Life on the River

A few blog posts back I admitted that my strong reliance on February and March snow storms finally betrayed me and left much of the western U.S. with the worst snowfall accumulations on record. Two months later, Utah is currently on pace to have the third wettest May on record. Between relentless rainfall and absurd snow accumulations at high elevations we have seen our rivers and reservoirs swell to almost-normal rates. So what’s up with this weird weather? I wish I could tell you, but what I do know is that it has ensured our late-spring and summer plans on the water are still intact.

The first item on the river-agenda is a six-week fly fishing course that will take a handful of our students and give them the opportunity to learn the art, the difficult art, of river fly fishing. With several rivers draining out of the nearby mountains we will be able to fish different waters with different characteristics each and every week. This course starts at the beginning with personalized instruction on gear, casting and knot techniques, safe river wading procedures and hopefully, and unfortunately, not guaranteed, the joy of landing a fish on a crystal-clear river on a dry fly. It is seriously hard to top that.

Right in middle of all this fishing is our five day canoe trip down Stillwater Canyon on the Green River. Stillwater Canyon runs 52 miles through the heart of Canyonlands National Park and ends at the confluence of the Green River and Colorado River at Spanish Bottoms. River trips are hard to put into words if you’ve never done it, but I can honestly say it tops landing a fish on a crystal-clear river on a dry fly.

The month of July is full of white water rafting on the famous Snake River outside Jackson, Wyoming. With multiple trips running each week and all of our students being invited to participate this is one of the most fun months of our year. Hey-O river!

Mike Bodrero, Adventure Learning Coordinator