River Trip Planning - Labyrinth Canyon in May

steve

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Messages
2,140
I'm planning a trip with some friends in Labyrinth Canyon in May and I have a lot of questions. This is our first river overnighter trip in decades. We'll be renting sea kayaks from texsriverways. They'll take care of our BLM permits for us. I understand the regulations about needing a fire pan for fires, and for packing out our own waste.

We're planning on Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom, 3-4 days. Is it worth another day or two to put in at Crystal Geyser, or is that stretch boring?

How are the mosquitoes and biting bugs in May?

Any side canyons or hikes we should explore while we're there?

Any other insider advice for us?
 
Last edited:
I have some opinions on this, but keep in mind I've only done it one time which was just this past October.

My impression of the landscape near Ruby Ranch is that you definitely shouldn't bother with the upper stretch between there and town.

Do at least 4 days for Ruby to Mineral! We took it easy and didn't paddle too much over our four days. We only really had time for one decent hike. I guess we could have paddled faster but what fun is that ? I could easily spend a week or more on that stretch of river. I doubt I'll ever do it in less than 5 in the future.

On bugs, I'm purely speculating based on elevation and time of year. I doubt they'll be terrible but you've got room so definitely bring a can of juice.
 
We did it in May: http://edarnell.com/Trails/page200.html

I don't remember any bug problems, and I usually mention that in my trip reports if they're bad, so they must not have been a problem.

We did it in three days, which was a little rushed. I would definitely do at least 4 days, and 5 days is probably better.

Because we were rushed, the only real hike we did was at Bowknot Bend, so I don't really have any advice on other hikes.

And I agree with Nick, I wouldn't start any further up river than Ruby Ranch.

It's a great trip!
 
My impression of the landscape near Ruby Ranch is that you definitely shouldn't bother with the upper stretch between there and town.

Truth.

We only really had time for one decent hike. I guess we could have paddled faster but what fun is that ?

Do the climb to the top of the Bowknot notch, well worth it. The side canyons are largely similar and are rather bland by southern Utah standards (IMO, of course). That being said, the Hey Joe mine is pretty cool. Spring Canyon is nice-ish for the scenery. Hell Roaring gets some motorized use. Labyrinth has some interesting sections from what I've heard between the river and the NPS boundary.

On bugs, I'm purely speculating based on elevation and time of year. I doubt they'll be terrible but you've got room so definitely bring a can of juice.

My brother and I ran into no bugs at the end of April in Labyrinth last year.
 
Last edited:
Hey Steve,

I did this second week of June last year. Bugs were not really bad, but camping in calm winds you will definitely need bug juice. There are a ton of cool hikes that you can research - just depends on how much time you want to spend. You can do bowknot in an hour or spend a bunch of time there. Definitely don't miss that view. In kayaks, I would plan on 3 easy days plus 2 nights plus whatever time you want to stop/stay to hike. Sounds perfect to add a day and plan a couple of nice hikes!

-Eric
 
Awesome, that's just the info I was looking for. Thanks guys.
 
Were you guys able to filter and drink the river water, or did you carry your own? I understand it's silty, but if I backflush my sawyer mini frequently, I should be ok. I hear the water is quite salty as well.
 
Good to know. Half the trip reports I find talk about filtering the green, and the other half bring their own water. I'll plan on brining my own. I forget just how much weight you can carry in a kayak.
 
I took my own in a collapsible jug from Walmart. I don't do cow water if I can help it.
 
We did it in May: http://edarnell.com/Trails/page200.html

We did it in three days, which was a little rushed. I would definitely do at least 4 days, and 5 days is probably better.

It's a great trip!

Great trip report, thanks for the link. That gives me lots of info. I'm not really one who likes to get in at camp at 2pm and dink around for the next 10 hours before going to bed. I usually prefer to arrive at camp around dark. If you were to stretch it to 4 or 5 days, would you spend more time hiking and exploring, or more time sitting around camp reading?
 
Last edited:
If you were to stretch it to 4 or 5 days, would you spend more time hiking and exploring, or more time sitting around camp reading?

Thanks!

I'm like you...I don't like to get into camp early, either. And I tend to get out of camp early in the morning, too. I'm also a little hyper at camp, so I usually find myself just exploring around when I have down time. So, if I took more time on that trip, I would have probably mostly paddled up side canyons more like Ten Mile, and I would have hiked around more in places like Horseshoe, Trin Alcove, and some rock art sites.
 
That describes me to a tee. Thanks, that sounds like a great option. I'll definitely be planning on taking the extra time to do those things.
 
It was good when we were there. We spent a good portion of our time just floating and we made good time. When people talk about dragging boats, it's hard for me to wrap my head around that because the river was fast and swirling with deep eddies when we were on it.
 
Did you have any difficulty locating good, sandy campsites with that much water? It was way low when we went in October but I still felt like it wasn't the easiest thing to locate a good spot.
 
Did you have any difficulty locating good, sandy campsites with that much water? It was way low when we went in October but I still felt like it wasn't the easiest thing to locate a good spot.
No, I don't remember having any problems. We saw practically no one else on the river, so we weren't competing for campsites.

I usually start looking for a site about 30 minutes before I want to stop, though, and I'll take the first site I come across.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
Mikjik86 Another Wind River Trip Planning! Elkhart/Titcomb/Knapsack/Shannons Pass loop back to Elkhart, or continue to Green River Lakes Trailhead? Trip Planning 10
BJett Red River Gorge/Red Byrd Arch Packraft Trip - Kentucky Hiking & Camping 9
travel2walk trip report: Wind River Range – Ross Lakes, Bear Basin, Grasshopper Glacier, & Dinwoody Creek loop, Aug-Sep 2020 Trip Reports 41
S Yukon River family + puppy canoe trip On The Water 4
Dreamer Wind River Dreaming | Summer 2012 trip 3 July 22 - August 8 | part two Backpacking 2
Dreamer Wind River Dreaming | Summer 2012 trip 3 July 22 - August 8 Backpacking 19
neiloro Invite Desolation Canyon River/Rafting Trip - July 3-8 Meet Up (Members Only) 0
natylka Fisher Towers Section of the Colorado River-Canoe Trip Trip Planning 3
ram Grand Canyon River Trip.... March 8th-24th 2016 Canyoneering 12
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 6 - Hobbs Lake Backpacking 3
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 5 - Island Lake Backpacking 6
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 4 - Indian Basin and Knife Point Glaicer Backpacking 4
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 3 - Summit of Fremont Peak Backpacking 2
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 2 - Exploration of Titcomb Basin Backpacking 10
Blake Merrell Wind River Trip - Day 1 - Elkhart TH to Titcomb Basin Backpacking 18
b.stark Missouri River Canoe Trip On The Water 9
Tres Westbrook Green River Canoe Trip - Mineral Bottom to Spanish Bottom May 24-29, 2015 (Part 1 - Days 1 and 2) On The Water 5
steve Invite Kayak/Canoe Trip on the Green River - May 8-11 Meet Up (Members Only) 7
Reid First Week of June Trip - Wind River? Tetons? Trip Planning 9
M Lost a drone in the San Rafael River area/below the wedge. No time to hike in to retrieve. General Discussion 0
fossana Colorado River talks in Springdale, UT (March 27th, April 5th) General Discussion 4
TractorDoc Yellowstone's Gallatin River -- September 7-9th 2023 Backpacking 12
BJett Rockcastle River No Shuttle Packrafting - Kentucky On The Water 2
Janice Such a GRAND Canyon - Deer Creek / Tapeats / Thunder River Backpacking 21
Kullaberg63 Suggestions for Escalante east of river, south of Choprock Trip Planning 4
scatman The Gallatin River, Bighorn and Fawn Passes, Yellowstone National Park - September 7, 2023 Backpacking 14
shredhiker Thorofare, Heart Lake, Snake River Sept. 2023 Backpacking 16
Ugly Headless Valley- Film about traveling the Nahanni River General Discussion 5
meowtaingal Wind river high route mid september Trip Planning 7
BJett Packrafting the Obed National Wild & Scenic River - Tennessee On The Water 1
kwc Savage River, Denali NP Hiking & Camping 1
D Wind River offtrail route questions Trip Planning 28
Rockskipper You think you found a pithouse, or maybe an Ancestral Puebloan tower near Green River, UT? It's maybe something even more interesting... General Discussion 3
SteveR Sheep River Road Ride on May Day Everything Else 2
F Upper Escalante River Backpack conditions Trip Planning 6
W Greetings from the West Side of the Winds (Wind River range) Noobs: Introduce yourself! 5
marquiri Wind River Range - Angel Pass Trip Planning 24
Writhdar Day hikes in the White Clouds and Lost River Range Hiking & Camping 1
BJett Packrafting the Cumberland River Below the Falls - Kentucky On The Water 6
Mikjik86 Backpacking The Wind River Range - Wyoming, September 2022 Trip Reports 3
kwc Cedar River Flow, Central Adirondacks On The Water 1
kwc Fall paddle on the West Branch of the Sacandaga River 10/23/22 On The Water 0
Jackson Heart Lake and Snake River for Labor Day Backpacking 23
Stephanie B Dirty Devil River Impassible at Poison Springs Canyon Off Road 0
R Wind River Range: Green River Lakes/Clarks Trail/Porcupine Creek Trail Trip Planning 3
BJett Amazing Appalachians - Backpacking/Packrafting the AT and Nantahala River Backpacking 5
Georgia Yankee Snake River; Wolverine, Coulter, Pilgrim Creeks, July-Aug. 2022 Backpacking 18
wsp_scott Wind River Range Sept 2021 (part 2) Backpacking 4
wsp_scott Wind River Range Sept 2021 (part 1) Backpacking 16
WasatchWill WRHR - Day 7: Beaver Park to Green River Lakes Backpacking 15

Similar threads

Back
Top