Our trip began Saturday, April 19, 2008 with Chris and Bobby leaving Idaho Falls (driving through wind the whole way)and Susan and Michael leaving from Los Alamos. As with most good road trips, something must and will always go wrong. Michael and Susan forgot a few food items and so stopped at the City Market in Pagosa Springs. Susan was fiddling with her wallet and apparently dropped it somewhere in the store. She and Michael retraced their steps tore apart the car but were never able to locate the wallet. So Susan had to call up trusty old Dad to cancel her credit and debit cards, then rely on Michael (and later Chris) to pay for everything else. Later that day we meet up in Mexican Hat, Utah. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Swingin Steak and then camped at the very very windy Goosenecks camp ground. Luckily we had lots of beer, great company and the excitement for our trip to make it bearable.

San Juan River, Utah Swingin Steak in Mexican Hat, Utah Goosenecks of the San Juan

Sunday April 20, 2008
Sunday we woke up and had some breakfast at the Old Bridge Grill at the San Juan Inn, and headed down to the put-in to prepare the boats, get water and arrange for our cars to be shuttled to the take-out in Clay Hills (do $150 and $155 really add up to $305???). We made it onto the river about 1:00pm. We began at mile 27 from Mexican Hat. The wind had let up and it was about 70 degrees or so during the day. After a short trip down the river we made camp at Tabernacle at river mile __. We took a short (the water was very cold) river swim, and washed up a little. We set up camp which even included a table cloth for the two tables we had and some stylish orange dinner ware. We enjoyed some chips, salsa and green chile dip, green chile chicken enchiladas (cooked in the dutch oven), margaritas and tecate's. Bobby entertained us with some harmonica playing while sitting around the campfire.


Old Bridge Grill


Monday April 21, 2008
Monday we woke up late had some bagels and started packing up the boat, it was another warm day. We were approached by the BLM river ranger to ensure we had all that was required for our trip. Apparently folks from Durango, CO and Flagstaff, AZ typically cause the most trouble so he was glad to hear we weren't from either place. After that we decided that any rafters who were jerks were from Durango or Flagstaff. It was another short day on the river, Susan and Bobby got their first opportunity to row the boats and Chris took his new boat for its first surfing expedition. The hole ended up a little bigger than expected and took them for a ride. Chris quickly got them out before Susan went swimming. We landed at Honaker for camp at river mile___. We were sharing this camp site with another large group around the corner. We found a shady spot and cocktail hour started. It was also time to bring out the "Groover" (toilet)for the first time. We found a great place overlooking the river to set up. Michael was enjoying his red wine and great view when some kids from the camp next door, pounding on drums, decided to hike over toward the "Groover" spot, slightly awkward, but it gave Susan, Bobby and Chris a good laugh. We were treated to some fabulous BBQ, courtesy of Bobby and red wine for dinner and another great night of harmonica playing by Bobby. This time his tunes included a song which included "Surfing the No-Name Hole", grooving and other events from the day.



Tuesday April 22, 2008
Tuesday we again woke up late, warmed up some breakfast burritos, re-loaded the boats and headed out, waving to our neighbors as we went by. The first river beer to be handed from Bobby and Michael's boat to Chris didn't quite make it far enough leaving Susan and Chris to chase down the beer in a comical rowing series of events, worthy of some circus theme music. Susan and Bobby once again got a chance to row the boats, although Chris did have to rescue Susan a few times from hitting a rock. Oops. As we approached John's Canyon where we were hoping to spend the night, there were other campers who had spread out their dry bags at each site. We all agreed they must be from Durango or Flagstaff. So we were on the hunt for a new place to camp. We found one spot but agreed it was not a good camp spot. A little way down the river we found a spot that would suffice, at river mile__. It wasn't a great site but it worked. It was a cold night and we were all tired. We grilled steaks and had some mashed potatoes and again enjoyed the harmonica songs from Bobby. We had a visitor to camp that night (a kangaroo rat, but luckily it didn't stick around.



Thursday April 24, 2008
Thursday was once again a late morning, we knew that there would be a lot of rowing today as the river begins to widen as it merges with Lake Powell and the water runs slowly. We once again packed up the boats and began the trek. We all took turns rowing and enjoying the amazing red rock canyons and made it to our next campsite in record time. We camped at Oljeto Wash at river mile __. After a short swim we hiked up the wash to view the amazing slot canyon overhangs that are created by the water runs. The wind held out long enough for us to cook up a great spaghetti dinner with garlic toast. Bobby and Susan tried to take the new boat up the canyon to collect fire wood, but could not get off a sand bar, so trekked up on foot to collect wood before it got dark. When they returned the wind picked up. We had to put everything up and sat around a small fire and drank what little beer we had left. It was early to bed that night as we tried to get out of the wind.



Friday April 25, 2008
Friday was our last day on the river, we got up early and since we had put away most of the gear the night before because of the wind, it didn't take us long to pack up and get on the river. It was another slow moving river day, with lots of rowing. We had to look out for sand bars to avoid having to push the boats off of them. Chris and Susan hit a small one but Chris was able to maneuver the boat off the bar without any incident. Michael and Bobby got stuck on only one bar, so we made it to the Clay Hills take out quicker than we had initially expected. It took some time to de-gear the boats, dry them out, deflate them and pack the cars. Once we finished this we drove to Durang Colorado for a beer and some chips and dip at SteamWorks Brewery (Michael won a t-shirt in a drawing) and then we moved on to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Once at Michael's house in Pagosa we took some long awaited showers. John Telle and Alexis McLaughlin stopped in for a visit and we all met over at the Bear Creek Saloon & Grill for dinner and beers. The band sang Happy Birthday to Michael. We then hit the Pagosa Bar (dive bar) for an additional drink. After walking back to Michael's we ended the evening by watching a July 4 1987 Grateful Dead concert.

SteamWorks Brewery in Durango Bear Creek Saloon & Grill in Pagosa

Saturday April 26, 2008
Saturday we switched gears a little and put away our river gear and took out our ski equipment. After eating a few muffins we headed up to Wolf Creek Ski Area for what we hoped would be a day of slushy bumps and beers in the sun on the deck. It was the last weekend Wolf Creek would be open for the season. Well the snow was more crusty vs. slushy and so we hit the deck earlier than expected. After a few runs then beers and then back to skiing and back to the deck for beers and lunch, the wind picked up again and we called it a day. Once getting back to Pagosa we went for a walk down to the river to check it out. Then we went to Pagosa Brewery and ate dinner at the Buffalo Inn. We came back to Michaels to once again end the day watching old concerts, but had an earlier night.

Wolf Creek Ski Area Pagosa Brewery San Juan River in Pagosa

Sunday April 27, 2008
Sunday was the end of our trip. Chris surprised Michael by leaving the old blue boat with him, so we re-shuffled gear out of the Toyota and back in again. Chris and Bobby said their good-byes and headed back to Idaho Falls (via Silverton Grand Junction, etc.). Susan and Michael cleaned up the house, took the trash to the dumpster and headed back to New Mexico. They met Art and Deanna in Espanola for lunch at La Cocina. When Susan arrived home that afternoon she found a Fed Ex package containing her wallet minus the $200 and some change that was originally in it.

MORE PHOTOS (from Bobby) We hope you enjoyed checking out our trip.
We had a blast!!!!