Yampa River Archives - Susana Field

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 8: The Green River Ending

October 19th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, The next morning we woke up, sad to leave Box Elder camp and even sadder to leave the Yampa River. In a few miles, the muddy-colored Yampa River would be flowing into the green-colored Green River and our solitude would be behind us. We’d made it through the Yampa’s shallows, only a day behind schedule. But we knew we could make up our time on the faster-moving Green. There was still Echo Park to visit and Jones Hole with its crystal clear stream. Whirlpool Canyon and the meandering braids of Island Park. And more fun whitewater right before …

Low Water Run of the Yampa River, Part 7: Running Warm Springs Rapid

October 18th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, Warm Springs is the biggest rapid on the river; a jumble of house-sized rocks that’d tumbled down off the rock walls, leaving fresh scars up above. At high water, the Class 4 rapid is scary with big holes and waves. The river races and crashes and turns back on itself as it gets constricted between the huge boulders. But at low water, the danger is different: It’s getting pinned on a rock without enough water to wash you and your boat over it. Arriving at Warm Springs On Day 4 we arrived at Warm Springs Rapid. We’d been …

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 6: The Art of River Camping

October 17th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, Having the river all to ourselves was something to be cherished. And having such a slow float was a different type of treat. Crabby at Camp But by the time we got off the river, we were sun baked and tired. And we had chores still to do: boats to unload, gear to carry, kitchen and bathroom to set up, tents to erect, sleeping pads to inflate and dry clothes to change into. Tepee Camp was our first night. It’s a steep climb up from the shore. John and I were already cranky after a truck-breakdown night of …

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 5: The Art of Floating

October 16th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, Once we got on the water (John and I each in an inflatable kayak and Cliff and Chayse running the raft) everything changed; the morning’s chaos washed away. The joy of floating The Joy of Floating We were floating. Self-contained. At one with the river and the currents and the breeze. Rocks and boulders slid beneath the shimmering water. Grasses swayed along the bank. We heard the smack of a beaver tail. Saw the flight of a heron. We moved slowly, and yet kept our eyes flashing left to right, up river and down, scanning for the shallows, …

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 4: Running Low Water

October 15th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, The river gauge on the Yampa would have read between 1000 and 2000 cfs (cubic feet per second moving past the gauge) on a normal late-June day. On this particular day, though, it read half that much, at 600 cfs. And it was dropping. The Only Ones on the River We were the only group at the put-in. Everyone else, who we normally would’ve had to share the river with, had canceled or been scared away. Even the shuttle company we’d hired to drive our vehicles from the put-in, in Colorado, to the take-out in Utah, had told …

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 3: A Breakdown and a Put-In

October 14th, 2018susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, Our truck turned 200,000 miles, and in seeming celebration or revolt, it had its first ever major breakdown just an hour, of our 8-hr drive north from Cliff’s house, shy of the river put-in, in northern Colorado where our water tribe was waiting. The Breakdown The truck’s drive shaft completely fell off, in the middle of nowhere and as night quickly descended. Waiting for the tow trucks But most fortunately, as if the Gods, yes, wanted to mess with us but, no, not too badly, we broke down a few minutes before loosing cell service forever, and just …

Low-water Run of the Yampa River, Part 2: Raising Cliff on Rivers

October 13th, 2018susanafield1 Comment

Dear Reader, Our son, Cliff, grew up running rivers, starting when he was a toddler. In Colorado, he’s run: The Yampa, at least six times but never this low. The Delores where, at the age of six, he had his first kiss in the bow of our raft when a cute, little girl asked him if he’d ever made out). The San Juan. The Colorado: Pump House to State Bridge a gazillion times as a young boy; Ruby-Horsethief; and Westwater. The Green: Ladore Canyon, and Flaming Gorge, where at the age of eight, he kayaked his first Class 3 rapids. …