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Dirty Devil Float Trip, 2021 |
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Mar-Apr 2021: The Dirty Devil River is an 80-mile-long tributary of the Colorado River, located in Utah. It flows through southern Utah from the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek near Hanksville, before emptying into the Colorado River at Lake Powell. It was named by the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition led by John Wesley Powell, which explored much of the Colorado River and its tributaries. It was named for the extreme salinity and turbidity and brown color of the water near its mouth. The canyon carved by the river is particularly isolated and seldom visited compared to other natural areas in the region. The average discharge of the river is approximately 446 cubic feet per second. The biggest dilemma one faces when planning a float trip down the Dirty Devil is timing a trip when flows are sufficient for floating. On average, March and April are the only months that the river is potentially floatable; however, most people do it in May or June because of warming temperatures. It is recommended to use a hard walled or inflatable kayak when flows are 100 cfs or higher. Brother-in-law, Rich, and I chose to do the float beginning in late March. The reported flow rate was averaging around 120 fps, which is low, but above the recommended 100 fps minimum. Rich chose to use a 15' canoe while I opted for a 12' inflatable kayak. The trip was a roaring success, but the low flow rate was challenging. Rich's canoe floated effortlessly downstream most of the time, while I spent much of the first 3 days in and out of the kayak, dragging it along the bottom of the river. The hard-shelled canoe proved to be a MUCH better choice for this endeavor vs. the inflatable, which apparently rode lower in the water. We began at the end of Landfill Road, SE of Hanksville, and ended the trip at the Poison Spring Road, approx. 46 miles downstream. Along the way, we visited highly photogenic Happy Canyon. The trip lasted 4 nights / 5 days. |