In October of 2020, I was lucky to join 5 other awesome dudes to send it down the Colorado through Westwater Canyon. For those not familiar, the Colorado River runs about 1,450 miles from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the lifeblood for all of the Southwestern United States for everything from drinking water to agriculture, and a little rafting in between.

Westwater Canyon is a very special rafting trip on the Colorado river. It is a permit only trip, requiring you to submit for permits two months before you plan on floating. This section is below the Ruby-Horsethief Canyon and is the first Colorado whitewater in Utah. It is a total of 17 miles of serene canyon walls and Class III and Class IV rapids.

I flew into Grand Junction, Colorado late Friday night, Meeting Colton at the airport. We camped at the put in for Westwater Canyon Friday night. Saturday morning came, starting off with a car shuttle and setting up the rafts. The car shuttle took about 3 hours and by the time it was complete the rafts were set up and ready to go. Our flotilla for this trip was two 16 foot self-bailing rafts and two paddle boards. After all the anticipation of the morning, we were finally off and floating on the river.

After a lazy day on the water, we came to our campsite for the night. In Westwater canyon, you have to pull permits months in advance and then you select the campsite you’ll stay at the morning of launch, we had amazing views of the river and couldn’t ask for a better campsite. We slept with no fly on the tent, enjoying the stars and the eventual rise of the Moon. Falling asleep to the sounds of the water moving.

After a night spent drinking and enjoy the company of buddies, we were off the next morning. We hit all the rapids of Westwater Canyon in one wave train after another. After one bent oar lock and almost flip at Skull rapid, we cruised through Bowling Alley, Sock-it-to-Me, and Last Chance. After 11 river miles, the rapids were over and we cruised down a now calm river, hanging out and racing on paddle boards and rafts. After crashing on the floor Sunday night I was on a plane bound for Phoenix early the next morning. What a great 48 hours in paradise and enjoying the river life.

Summary:
I have done numerous rafting trips over the years but this was my first overnight rafting trip and I am absolutely hooked. The blend or water, camping, rapids, and ability to carry a boatload of beer gives this the peaceful vibes of backpacking with the conveniences of car camping. If you haven’t tried rafting yet, find a guided outfitter in your area and hit the water. Otherwise Southwest Paddler and American Whitewater are two great websites to learn more about the Rivers in your area.