Stillwater Canyon. Green River. Utah

Trip Overview

Put-in at Mineral Bottom April 28
Take-out at Spanish Bottom May 3 with jet boat shuttle back to Potash/Moab
52 miles in 4 paddle days.
One layover day at Spanish Bottom for hiking The Doll House.
Total days on the river - 5, not counting our jet boat pick-up day.

Water level on put-in day - 13,800cfs which is about twice normal for that date, but not peak runoff levels yet. Water temp. - 53 degrees.

Weather was chilly the first 3 days with highs of upper 50s - mid 60s. Last 3 days were gorgeous and in the 70s. No rain at all on the trip, and moderate wind on day 2.
Average travel speed on my GPS was around 5 mph with mild paddling effort.

Camps were easy to locate with the aid of a GPS and the River Ways guide by Tom Martin & Duwain Whitis. There is a pretty steady wall of Tamarisk and Russian Olive to deal with along the shore, but with attention to the GPS and the guide, we found the camps with no problem. Because of the higher than normal water level, we were able to paddle up into several of the side canyon/washes to explore & hike. We even camped in an un-named camp in one of the canyons which was fun. We saw only one other group (Canadians in canoes) the entire 5 days on the river.

Gear - 3 people in 3 SOT kayaks. I was using my new Eddyline Caribbean 14 for it's maiden overnight trip. A friend used my Necky Vector 13. The third member of our trio used his trusty OC Scupper Pro 15. Gotta say I love my Eddyline. It handled well, and swallowed gear with no problem. Packing it with gear for 5 days, including all my drinking water was easy. I also used my new Kokatat Super Nova semi-dry suit for the first time on this trip, and it was perfect for the chilly weather & water temps.

Shuttle arranged with Tex's Riverways in Moab. This was my third trip using them, and they were, as usual, top notch. Very organized, knowledgeable, and friendly.

Great trip, with great scenery.