TBT: Rafting Little Gore Canyon of the Upper Colorado River (Aug 2016)
(Last Updated On: June 15, 2017)
This post is part of a Throwback Thursday series featuring trip reports that we haven’t had a chance to write about until now! Look for them at least every other Thursday!
I love rafting. During my previous years teaching at Standley Lake High School in Westminster I was always a chaperone for a geology science field trip that involved 3 days through the Ruby Horsethief Canyon of the Colorado River from Loma to the take out just before Westwater. Since I left my teaching position there 10 years ago, I don’t think I have been on a raft. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it any less. So, when Larry offered to take me rafting sometime, I was happy to go.
Last August, this stretch of the Upper Colorado was still running pretty strong due to a dam release. So, even though it was late in the season, the rafting was fun. Others knew it too, and this section was quite crowded.
It was a good time for me to go rafting, because I was just 2 weeks out of my first of a 2 stage knee surgery. I was still recovering and could only ride easy singletrack. I needed another week or so of recovery before I could return to more difficult trails. So, rafting seemed like a pretty good idea.
We put in at Pumphouse and took out at Radium, all just up river from State Bridge.
Similar to the Ruby Horsethief segment of the Colorado River, rafting Little Gore Canyon is pretty much a float trip.
We saw numerous rafts on the river.
Interesting cave….
Did I mention that people who raft like to party?
A little bit more floating and then it was time to take out at Radium.
It was a fun float rafting Little Gore Canyon of the Upper Colorado River and interesting to check out another section of this mighty river. I’ve often thought about getting rafting gear and taking up that sport more seriously, but then I realize it would take too much time away from skiing and biking in the spring/summer. Still, rafting is fun, and I’m looking forward to exploring more places through the water again someday!
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