Rafting Cataract Canyon and Removing Tamarisk: A Sierra Club service project

This Sierra Club service outing was a joint project of the Sierra Club, The Tamarisk Coalition, Canyonlands National Park, and O.A.R.S. (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists.) We spent 6 days on the Colorado River, rafting about 100 miles, camping five nights on the shore in Canyonlands National Park, hiking three times, spending two days assisting national park rangers remove invasive tamarisk trees to create new camping areas and restore native vegetation, and then rafting the 30 rapids of Cataract Canyon before returning to Moab, Utah.

The first 50 miles was flat water so our four rafts were lashed together and we motored downriver, stopping to hike the ruins across from Lathrop Canyon. Here's a photo of the ruins (click to enlarge photos)...



Our second hike was at the "Loop" where the Colorado River makes a sweeping 270 degree turn doubling back on itself, where we hiked up the 700 feet to the saddle, enjoyed the vistas of the river both before and behind us, and then hiked down the other side where the rafts picked us up again...



...and where we saw these petroglyphs pecked into this rock...



Then it was on to "The Confluence" where the Green River meets the Colorado River. We camped here two nights to assist the river rangers with their Tamarisk removal project. Here Gordy and Norm hike through an opening cut out by the rangers and their chainsaws so we could all access the dense, overgrown forest of invasive Tamarisk trees. These trees propagate quickly and completely take over an area, preventing access, denying light and water to native vegetation, and disrupting native fauna. The hard-working, dedicated rangers, Steve, Kyler, Clay, and Skyler busily chainsawed the tough trees and then we removed the pieces...




Below, Jerry and Mike lug a large stump to the slash pile, as Norm, left, and Tim, right look for the next area to be cleared, and Gordy in the background wrestles another log to be removed. The rangers were impressed with how efficiently we 14 volunteers cleared the downed rubbish, allowing all four rangers to concentrate on chainsaw work. Even our four river guides joined in our efforts because the Tamarisk interfere with their livelihood by dominating the river banks. Finally, the rangers applied a herbicide to the remnant tree trunks to kill the roots which can extend 100 feet into the ground and which could still sprout dozens of new trees.



After many hours of work, this huge area had been successfully cleared. All the tons of debris were placed along and over the edge of the cliff where next Spring's rush of winter melt water will take the debris down to the river level and hopefully knit with sand to rebuild beaches here and farther downriver.



We also assisted in the next phase -- the replanting of native Cottonwood trees at Spanish Bottom which began earlier this year starting with 17 trees. They were just a few feet tall when planted but now stand over 8 feet tall. Of course, since this is a high desert environment, watering is required, and this is accomplished with three huge water tanks holding a total of over 1600 gallons which feed irrigation tubes which we hand-calibrated to drip-deliver five drops of water per second to each tree...



Of course, the rangers have to come every few weeks to refill the tanks using a pump and 300' of fire hose stretching from the tanks to the river, so we unrolled and connected the six hose segments down to the river as Chris, Jerry, and Gordy position the hose to refill the tanks for the rangers...



The final adventure was negotiating the 30 rapids of Cataract Canyon. The river is much calmer this time of year, running at a mere 7000 cfs (cubic feet per second) compared to 70,000 cps and more during the spring runoff period, so class 2 and 3 rapids are the norm now instead of class 4 and 5, but it was still an exhilarating, cold, wet ride. Here's a photo as a huge wave was about to completely inundate our raft...



Here are our three Sierra Club leaders, Mike, Larry, and Gordy...



...and here are our four exceptional guides too hard at work to cooperate with the photo op (Jeremy and Paulie cooking, and in the background, Seth and senior guide Christian.)



...and here is the entire stalwart group posing after our hike up to the top of the "Loop..."

Front row: Frank, Larry W., Tim C., Dave, Chris, Steve, Larry G., Mike, and Norm
Middle (seated) row: Tim H., Chuck, Gordy, and Jerry
Back (seated) row: Joe and Rick

We had a wonderful week on the water, despite the attempts of the weather to spoil our trip. The first two days each saw an hour of 30+ mph winds blowing sand at and into our tents, which were inundated with 1/4 inch or more of sand both days even though the tents were closed up tightly. Several tents were flattened but still usable after these storms. The third night featured three hours of rather brisk winds doing the same with the sand as we tried to sleep. The worst was day four as we descended from hiking up to the Doll House formations atop the 1400 foot high cliff. As we were halfway down, the strong winds brought sand, then pea-sized hail, then a cold, biting rain. Drenched and chilled after the 40 minute wet hike back to camp, I discovered my tent destroyed by the storm...

You can see that one pole snapped and tore the rain fly in numerous places, rendering it unusable. Joe's tent was similarly totaled, but the head guide, Christian, fortuitously had two of his tents as spares which Joe and I gratefully used the final two nights. Frank's tent, which was located between Joe's and mine, was seen flying away by several who had stayed in camp. It tumbled over and over and uphill, ultimately landing against trees about 40 feet away from its starting position. Its rain fly was badly torn but duct tape made it operable. Witnesses described the wind as a vortex which seemed to hit our three tents.

Here's a video of our adventure...




More photos in my gallery.