John Day River Trip, 5th day on the water.
The single most important thing you can do to improve your experience on a river trip is to wake up early. And by early I don’t mean 7, I mean 5.
This might not sound like something you want to do on vacation so let me explain:
The big issue here is wind. Almost without exception as the land heats up it starts sucking wind up the canyon, making miles that could be fast and peaceful in the early morning into a hellish slog in late morning. Every river runner knows what I’m talking about here.
This was a source of conflict when Liz and I started traveling together; her feeling rushed and abused by the boot camp hours, and me feeling agitated that we still weren’t getting on the water early enough. These tensions finally boiled over on the Green River, when I just let her sleep in to prove a point. We got on the water at 9 that morning and by 11 AM we were paddling straight into 40 knot winds and 3 foot WIND WAVES, on a RIVER.
After that I was allowed to wake us up whenever I want to, although I often avoid eye contact before 6 for fear of being turned to stone.
My goal is to always be on the water by 8 AM and anything before that is even better. In addition to skipping the worst of the wind, we also see a lot more animals in the early morning, and because everyone else gets on the river later we usually have our choice of any campsite we want. By noon we’ve made an easy 12 miles and we can settle in somewhere for a delicious nap.
We typically bring drysuits with us whether or not it seems like we will need them. I’ve been on several trips that were forecast to be sunny and 80° where the weather changed to 50° and rain. On these days you typically see a lot of miserable people on the river shivering in shorts and emergency ponchos. That kind of exposure can really suck the life out of you. It makes a great story in your early 20s, but in my mid-40s, the dry suits are a welcome luxury.
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