OCR Text |
Show Utah White Water' famous By NANETTE LARSEN Utah Travel Council Ride the thundering Whitewater where it all began! Back in the '20's and '30's, before most of the world had heard of braving a raging river just for fun, pioneer river outfitters out-fitters were defying Utah's white-water white-water in Lodore and Desolation canyons ca-nyons on the Green River, the Goosenecks on the San Juan River and Cataract Canyon on the Colorado Col-orado River. THESE RIVER canyons and many others in Utah have changed little since men like Bus Hatch, Norman Nevills, and David Rust undertook the first commercial river riv-er running expeditions about 60 years ago. There is still a flavor of the untouched un-touched wilderness that famed explorer ex-plorer John Wesley Powell saw in 1869 when he floated a 1,000 miles on the Green and Colorado rivers from Green River, Wyo., through the Grand Canyon. There are still the calm languid stretches where a and Colorado rivers during a 600-mile 600-mile journey that ended at Lake Mead more than a month later. THREE YEARS later, Nevills, who had started his career in 1933 on the San Juan River near Mexican Mex-ican Hat, was ready for an even longer version of the same trip. This time he started at Green River, Riv-er, Wyo., and retraced the route of John Wesley Powell. With him on this history-making expedition were his wife and several prominent promin-ent citizens, including Barry Gold-water. Gold-water. Nevills' wife sent out a weekly news release by homing pigeon. pi-geon. The late I920's marked the beginning be-ginning of Hatch's career as a commercial com-mercial river runner on the Green River in today's Dinosaur National Monument. This pioneer of river running built somewhat of an empire. Today, his sons still run the rivers in Utah and the West. Although commercial river trips have boomed-around the nation in recent years, most big outfitters got their start in Utah under the SLEIGHT HAS not lost his zest for rafting in Utah. He talks about the sites along the way--the old ranches ran-ches and cabins, waterfalls and pools, Indian ruins and petrog-lyphs. petrog-lyphs. "You don't have to be a real explorer ex-plorer or adventurer to enjoy a river riv-er trip," says Dee Holladay, an outfitter for every Whitewater river in Utah, plus the Salmon River in Idaho. WHETHER IT'S A one-day breeze through the rapids or a seven to eighteen-day rafting expedition ex-pedition through the Grand Canyon, Ca-nyon, there's a river trip to suit practically everyone. Even the handicapped can enjoy the spray of rapids on their face. S'Plore, a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization, organi-zation, designs trips specifically for people with all types of physical, physic-al, mental or emotional handicaps. Every rafting river is a favorite, deperding on whom you talk to. Even then, it is a hard decision. "All the rivers arc my favorite in a different way," says Dee Holla- "...The river is basically free-flowing and natural as it has ever been." river runner can be mesmerized by the amazing formations of red rock cliffs rising hundreds and thousands of feet above. THERE ARE still pools to swim in, sand bars to lounge on, Indian ruins to gawk at, and side canyons to explore. Most of all, there are still spine-tingling rapids to go through. Little was known of these wonders won-ders when Utah river runners Hatch and Nevills started making headlines around the world in such magazines as "Life" and "National "Nation-al Geographic." The first two women to embark on a commercial river expedition were among Nevills' passengers in 1 93? Starting Start-ing at Green River, Utah, these hardy first-time river runners challenged chal-lenged all the rapids on the Green tutelage of pioneers such as Bus Hatch, Norman Nevills and others. DON HARRIS, boatman for Norman Nevills on one of these trips, said plywood boats with a capacity of four persons were used in the early days. Richard Quist, president of Utah Guides and Outfitters, Out-fitters, remembers stories about people lying face down on the decks of these boats as they bucked buck-ed the rapids. "River running was kind of a pioneer thing in Utah. We used to even make our own gear for the river," says Ken Sleight, who has been running rivers since 1955. In the '40's and 50's, river outfitters used $50 army surplus rafts. Today, To-day, the same size raft especially-designed especially-designed for river running costs $3,000. day. Each river has its own unique rapids and scenery. FOR A first-time all-around trip, Holladay says the Yampa-Green River through Dinosaur National Park is a good choice. This three or four-day, 70-mile trip contains just the right sprinkling of thrilling rapids, peaceful floating water, spectacular scenery and Indian ruins. For Richard Quist, a river runner since 1952, Desolation Canyon is his favorite all-around trip. This four or five-day, 80-mile trip has "wonderful beaches and the river is basically free-flowing and natural natu-ral as it has always been." He adds, "There is Whitewater every day of the trip and the rapids are Continued on page 12 Biver running proves popular Continued from page 11 not quite as terrifying as Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park." QL'IST PAUSES as he mentions Cataract Canyon, another of his favorites, "a float trip in Canyon-lands Canyon-lands is one of most scenic in the United States. After running Cataract Canyon, there is nothing quite like coming out onto Lake Powell and seeing the snowcapped snow-capped Henry Mountains rising in the distance." Quist explains that all the white- water on a three to six-day Cataract Catar-act Canyon trip comes in one day-18 day-18 miles of big exciting rapids. In , certain stages of high water, Cataract Catar-act Canyon can be dangerous if attempted by inexperienced boatmen. FOR DAN Lehman, another early ear-ly Utah river outfitter, there is nothing quite like experiencing the rapids in the 225 miles of the Grand Canyon. For those not up to tangling with the Colorado river in the Grand or Cataract canyons, Westwater Ca- nyon farther upstream above Moab packs thrilling rapids into one, two or three-day trips. It also has unique uni-que black granite and sandstone geological formations. The San Juan River from Bluff or Mexican Hat to Lake Powell offers a unique four or five days in the winding Goosenecks of the San Juan, where ancient Indian history unfolds un-folds along the canyon walls. CHOOSING A stretch of river is just one of several options that go into creating each person's ideal river expedition. Rafts may hold as few as four or as many as thirty passengers. Some rafts are motorized; moto-rized; others are oar or paddle- powered. Learning to paddle and maneuver the rapids can be part of the thrill on some river trips de- : pending on the outfitter. For those who choose more than a one-day trip, they will remember the aroma of Dutch oven dinners and breakfasts, the pleasant chatter chat-ter around the campfire, and the stillness of the night in canyons silhouetted there for thousands of years. FOR MORE information, contact con-tact Nanette Larsen at the Utah Travel Council, Council Hall-Capitol Hall-Capitol Hill, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114.(801) 533-5681. |