River trips on a cycling website? You got that right. We’ve highlighted numerous river trips in the past. As much as we all love bikes over here, we’re well-rounded outdoors people, taking on slot canyon backpacking trips, trail running, 4WD car camping, and, yes, rivers. On a recent outing on the lower San Juan River, Spencer and Blix renewed their wedding vows, with Cari and John in tow and a bunch of river guides Blix works with.
This beautiful gallery celebrates the West’s most precious resource, water while highlighting the beauty of camaraderie, all set in a stunning backdrop, deep within a desert canyon. Read on for some words by John and a fun gallery from him and Spencer!
Back in 2022, Cari and I, along with Chris Reichel and Jon Yazzie, floated the “upper” San Juan River from Sand Island to Mexican Hat. It took us two more years to land permits for the “lower” section from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills. Our friend and Radavist contributors, Blix and Spencer, landed the permit and quickly filled in the slots with their co-workers from Adrift Dinosaur, a commercial rafting unit out of Dinosaur National Monument. Cari and I were lucky to file in with these talented river folk.
The float spans Mexican Hat to Clay Hills, through the iconic San Juan River goosenecks. This deep canyon twists and turns along a 56-mile stretch of river, forming a series of sinuous squiggles across the desert landscape.
Geologic Time
The San Juan River’s upper and lower cliffs comprise 300-million-year-old rocks known as the Paradox and Honaker Trail Formations. As you move downstream, the canyon cuts deeper and deeper into these formations. Not Balrog deep. But over 1000′ at its deepest.
Limestone, siltstone, sandstone, and shale beds make up the stunning cliffs formed from millions of years of old marine environments. Within these layers of prehistoric seas and lakes, the ancestral San Juan River traversed, eventually carving out its path of least resistance. It’s a matter of luck that specific conditions happened to be met for the river to cut these winding canyons called entrenched meanders.
Over eons, the San Juan River cut 1,000′ into the ground thanks to its low gradient trajectory. Once its course was set, literally in stone, the headwaters slowly began to rise along with the rest of the Colorado Plateau. This occurred 15 to 20 million years ago – to the best of the geologic community’s theories – concurrently increasing the river’s gradient, flow velocity, and downcutting rate.
Since the San Juan had already set its path in its earlier stages, this new rapid downcutting overcame the river’s determination to change its course, allowing it to continue along this path while slicing deeper and deeper into the canyon’s rocks. This resulted in a deep, winding canyon reminiscent of a sidewinder rattlesnake.
The Goosenecks of the San Juan are not alone; many others can be found throughout the Colorado Plateau, but none are so tightly wound and deeply incised as the San Juan River’s goosenecks, and none offer such a splendid river trip!
Reportage: Riverbends, Inflatable Friends, and Class III Fun
When Cari and I moved to Santa Fe, on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, we whetted our appetites for adventure in new ways. Both of us had river experience, albeit rather limited, and knew it was something we’d want to get into on a deeper level.
To start our journey correctly, we enrolled in Four Corners Guides’ packrafting course, bought boats and gear from Alpacka Rafts, and began to do day runs and overnighters on our local rivers, the Chama and Rio Grande. We’re still relatively new to this and want to take a swift water rescue course and wilderness first aid classes, and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of taking river safety classes. This is an incredibly dangerous sport, and knowing how to read the water and proper technique goes a long way, literally saving your life!
With that out of the way, we began to pack for uncertainty. The dry and arid landscapes surrounding the San Juan River basin this time of year can fluctuate. Storms in the San Juan Mountains can cause the river’s CFS, or cubic feet/second, to double or triple days after they fall in the mountains. Temperatures, both air and water, can plummet, and we were hitting this during a time of year where it all balanced upon a precipice.
The CFS during our float went from the low 600s to the low 400s over the course of four days, while the air temps hovered in the low 90s to mid-80s. As such, we packed dry suits, river booties, and warm clothes for the evenings. As is always the case, we needed none of the above and were fine in shorts and sunshirts throughout the entire trip.
We divided the 60-ish miles of river over four days, selecting campsites that offered views and ideal mileage for a party as big as ours. In hindsight, doing this over five days would have provided a more relaxed pace with extra time for day hikes and sight-seeing as numerous side canyons and gulches enter the San Juan’s path.
As the water levels fall, the Class II-III rapids along this float get trickier to navigate for the big boats and more tech for the small craft. We had four packrafts and a kayak with our group, all of which relished the rocky rapids and found time to hit fun lines as we slid between rocks worn down by eons of erosion. Meanwhile, the big boats all bounded across the water like a game of river ping pong.
Bows and Vows
Coinciding with the permit was Blix and Spencer’s anniversary and this year, they decided to renew their wedding vows along with a small gathering of river folk friends. A small arbor was constructed with three oars and some packable decor, strung with LED lights. It was a very intimate moment that everyone was delighted to attend.
After a twilight dance party, which even the local canyon bats attended, swooping down to dine on insects in a motion eerily similar to the crowd’s bobbing heads and flailing arms, the aurora borealis lit up camp for a brief moment, illuminating the sky between the canyon walls.
Wet and Whetting
Desert river trips whet our appetite for geologic wonder, flora and fauna spotting, and Cari and my love of water. There’s something special about being at the bottom of a thousand-foot-deep canyon, navigating rapids, and basking in the vestiges of the Four Corner’s final warm days. The more time we spend on the water, the more we value our home, friends, and abilities, hoping to further hone our experiences.
Rivers in the American West are as special, fragile, and unique as the landscapes in which they carve. The more time I spend floating them, the more my own metaphorical journey of life becomes intertwined with each bend. Each new sandstone layer carved presents a new color, texture, and personality while reminding us of our insignificance across geologic time.
Thanks to River Hag Blix for snagging this permit and everyone on the trip for being so much fun!