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1st Departure:
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07.06.2008
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Provider:
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Dvorak Kayak & Rafting Exp Inc
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Destination:
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North America > USA > Colorado > Dolores River
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Duration:
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8 days
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Challenge:
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Difficulty:
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Comfort:
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Ponderosa Gorge
47 miles | Class III-IV
Here the river flows down through the high country running clear and cold, teeming with trout. Campsites are under the branches of ancient 100` Ponderosa pines. This stretch is the home of the legendary Class IV Snaggletooth Rapid. Here begins one of the most challenging stretches of water in the west, culminating in the fury of the Narrows ten miles downstream.
Slickrock Canyon
50 miles | Class II-III
Now the Dolores slows and enters the walls and more desert-like world of Slickrock. The walls are streaked with desert varnish and rise from the river’s edge to tower hundreds of feet above the water, forming the most enchanting and beautiful desert canyon in the American Southwest. Hidden in the grottos and side canyons are prehistoric Anasazi pictographs and ruins. More moderate rapids provide a good stretch for instructional kayak, canoe or inflatable kayaking. Here you will camp beneath overhangs where the “Ancient Ones” camped thousands of years ago.
Hanging Flume Canyon
45 miles | Class II-III
Once leaving Slickrock, the river meanders across Paradox Valley beneath giant cottonwoods where rookeries of Great Blue Heron and other bird life abound. Below Paradox Canyon the river reaches the confluence with the San Miguel River (doubling the volume) and the Hanging Flume Canyon. The historical remnants of the flume built to get water to the “high bar” of the Lone Tree Placer mine can still be seen suspended 400 feet above the river.
MINIMUM AGE is 10