Return to civilization
The sound of a diesel engine reverberated off the canyon walls the following day shortly after noon, well ahead of our scheduled 1 p.m. pickup. I dashed down to the riverbank and waved down the jet boat captain. After 15 minutes we had all of our gear loaded onboard and we were speeding up the river to pick up a couple of canoeists from British Columbia before heading up the Colorado River through the Confluence for a two-and-a-half hour boat ride to the ramp in Potash, where every arrival both looked and smelled like a homeless person after many days on the river. But we were all in it together and nobody cared.
There were numerous casualties on this trip, including my two cameras and solar charger. But the smartphone eventually survived, and so had we. It will take literally days to remove the dust, dirt and hardened river muck from both our gear and our bodies.
This was a journey that will be embossed into our memories like the ancient pictographs and petroglyphs on the canyon walls. We chose to embark upon this trip without support, but both Tex’s and Tag-A-Long offer guided trips as well for those who prefer a little more guidance. A paddle through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons is nonetheless not for everyone. The trip’s length, dirt, and logistics will dissuade many. But those who retrace Powell’s paddle down the Green River will be rewarded with the voyage of a lifetime.
If you go:
Separate river permits are required from the BLM for Labyrinth Canyon, and from Canyonlands National Park for Stillwater Canyon. The Labyrinth Canyon permit requires little more than filling out a form and carrying the required gear, while the permit for Stillwater Canyon requires a bit more arduous and bureaucratic process and while there’s no lottery involved, permits are limited by the number of people who can be shuttled by outfitters from The Confluence or Spanish Bottom. Ruby Ranch’s owners also charge a fee for those who choose to launch their boats there, although there are alternative put-ins at Crystal Geyser and in the town of Green River.
Applications and more information may be found at:
Two outfitters are permitted to provide shuttle services from Spanish Bottom to Moab and also provide guided expeditions: