June Moab Cataract Canyon Trip

In June Ryan and his friend at work Chip strategically planned out a Cataract Express trip so that they would be on the river during high water. It was Jaynas first trip and she did great on the drive. Chip and his wife and kid stayed with us in a cabin at Red Cliffs Lodge, one of the nicest places in Moab. The picture was taken out on the back deck of the cabin where you can over look the Colorado and watch rafters go by all day long. It was so nice to go on a little weekend getaway after having Jayna and even better when you can call it "work".

The Husbands had a much wilder rafting trip than they even anticipated. We had two days of rain before they left and that on top of high water made the already intense stretch of Cataract Canyon even crazier. The Water levels were so high that Park Services had been camped out below the big drops for two weeks already for the soul purpose of rescue and recovery. Before the rain the river was already at 62,000 cfs (cubic feet per second), to give you an idea of how high and dangerous that is, Park services starts camping out at their support camp at 50,000 cfs. The day that they ended up at the big drops Park Services told them that the gages stopped working that morning at 69,000 cfs and that they thought the river was probably running at about 72,000 cfs. It was a record breaking. Ryan's company had already moved Grand Canyon guides over to Cataract because of how high the water was. So even with the most experienced guides in Moab and the best rafts in Moab they ended up flipping a boat, which Western River Expeditions has not done in 10 years. The boat had Chip and a whole family on it, the youngest being 13 years old. Park services rescued all of them and the boat was long gone on its way to Powell, upside down with all their gear and food on it. They ended up having to get the family out of the Canyon that night and fly them into Moab because they were to shaken up and in shock. Ryans boat then had to hook up with another company for food and gear and rough the rest of the trip out.

As soon as something like this happens on the river they use satellite phones to get information back to the center in Moab. So the whole company and town pretty much knew Western had flipped a boat, but no one said a word to us wives. We were in and out of the center all day and heard nothing. Strict word had been sent around not to tell us under any circumstance, because they did not want us to worry. They knew Chips wife was really paranoid about things like that because she lost her parents and grandparents in a plane accident when she was one, and they knew I had just had a baby. The men had lots to tell us when they got back and it sounded like they got just what they wanted a crazy trip during high water.

Someone from Park Services said they may have gotten the flip on camera so if we ever get that footage I will post it.