Stand up paddling the San Juan River 2018

It was a low water year in the Southern Rockies, and all of our Idaho permits came up short. Evan got us a permit for the Upper San Juan and we all crossed our fingers that there would be water. Let's just say it wasn't looking good. Two weeks before the trip dates, the flow was less than 300 cfs. Too low. We were all weighing ideas of what else we could do, camping in the Big Horns, rafing on the Arkansas, mountain biking in Crested Butte, we had to come up with something. We've been doing a desert river trip every year for the past 9 years, so we didn't want to miss out. 

Thank goodness for the summer monsoon season! One week before the trip, I get a text from Evan, "It's on, the San Juan is up to 600cfs!" Just enough to have a fun trip. As we did our daily flow checks over the next week, the river was coming up every day from local monsoons. It was up to 700, then 800, then 1000, then 1300. We were all getting excited that we weren't going to be pushing our rafts off of sand bars for 5 days. As the trip got closer, and the flow was improving, all the folks who originally said they were out, were now in. So we were looking at a 6 family trip where adults were outnumbered by kids 13 to 12. Ouch. 

Packing Rafts, kayaks, and our sweet new Salamander SUP boards commenced, and we hit the road for the 7 hour drive into the Utah desert. Once we were all on the river, the relaxation hit, and we were free from cars, screens, and responsibilities for the next 5 days. I love river trips. Everyone enjoyed paddling around on the Salamander Ensatina Stand Up Paddle Board as well as the Sarasvati, which is the first flatwater paddle board made by Salamander. The Ensatina is really fun and maneaverable, and does great in rapids and surf waves. The Sarasvati is a really nice board to paddle. It likes to go in a straight line and it inflates very rigid so you feel really stable. It also makes for a great float when attached to the back of a raft.