Gates of Lodore, July 07

Hanging out at the Lodore ranger station campground on the evening before we launched.

Rigging the boat at the put-in. Umbrellas are sweet.

Looking into the Gates of Lodore from the put-in.

Camp at Pot Creek.

View of camp from across the river.

Kent,squirting.

Dropping in to 'Hells Half Mile.'

Camping on night 2 at Rippling Brook

The early morning view from our tent at Rippling Brook.

Canyon of Lodore.

Steamboat Rock on the right.

Approaching the confluence,at left, with the Yampa river

The bend at Steamboat Rock.

The entrance to Whirlpool canyon.

The hike back to Jones Hole.

Jones Creek,i think. A crystal clear stream that comes up from a spring underground and runs all year long.

This was a world class side hike up to this stream and around the canyon to the waterfall and pictographs.

Fremont Indian pictographs at Jones hole.

An awesome little waterfall,nicknamed buttcrack falls,cause you can sit in it at the top and plug it,then release it on to the person below. Its the perfect shower too. I believe its called Ely falls or something. Before.

After.

An amazing sunset before things really got weird,it was Friday the 13th and all. As soon as we beached on camp,around the corner, a big,big storm blew in and we were hammered with winds n rain and some impressive thunder and lightning.

The last stretch. Split mountain takeout is just around the bend.

This month we were lucky enough to pickup a cancellation permit for a very tough river to get on. Technically last month. We were supposed to put on for a Desolation/Gray Canyon float trip on July 12th. We found out,at the last second, that it was possible to get on Lodore,through a cancelled permit,on July 11th. We decided on the more scenic,greener,thrilling,cooler-sorta, and overall better float trip,Lodore. Usually referred to as 'Gates of Lodore.' It was 44 miles long and lasted four days. Eleven of us put on on July 11th. It starts in Colorado and floats through Dinosaur National Monument and into Utah,near Jensen. They say that permits through the Dinosaur are as rare as dinosaurs. Now i can see why, its a pretty amazing float. Lots of good rapids,fairly warm water,and green too,plus crazy good scenery.