9 days and 89 miles of Greenery

[fishskibum]

Thought id share sum doing of the things
we do an annual river trip for my bros moms bday
and we put in for permits every year
this year we score the ladore again
spent 9 days and 89 green river miles, from the dam at flaming gorge to split mountain dino np,
a variety of fam and friends accompanied us at different times on this one
in back in sept
while ive spent a lot of time on these waters both on vacation and as a vocation
but ive never ran it all in one continuious float




at times it was a hudge, well sum of us only flyfish:fm:, trip



there are rapids to be run



at some point you float into a camp

gear explosion occurs

there are chores to be done

shelter and substance stuffs

sumfrickinmores to consumes

daylight comes


the rituals of consumption, shelters, sh*ts and

well yeah day 2 what cha gonna do
cept puts all the sh*t back on the floation devices


and git the float back on

some river miles are easy


theres wildlife



there are sights and stops along the way
history lessons and the old ways on display


stops of substance


there are others words of potential wisdom to be read

signs of death

and this day held a religious ceremony of life of faith and friendships


stoked to have a godson
and i wish a life of river travels and well not tight lines thats posuer talk but the enjoyment that piscatorial pursuits may bring
you float into another camp
and sh*t both figuratively and literally gets unloaded

"when the child was a child"

nap time never hurts
daylight wanes and activities of night commence

daylight comes again and the cycle continues

there are signs of the season

casts of piscatorial pursuits to be made

success

failures

there are life skills of river propulsion to be learnt



miles float by you leave a canyon

and float to another take out

possibly tbc
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[PBH]

flycraft makes a nice boat.


Hyside makes a better boat!


Loved the pics. Thanks for sharing. Makes me want head north, even though my rod points south.
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[Kent]

Looks like a great outing. Especially pleased to see the little ones invited along on the trip.
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[Bovineowner]

What a grand adventure! Thanks for sharing it with us. I really enjoyed the pictures and your unique narrative. Kudos for spending time with and making priceless memories with the family. I've always wanted to float the Green. Hope that someday I'll git-r-dun.
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[fishskibum]

[quote kentofnsl]Looks like a great outing. Especially pleased to see the little ones invited along on the trip.[/quote]
the one groms been on em all



and from his first river poop in his friend grover to his first nice bow on the whippy stick its ben great to see him grow and mature every season and see him help his younger brother on his first trip

and its always been a family float a mixing of young and old a sharing and passing down the traditions skills and a way of river rat life
the couple in the yellow raft are pros they and their kids have it dialed in pretty good
and im not gonna be surprised at all if the oldest of the crew were to become a river guide.
while not as prevalent on the fishing guide side, there are a few and they are good don't phase me to say better than I.
I struggled a lot guiding fisherman and it really wasn't my cup of tea. Im a much better swamper.
and hope to guide white water next summer
They (chicks on the sticks) do however probably make up more than %50 of the whitewater guides in my experiances

my dads made one

and my latest furkid has got 2 but missed this one
and the last good ole god I named Kessler made 1 before his rainbow bridge trip


people often tell me man you git to spend the majority of the year skiing or fishing
man that's livin the dream
and while theres bunch of sacrifice involved to do it
Sometimes I dream of teaching my own "crotchfruit" my passions and just being a dad.
knowing full well its that lack of that responsibility and financial burdens that allows me the freedom to bum
im gonna leave this here
https://youtu.be/0ErZMyeGdtY
and well git to the part on how the balding bum bro
cursing obscenities and his wrong side up raft came to be in that situation
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[fishskibum]

so the plan was float into swinging bridge ditch the fams, one of the rafts and start fishing hard
Cept the shuttles got goobered and bens familys car wasn't there
your cell service is 50 or so miles back to 191 and dj
or outside craig/Maybell
there is however a still functioning og pay phone at taylors bridge that makes collect calls
the shuttle snafu got sorted but required driving back to dj and fgl did refund $400 worth of shuttles to make it right
by then it was past 4:20 and we had 8 river miles to crook and about 4 hours of daylight.
so we both push oars instead of fish

under the bridge

which is fixed now icyww.

your in Browns Park nwr now.
its pretty quite down there this stretch doesn't git traveled that much
the river bottoms sandy off the cliffs the waters deep

there are locals watching

the sup goes rouge and ghost rides

daylight wanes

navigation and channel choices become harder
water depth wanes and your walkin rubber instead of floating and rowing it

your hungry tired and rowing in in the dark much like you knew it would be when you started

but its done we ate threw a buzz on and slept the sleep of another day of river miles rowed
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[gaardvark]

My parents started running the Green when I was 11. We/they have been running rivers for decades since then, but in spite of my arguments, fishing has never been a primary focus of the trips; instead, they try to get permits at the peak of runoff so the rapids and challenges will be greater.
I'm curious how the rapids were when the water is that low and clear? Hells Half Mile, Upper Disaster Falls, Lower Disaster Falls, and Triplet are all rapids we generally pull off to scout through Lodore Canyon. With the lower water and kids, do you still need to take the time to scout them?
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[remo_5_0]

Looks like a great trip []
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[fishskibum]

[quote gaardvark]My parents started running the Green when I was 11. We/they have been running rivers for decades since then, but in spite of my arguments, fishing has never been a primary focus of the trips; instead, they try to get permits at the peak of runoff so the rapids and challenges will be greater.
I'm curious how the rapids were when the water is that low and clear? Hells Half Mile, Upper Disaster Falls, Lower Disaster Falls, and Triplet are all rapids we generally pull off to scout through Lodore Canyon. With the lower water and kids, do you still need to take the time to scout them?[/quote]
The kids are gone now the fams took out at swinging bridge
At this point it is Ben and I
Scouted em all almost always do
The river journals of Haldane "buzz" Holmstrom solo journey down the green and Colorado in '37 and again with a crew in '38 are transcribed in the book
Every Rapid Speaks Plainly
which sums it up pretty well its rarely the same speech
its not an easy read both the book and rapids sometimes
well its is easier for me as I write in his chix scratch stream of consciences style [ing carp emoji inserted here]
his biography The Doing Of The Thing is a great read
As is the" Emerald Mile" if you want to read a really good whitewater story
with the history of the sport and gc damn
While high flows/water will make the rapids greater and high flows and water will definitely make consequences greater, often they are more challenging at lower flows.
Where more rocks and obstacles are exposed as opposed to large wave trains
where you probably wont hit anything but water and if you can keep em straight and perpendicular with momentum and not taco the rubber youll probably be fine
and some rapids wash out and become easier.
On the "A" or first 8 miles the largest wave trains occur at dripping springs at high flows where as at most normal under 4kcfs flows its not even a class 1.
When I started guiding all clients portaged red creek and flow dependent
most ran right as left was doable but you were gonna leave some glass on the rocks or wood splinters or ring the umhw bottom coated aluminum bell.
right you could easily run cleaner but the consequences of ending up on the dragons tooth or hole behind are large and quite unforgiving
Once they decided to recreate historic spring flows and run full dam release
and both bypass tunnels and wash a lot of boardwalk downstream, rocks got moved and left channel is now less challenging most go that way and very few portage their dudes these days.
So id tend to say the challenges are different at different flows more so than greater.
Its a tailwater and the flows change according to discharge which starts at the dam and takes time to move down stream.
on this trip the flows were fluctuating between 1k and 2k I believe
2 seasons ago we launched ladore in late july and they were 2k - 3k cfs.
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[fishskibum]

Day 4 onward to Ladore
So its just my hugeflyfisherman bro Ben and I now
Ben is my friend and i'll be his friends and his youngest childs godson
whether you choose to watch, like, subscribe follow his gram be his zuckerbud retwat his tweets or do or dont his social media shizz
I put them in threads were the content in them is applicable.
and watching that video would give you the best idea as to the flows on this trip in hells 1/2 acre
I give him shit about them and #reelfriendsnotfollowers vrs socialmediainfluencers
He gives me shit as I haven't fished salt in 4 years and he managed 4 trips this season.
and not a lot of people send me free gear.
I met Ben thru the intertubes and knew each other online from both a skiing and fly flinging forum long before becoming friends in the irl.
We met on an annual gits to gathering drakians do every year in buff bills hood.
and I think it went sumthin likes I knew I was gonna end up in a boat or on a snow covered slope with you eventually.
and well yeah if you wanna do it in a beer suit.

Its all good with me and you don't need to ask me if I wanna put in at the drug ranch and take out at the cowboy bar you can still smoke in and leave with roadies
should you ever find yourself here

I had plans and hopes of rowing the hog island drift boat , the furkid , and a copirate all the previous miles and into ladore, but plans fell through
I couldn't justify dragging the boat and god back 8 hours and swapping out to my raft on our resupply day
so I ended up solo until my crew showed up on day 5
Hyside makes great boats never rowed a fly craft but they sure look nice and ive considered their sup.
Maravia makes great boats as does nrs Arrie and a bunch of other small companies the shapes, options and accessories are endless
I came to be in possession of that red arrie super puma a couple years ago when
our crew last scored the ladore permit and I bought in 1/2 from a ski patrol and guide friend.
he later wanted out to buy a sweet big deep v gorge boat that isn't spooky when it gets dicy on the res
When my slacking other bud makes 2 more payments he'll then own 1/2
which is fine he's been storing it and fixed the trailer and I don't use it that often
As im more of a fishin guy than white water.
A friend of ours sums it up best
"no matter what you do to that raft and no matter how many cool accessories
you put on it. It will never fish as nice as a drifty."
Driftboats don't break down and fit in airplanes or cars, portage well, don't bounce
off things, flip over, z drag off obstacles, and a host of other things that rafts are much more suited to.
Right tool that works for you for the job thing.
well ya start the day im a 4 or 5 predawnner
grovers resting in the raft and were at crook camp ground
which is free thanks CO a bpnwr and the kids are gittin dropped off at the campgrounds pool today
so to say
1st thing I like to do
is go down to the river and check see that you did a good job securing your rig.
the coons or aint reeked havoc on your supplies or any other early morning harshing things have occoured overnight.

I gotta go appease my sponsor
#trophyhusbandduties
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[fishskibum]

I hopes bft goes v bulletins or a better forum platform id use the photo uploader
but sideways pictures at the bottom doesn't lend itself very well to my tr style
and ifin i could imbed the spew tubes id put in some tunes
cause wwjjcd?
https://youtu.be/Vm9uBB4kVQs
did ya all know ec is a hudge flyfisherman?
alright we are now on permitted water from below the crook camp ramp.
You need to git a fun float permit to float into the ladore take out
with the nps in vernal being the org that bestows them.
the 49 miles into and thru ladore to split mountain is a lottery based permit
or numerous outfitters ,oars ,dino etc run it on commercial trips.
All the previous river miles are public waters.
Only the commercial outfitters in Groga
Green River outfitters and guide association are allowed to guide for profit, monitary gains bartering of things of worth etc.
This is pretty hard to enforce and yeah i see you greenies and others only occupying the rowers seat, netting fish, undoing penalty box tangles and spending the entire day doing a lot of "guide" type things.
its one of those hard to prove so we ca neasily git away with it things
ive heard rumors their doing away with the guide license requirements not sure if its both fishing and white water.
This is new water to me.
Some value this experience more than others
its sometimes a tradeoff
At this point barring sum unexpected financial windfall im pretty sure i aint gonna throw in all the 50 places to fling flies before you dies books
But if im blessed to get to a thousand on one of them and gain the experience and knowledge that kind of time brings on "home" waters
im good wit dat
and theres a damn good reason why the greens in that book
It is and should always remain a special waterway
Thanks to people like Dennis Breer (fip) who fought hard for 800cfs minimal flows
and to create and maintain such an amazing tailwater fisheries
Denny was a big bear of a man, sometimes gruff, well maybe most, he'd pretty much tell you what he thought whether you wanted to hear it or not.
If you made him or compliment you were probably doin the thing right.
Another person of merit who deserves mention would be the "dean of the green"
Emmit Heath, i am honored to have worked for and been mentored by such good people.
The fight to protect this waterway goes on
Google "green with envy"
or dont
and when we say its our damn water it means ours to stay in the gorge and be released into the river
not some asininely stupid millionaire pipe dream of well manicured colorado
sudivision lawns of grass needing lager amounts of water.
somethings are worth fighting for and that river and its well being are high on my list.
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[fishskibum]

whats goin on?
well alright i usually just cut n paste these from another forum but i haven't gottin any farther than this on any of them so wer'e in new water on day 4 headed to ladore
and if ya made it this far ya probably figured out the add laden functional stoner bums got a good bits of the gumps in em
and ifin ya step back and try and see the forest instead of some misspelled gramtically
incorrect trees or read it out loud spoken it may make mur sense.
or there is always the don't click on the thread and ignore option.
and it is "likes a box of chocolates" cause most of the time i don't know whats im gonna type next.
Lets start with the trees and riparian river habitat of the browns park nwr.

its not good news for the ageing cottonwoods they are dieing and not being replaced at a sustainable rate,
as field research from the browns park teams has confirmed.
The cottonwoods, willows and buffaloberry are being replaced with nonnative invasives like perennial pepperweed and tamarisk, that do not offer the same forage nesting cover or ecosystem as before.
The refuge hosts a great and rich diversity of wildlife 68 species of mammals, 15 of reptiles/amphibs and over 220 different species of both migratory and local birds.
While these habitat problems may take a bit more than voli willow planting, like ive helped with on the strawberry river.
Real smart ,with letters like phd, people are working on this and both tamarisk eradication programs ,recreation of historic spring floods from the fg dam, to plant genetics all are playing a part in helping preserve the natural river riparian ecosystem.

In addition to research the staff at the refuge also pumps water from the green vermillion and beaver creek into 7 different wetlands to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl and others.
Being surrounded by arid, high desert uplands these wetland and river corridor provide the only real significant wetland habitat for miles.

We awake bake breakfast and decide were just gonna leave both rafts in and float into ladore vrs pulling one and needing to relaunch.
And the ever present river runners chore of shuttling logistics a rig from put in to take out would be the days 1st need
and i throws on the RL for sum hill country, delta blues, behind the wheel again miles motivation
https://youtu.be/7lzpDwaxGk4
and we hit the road to git er done to have sum fun

before long it comes into view

Named after a Robert Southey poem "...And this way the water comes down at ladore", by the members of JW Powell's 1st expedition in 1869
its an imposing sight

June 7, 1869- "At noon the sun shines on vermillion walls, and the canyon opens,, like a beautiful portal, to a region of glory.
This evening shadows are settling in the canyon. Now it is a dark portal to a region of gloom, which we are to enter on our voyage tomorrow.
What shall we find"

Powell = stud .
It was a bit more imposing to me the first time we floated it but the grandeur and/ of scale and awe remains
and floating in trumps the heck outta driving and launching and i highly recommend the play permit option if you have the chance.
it offers a way better perspective of what those who floated before and the canyon

i need to go back and thumb through some photos and attempt to upload a few more from day 4 and im still asking my slacker friends for photos so i don't need to go to their damn instagram accounts and borrow them.
between the kids at work mooching my pc off my mount desk and closing my windows or fat fingers hitting the wrong keys i tend to loose a few posts
and i sure cant figure out the bft uploader or embed any viddys
tbc

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