101 Main St / P.O. Box 118 Bluff, Utah 84512-0118 Fax (435) 672-2365 Toll Free (800) 422-7654 |
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 5 Day Lower Canyon
Location: Mexican Hat to Clay Hills, 58 miles 
OverviewThis five day, 58-mile journey through the San Juan's lower canyon affords a relaxing pace for side canyon hikes, hiking Honaker trail, or for simply enjoying the canyon's serenity. The deep and narrow river gorge makes the lower canyon one of the most scenic floats in North America. Highlights of this trip include hiking Honaker trail, Slickhorn Canyon, Grand Gulch and Oljeto Wash and possibility of seeing native bighorn sheep.ItineraryNight Before Departure:You will meet at Wild Rivers in Bluff at 7:00 p.m. for the prelaunch orientation. Your trip leader will hand out waterproof bags and boxes. We can also supply sleeping bags, pads and tents, but be sure to reserve them in advance with our office. Day One: We'll all meet at Wild Rivers at about 8:15, hop into our vans and head for Mexican Hat. Once we get to the BLM ramp in Mexican Hat we'll have a short orientation, then hit the river. Just a few hundred yards downstream from the launch ramp we'll run one of the lower San Juan's biggest rapids: Gypsum. We'll float downstream and stop for a hike over the saddle at Mendenhall Loop for a visit to an old prospector's cabin and lunch on the beach. Then we'll float through the famous Goosenecks of the San Juan for a first night camp at Honaker Trail. Day Two: After breakfast we'll "rim-out" on the Honaker Trail. Honaker Trail is an historic mule trail built to supply gold prospectors on the San Juan a century ago. Once we make the rim we are rewarded with a panoramic view of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. You'll see Monument Valley, Cedar Mesa and the Valley of the Gods, among many other geological formations. Then we'll hike back down for lunch and spend the afternoon floating to Ross Rapid or John's Canyon for camp. Day Three: We hop into the boats after breakfast for a big water day running Government Rapid, the largest rapid on the Bluff to Clay Hills portion of the river. We'll lunch along the way and camp at Slickhorn Gulch. Slickhorn is one of the largest drainages into the San Juan and features beautifully carved grottos with springs and pools and hanging gardens of desert canyon vegetation. Slickhorn is one of our favorite places. Day Four: On day four we float to Grand Gulch for lunch, making a short hike up this scenic canyon. After lunch we'll make our way to Oljeto Wash. We'll make camp here in time to also hike up into this spectacular sandstone chasm. Day Five: We'll break camp in the morning, floating through the final sandstone gorge of the lower canyon in the soft morning light. We often make the first hour of the last day a "silent float," affording everyone a bit of time in silence to reflect upon the journey and focus one last time on the canyon's wonderful sights and sounds. We meet our vans at Clay Hills by around 2 pm, then making the journey back to Bluff. Note: This itinerary leaves lots of time for exploring, photo taking, and just enjoying the solitude of the canyon and the camaraderie of your new found friends. Hikes are easy to moderately difficult and are always optional. Suggested ReadingHUMAN PREHISTORYIce Age Peoples Of North America: Environments, Origins, and Adaptations Robson Bonnickson, ed. Humans at the End of the Ice Age : The Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition Lawrence Strauss Ed. The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization Brian Fagan Those Who Came Before Robert and Florence Lister Enemy Ancestors Gary Matlock Ancient Ruins of the Southwest David Noble Indian Rock Art of the Southwest Polly Schaafsma Richard Witherill: Anasazi Frank McNitt The Book of Navajo Raymond Locke The Book of Hopi Frank Waters Collapse Jared Diamond HISTORY Traders of the Navajo Frances Gillmore and Louise Wetherill Explorations of the Colorado River and its Canyons John Wesley Powell Hole in the Rock Expedition David Miller San Juan County, Utah Allan Kent Powel Anchored Lariats on the San Juan Frontier Norma Perkins Young Encounters With the Archdruid John McPhee River Runners of the Grand Canyon David Lavender Crossing the Next Meridian Charles Wilkinson Fire on the Plateau Charles Wilkinson Mormon Country Wallace Stegner The Gathering of Zion Wallace Stegner Conversations on History and Literature Wallace Stegner Reopening the Western Frontier People's History of Wilderness Water in the West High Country News Books (various authors and editors, see: www.hcn.org) Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope Robert Keiter New Genesis : M ormon Reader on Land and Community Terry Tempest Williams, Ed. Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water Mark Reisner Glen Canyon Before Lake Powell Eleanor Inskip GEOLOGY The Colorado Plateau Don Baars Geology of the Canyons of the San Juan Don Baars San Juan Canyons (River Guide) Don Baars and Gene Stevenson Life in Stone: Fossils of the Colorado Plateau Christa Saddler NATURAL HISTORY The Ice-Age History of Southwestern National Parks Scott A. Elias Packrat middens: The last 40,000 years of biotic change Julio Betancourt & Tom Van Devender A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country David Williams Eating Stone Ellen Meloy Wind in the Rock Ann Zwinger Run River Run Ann Zwinger Desert Plants of Utah Berniece A. Andersen Grasses of the Southwestern United States Frank W. Gould Sibley Field Guide to North American Birds David Allan Sibley Singing Stone Thomas Lowe Fleischner A Field Guide to Mammals A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians A First Guide to Insects of North America A First Guide to Butterflies and Moths These are all Peterson Guide Books OTHER FICTION AND NON-FICTION Desert Solitaire Abbey The Monkey Wrench Gang Abbey The Sound of Mountain Water Wallace Stegner A Thief of Time Tony Hillerman Listening Woman Tony Hillerman The Dark Wind Tony Hillerman Coyote Waits Tony Hillerman Coyote's Canyon Terry Tempest Williams Pieces of White Shell Terry Tempest Williams Red Terry Tempest Williams Refuge Terry Tempest Williams Ceremony Leslie Mormon Silko Waterlines Ann Weiler Walka |