A Project and Reaffirmation

By: Keith Reis

By KAVU

January 21^st, 2020

It had been years since I'd been on a proper river adventure.

How many days? 7? 6 nights? What river? The Green? Class III at most... with "sort of" big wave trains..... ya know the fun stuff.

In April? Where........ Desolation Canyon?

No roads in or out, no walk out potential, absolutely no cell service. One side of the river is designated tribal land. Water temps would be in the 50s on a warm day and, weather could be anything from "blue-bird" sun, to blowing sideways snow…for days.

After all, I had said that I really wanted to learn to row and.... that takes time on the oars, so yeah I was in. Although it didn’t initially sound like that big of a deal when I received a call about this trip. I hadn't done anything over 3 nights in years like a decade.... plus. The thought of our trip started to make my palms clammy.

I'd had many KAVU adventures in my late teens and through my early 30's. Those memories are certainly fulfilling. But as these things go..... I met my wife, started a company and travel happened for work. My great kids came along… all pretty normal, excellent stuff really. Even though I still was getting out skiing, rafting (mostly to fish), backpacking/camping, trail running etc., it was nothing like before. And the remote stuff had fallen so far off the back that, I really questioned my ability to navigate "off-trail" with a map and compass anymore.

But that’s a good sign...... I was in, 1000%. Not going to miss this KAVU trip!

My best friend Jeremy, had a boat and was mentoring me through the skills to row. No small thing considering, a flip is not only life-threatening but lost gear can be very costly.

When it was decided we'd go, we reached out to another best friend Mike who, had been living in Florida.

Back in the day, he was with us climbing, skiing.... you name it. But like us..... life got him as well (in a good way). But "Florida Mike" has a some valuable skill sets:

great cook – no recipes, just make it;

no fear or real thought of what “could” happen;

kind of a sick sense of humor (maybe a sprinkle of offensive).

And also, solid medical skills.

One call and he was in.

My most remote trip in a decade, with my best friends, for a week.

Full stoke was happening!

The crew ended up being 11 people – 5 boats and an inflatable kayak. We had a retired fireman (countless river trips and numerous Grand descents), his niece, a retired LA cop (no beer.... but milk and cookies each evening), a realtor, buyer for an outdoor store with his best friend and son, 2 sales guys, a former NOLS guide.... now selling commercial real estate, and a total rookie. The best part of these types of adventures is the chance to meet new people from all walks of life!

It turned out to be a great collection of characters.

As the days progressed, we ended up with incredible weather!

Sunny days, no bugs and great flows. We put in at 9,000cfs and each morning, but it seemed to change rapidly.

Turned out that the river raised to almost 19,000cfs over the 6 days we were out!!

Desolation Canyon is simply incredible. Desert beauty surrounds you and the sound of the river fills your ears. The hikes from the river's banks to see pictographs and native granaries that are maybe a thousand years (more?) old are mind blowing.

Why here?

How did you get it up here?

Wasn’t there a better place to put this?

What they accomplished and how they thrived came clearly into focus....... so impressive.

Rapids, yeah there are some fun ones for sure!

Joe Hutch rapid comes to mind as one of the most impressive. At Class III, it's really a big wave train with a dog leg right at then end, followed by one more dog leg to the next "drop".

Everyone went for the meat of it! We followed a 16ft raft through Joe Hutch and when it disappeared on the back side of the opening wave, all I could think was just ROW, PUSH and keep it Straight.

Jeremy took us though it cleanly and then turned the oars over to me for the second dog leg and wave train… which was awesome!

But getting that loaded, 14ft raft to submit to where I wanted to go was some work!

We also had a 10ft mini-Max rig with us which, carried our cocktail ice. Yep.... we brought cocktail ice;-)

Laughing was the theme of this trip, for sure. Camps were spacious and easy and we only saw one NOLS group and two other rafters the entire trip! Food ranged from warmed Mexican, to fresh fish with mango salsa and of course, one good grill night!

By the end, I rowed close to 70 river miles of Class II and III through one of the most remote canyons in the lower 48. We spent some irreplaceable times with best friends and met some of the most memorable people with inspiring life stories. I accomplished a goal that set up a summer of many more days on the oars for me. And now I can row, at least through some Class III's.... on some rivers ....but for me that is enough.

More importantly, the trip reminded me about how important close friendships are to living a full life. They nurture you like nothing else and need to be invested in. Also, I re-learned just how important it is to challenge myself and to explore. Being in the wilderness, seeing new places, learning new skills and using them is life affirming. I am decidedly not an all-inclusive, resort Bahamas person.

I've always known this but..... Desolation really pointed it out for me.

Returning home to my wife, 10yr old son and 12yr old daughter, was great!

I missed them very much while I was gone. The best part was knowing what is out there to share with them next time and that wild places do still exist to explore.