Packrafting the Dirty Devil, March 2014

[mattvogt7]

gone

 

[BJett]

Beautiful.

 

[Mike K]

Very cool! I've been wanting to packraft this river for the past 3 years. More questions to come from me.

 

[pixie1339]

Very powerful! Thanks for sharing the journey.

 

[Curt]

I was moved by your report. You wrote about many things I can relate to. It seems like so much of my own life has turned differently than I expected - from marriage, to children, my career, to pretty much every back country experience. There have been many surprises and fortunately most have have turned out better than I thought they would. I know its a cliche, but life really is an adventure. Despite the best planning and research things never go as expected. I was glad to see that your experience was better than you expected.

 

[Melissa]

This is a killer trip report, thanks for taking the time to write something so deeply felt. I'll be thinking about this as we explore the lower Escalante this weekend, albeit from a boat based on the waters of that darn reservoir (I refuse to call it a lake). I have mixed feelings about making use of the reservoir as a means to explore places I couldn't otherwise get to.

 

[Taylor F.]

Brilliant. Thank you for this, mate.

 

[Laura]

Please write more! Words to describe how I'm feeling right now after having finished this are failing me, except that I hope you become as widely read as Mr. Abbey. The Southwest needs more like you.

Now I'm off to bookmark your blog……..

 

[Artemus]

Thank you Matt! These things need to be said and these places need to be cherished and protected. I love the devil and am glad you discovered it. Brothers in affection.

 

[uintahiker]

Looks like yet another fantastic river report! These float trip reports are the way to go!

 

[Nick]

Beautiful report, Matt. It's been a wildly conflicting year for me in regard to Glen Canyon. I feel guilty to have begun utilizing it and exhilarated at the same time. I want to experience it like it was, but if I can't do that, I want to experience what I can. I've never floated the Dirty Devil, but I have hiked to the waste lands at the bottoms of the surrounding canyons. I think my trip down Fiftymile last year was the most profound of them all. Silt banks and tamarisk have always been sad sights, but for me, it was walking through the narrows of Fiftymile at low water, one of the most beautiful canyons I've ever experienced, that hurt the most. Thanks for posting.

 

[steve]

Matt, do you happen to remember what the flow levels were when you ran this?

 

[mattvogt7]

Matt, do you happen to remember what the flow levels were when you ran this?

Hey Steve - super super late on this for which I apologize! I'm not on the site very often so occasionally I sign on and see a notification I missed from long ago. The flows ranged from 90-110cfs for this trip in particular. Not great but not bad either!