fretwaterlines: 2015 Boating Extravaganzas

Time for a bit of shameless promotion. Friends and curious onlookers often ask what river trip would be a good one to join me on. Well, 2015 is lining up nicely, but most of the trips I will be running are charters and not open to the public in general. There are two notable exceptions, which happen to be two of the coolest trip I will get to do. Here they are:

Arizona Raft Adventures

Dories and Stories Trip

April 23 – May 6.

We have been doing this trip each spring for about ten years now. I get to row a dory in the daytime and stand around the fire each evening and tell wild stories of Grand Canyon lore. Two of my favorite things to do in the whole world. It is early in the season, before the heat and crowds arrive, so the days are nice for hiking and the evenings are cool enough for a nice juniper campfire and stories. It is my favorite Grand Canyon trip to do each year, and there is still room on the 2015 trip. Check in with AzRA if you are interested. There is still room but hurry.

Click here: AzRA

Tom Tavee photo

Dory Moon / CRATE

Upper Colorado River and Music Adventure

July 5 – 16

Back in the 1980s and '90s I began setting up "extended play" dory trips in the upper basin of the Colorado River system. These were trips that went more miles at a slower pace than any other commercially trips available. I marketed them to friends and passengers who liked that kind of thing. They were wonderful.

After I ran out of steam (putting them together is a lot of work) my dear friend Andy Hutchison took the reins with his little operation he calls Dory Moon. For 2015 we are doing a resurrection of a trip we did back in 1997 with great success. We will start on the upper Colorado River near Grand Junction and spend twelve days floating to Lake Powell. We will go through Horsethief, Ruby, Westwater and Cataract Canyons and float through much of Canyonlands National Park and Deadhorse Point State Park. Rapids, scenery, hiking, relaxing, and some great music.

Our crew usually consists of Andy and his wife Kate Thompson, both amazing musicians; RJ Johnson, renown—or should I say infamous—geologist; and myself, relentless blabbermouth. We work with some of the best outfitters in the west. This year we'll be working through Colorado River and Trail Expeditions (CRATE) and Adventure Bound.

Click here: CRATE -- it's the 12-day trip at the bottom. They have full information to pass on to you.