp on a sand bar that was obviously used often. Don decided to go running along a dirt road we had been paralleling for several miles. (He was in training for a marathon and needed to get some running in). I decided to go hiking and followed the road until I found a side canyon that I explored. Back on the road I saw some remnants of some small stone structures that must have been used for protection against the elements. On the cliff face of one there were several names and dates scratched - seems like the oil companies had been in the region in the 20's looking for oil. (They were responsible for the dirt road we were following.)
It was dark when I returned and Don had dinner going. We had stew and dumplings. Everything tastes good when you are outdoors. Another small fire and lots of coffee and chocolate to keep us warm. There were scattered clouds this evening. Looks like a storm was coming through. We hoped that it didn't decide to rain real hard.
During the night some rain did fall but not enough to cause any problems. In the morning we packed quickly as Don and Joel wanted to drive back to Phoenix. We continued along the winding canyon and tried to locate the take-out. The map didn't give us any good clues as to what we should be looking for. Telephone poles - that's what will clue you in that you are approaching the take-out. The wind had picked up and it was blowing quite hard when we pulled off the river. Gear kept blowing around and dust was getting everywhere. I was glad we weren't on the river as forward motion would have been difficult.
A short walk up the dirt road took us to Valle's to retrieve the trucks. I was sad to be off the river but since the weather had turned, it made finishing the trip much easier.
Next time (there will be a next time for me), I will take a strainer, get permits for the Navajo Nation and take a few more days in order to explore the side canyons. And a better map will help! I read that the average time to run from Sand Island to Mexican Hat is 2.6 days. Personally, I can't imagine doing it in less than 4 days. There is just too much to see along the way.
You need a permit to run the San Juan from Montezuma Creek to Lake Powell. Permits are issued starting March by lottery from the BLM Office in Monticello. Permits can be requested from December 1 - February 28 each year.
River flow information is available from: http://svr1dutslc.wr.usgs.gov/rt-cgi/gen_tbl_pg?page=1
River Regulations require that each party has the following: