Three activity adventure

Floating down the five miles of flat water, before the first anticipated rapids on the Green River near Green River, Utah, gave me unanticipated time in my little kayak to ponder and take in the beauty of the canyon the Green had carved out. With its high walls of cascading cliffs and rock fall that makes its way ever closer to the water’s edge, the banks are lined with the first of spring’s green-leafed cottonwood trees. Spending your morning in the contrasts of the dry desert and the green oasis’ that form along many of the river banks is a great way to start your day. One of the questions often pondered on the Green, especially with the spring runoff swelling the rivers banks is, where does the name “Green River” come from, especially when the waters are always so muddy brown?
We put our Back Country Adventure Tour group in at the put in named after a great Egyptian Queen, Nefertiti. It is named this after a rock formation with a likeness of her profile. Or as a guest pointed out, the rock looked more like the head of today’s TV character, Bart Simpson. However you looked at it, it was the figure that looked over the start of our three day adventure of river running and rock climbing.

We started out our Friday evening camping on the shores of the muddy Green under huge green cottonwood trees. Maybe that is where the name comes from? We ate well and then slept with the sounds of the river close by. After kayaking the river and loading our boats we made a quick dash thirty miles west to the San Rafael River in the Swell to do some climbing and kayaking of the river. Close to this emerald green river is a little known canyon with great crack climbing. We set up camp at the base of this wall and spent Saturday evening pumping our muscles, and minds, to their limits. We slept well that night, nursing the skin that was now the color of the rock we had climbed that day. The next day we had planned to kayak a section of the San Rafael River called the Little Grand Canyon. Mid May is the anticipated time that the run off of the mountain would allow us to float that section of the river. To our dismay, the river was still low with no additional run off to make the float possible. With our trip cut short and being sufficiently tired and sun-kissed, we headed home to plan our next trip or to prepare for the next group hoping to see these amazing places.