Sept. 23, Little Valley Island, on the Green River, 7.5 miles Day #27

Marilyn and Howie arrive from Montana with canoe. Josh posts to Lowbagger.org. Late launch at 3:30 p.m. make 7.5 miles on good current. Camp on muddy beach on Little Valley Island before dark. Kettlehouse gets us in the celebrating mood. Fire keeps us toasty. Storm blows in during morning. Launch 11:30.

Sept. 24 Navajo Bend, on the Green, 17 miles Day #28

Feels like fall in the air for the first time. Storm blows in, then out. Pass confluence of San Rafael River flowing dark and dirty into Green at an estimated 525 cfs. Howie and Marilyn struggle to go slow enough to stay with rafts. Make camp on soft sandbar as night falls. Launch 10:30 a.m.

Sept. 25, River Register Island, on the Green, Day #29 16. 5 miles

Float into Labyrinth Canyon. Hot with clear skies. Find Bob’s water cooler that was lost 17 days ago in Hell’s Half Mile beached when river dropped after big rain a few days earlier. Hike into Three Canyon at Trin-Alcove Bend for short ways. Muddy everywhere from rain. River still dropping. Enter Kayenta formation, Wingate, Chinle. Camp on sandbar – a rare find – long and flat. Launch 10:30 a.m.

Sept. 26, Oak Bottom Island. 15. 5 Miles Day. #30

Row seven miles around Bowknot Bend to go about 500 yards. Cloudless day but not too hot. Big red cliffs all around. Still muddy but now there are more sandbars to camp on. This is our last night with Marilyn and Howie. Full moon rises over highest cliff directly behind our camp at about 9 p.m. very dewy night. Launch 9:30-ish.

Sept. 27, Upper Fort Bottom Island, 22 miles, Day #31

Row 10 miles to Mineral Bottom where Marilyn and Howie depart. Colorado Riverkeeper John Weisheit is waiting with his boat to join us for the next nine days. Row another 12 miles of slow current to island. Fact: Colorado pike minnow is the largest minnow in the world. Launch 11-ish.

Sept. 28, Rock Shale Island, end of Labyrinth Canyon, 10 miles, Day. #32

Hike to cowboy cabin and watchtower ruin high above the river. Afternoon winds pick up back on the water, slowing progress. Make camp early, very windy night. Tent attempts to lift off with us inside. Wind continues all morning. Launch 9:50

Sept. 29, Deadhorse Canyon, Stillwater Canyon, 12 miles, Day #33

Strong winds blow us up and down the river, sometimes to our advantage, but mostly not. Gusting to at least 40 mph. Excellent camp at mouth of Deadhorse Canyon. Watch lightning storm from under ledge, light rain, still windy. Beautiful light on Queen Anne and Turk’s Head. Totally dark by 7:52 p.m. Wind stops during the night and we wake to clear, calm day. Hike to petroglyphs on plateau. Redrock panorama. Launch 1 p.m.

Sept. 30, Seven Mile Sandbar, on the Green, Stillwater, 13 miles, Day #34

Calm afternoon on water. It is our last night on the Green River after 34 days. Weisheit says its one of the calmest days he’s ever seen. Heavy dew overnight. Launch in a.m. for final miles on the Green.

Oct. 1, Rapid #5, Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, 12.5 miles, Day #35

We float flat, calm water to the confluence under overcast skies. The Colorado is slightly less muddy than the Green. Light rain begins before confluence, then increase after rivers merge. It’s a big river now. We register for our camps and run rapids #1-5. Good waves. Strange laterals and currents. Josh compares it to ocean waves. Scout Rapid #5 and camp below it. Ligthning storm moves up river canyon from great distance and brings heavy rain with it. Barely make it to the tent before the downpour unleashes.

Oct. 2, Layover at Rapid #5, 0 miles, Day. #36

Layover day. Sunny skies after wet night. Hike from camp at river bottom to rim, 1,200 feet above. Walk across Surprise Valley, a graubin, the up and over to the Doll House. Great views of the Colorado Plateau and the La Sal Mountains in the distance. River below flows dark with pine needles and wood debris from last night’s storm.

Oct. 3, Rapid #19, Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, 6 miles, Day #37

Big whitewater! Scout all of Mile Long – rapids 13, 14, 15, watch motor raft run it. Clean runs all around. Rapid 18 has huge V waves – feels like big water. Weisheit estimates 6,700 cfs. Meet up with Serena Supplee, artist of the Colorado Plateau, at camp where she is working on a watercolor of the canyon. John leads group meeting in the morning to review upcoming rapids, scouts, etc. We all launch together in a.m. to run the Big Drops.

Oct. 4, Rockfall Canyon, Lake Powell, Colo. River, 19 miles, Day. #38

Scout rapids 20, 22, 23. We watch as Weisheit runs 20, then 23 aka Big Drop 3. Mike goes second, drifts into eddy, appears to find his spirit animal as he drifts aimlessly for several minutes, then makes sloppy run through rapid. Josh is next, then Serena. Weisheit calls Josh’s run through Satan’s Gut the best of all four boats and “textbook.” We run Rapid 28 and 29 which are new, developing as the reservoir drops. We encounter Rapid 30, new since August, Weisheit says. Swift current takes us to Cove Canyon where we say goodbye to John and Serena as they make camp so Serena can paint. Push on several more miles to Rockfall Canyon. Make camp at dark. Quiet night. Launch very early.

Oct. 5, North Wash, Lake Powell, 17 miles, Day. #39

Out of camp and on the water early. Very windy. River current carries us all the way to Hite. We stop near the boat ramp at Hite but cannot reach it due to thigh-high mud and shallows that block the way. Most of Hite appears abandoned anyway. We row across the river and seek shelter in North Wash to wait out the wind. Afternoon turns to night and winds continue. We make temporary camp under a gravel ledge and end up staying the night as the wind rages. Very light rain. Wake to gray cloud cover. Launch at 9:30-ish into the wind.

Oct. 6, Trachyte Canyon, Lake Powell, 7 miles, Day. #40

Clouds clear out but wind persists. We start to see buoys on the lake but don’t get close enough to read any numbers. We throw in the towel around 4:30 after hours of windy rowing and very little progress. Make dinner, then repack for early exit. Launch at 7:30 a.m.

Oct. 7, East Fork of Sevenmile Canyon, Lake Powell, 20 miles Day. #41

Glassy water, no clouds, cool temps. We are tracked down by a couple from Flagstaff in an Aire Cat boat with an engine on the back. We swap stories as we row and they offer us a tow, knowing we’ll refuse. Great to see some like-minded folks on the water. Their GPS says we are making about 1.7 mph. We row for 12 hours. Reach Sevenmile at last light. Started the day at buoy #132, ended at #113. Launch at 10 a.m.

Oct. 8, Spirit Beach, Lake Powell, 14 miles, Day. #42

Another day of clear and cloudless skies. Row hard for Bullfrog Marina but it’s farther than we thought and we make camp north of our destination in little cove that has two shrines. Dry night. Launch 9 a.m.

Oct. 9, Bullfrog Marina, Lake Powell, 6 miles, Day #43

Row into Bullfrog, find services, WiFi, decide to stay the night at beach near boat ramp. Meet several people around marina including canoeist from British Columbia, security guard, wakeboarders and Texans. Everyone is friendly, some say they’ve heard about our trip.

Tune in for more action from down the river next week. We'll see if the intrepid travelers make it off of Powell in time for their Grand Canyon launch date.