# Storm-chasing on the lower Dolores, a national conservation priority



## Matt Barnes (Apr 28, 2009)

I saw that flash flooding on the northwest side of the San Juan Mountains had brought the rarely-boatable lower Dolores River—a national conservation priority, and a personal paddling priority—from a trickle to a few thousand cfs. Suddenly on Tuesday morning, I was thinking how unimportant my participation in a long-scheduled conference call was, as I loaded up my boating gear. In a phone conversation with a Certain Someone, I said I was probably going to get on the lower Dolores where there is no cell signal and wouldn't be back right away. Apparently, I was rather unclear, or at least didn’t emphasize the uncertainty of my return timing. As they say, "the worst problem with communication is the illusion that it happened."

I scouted a few access points, settling on Bedrock—the last section of the Dolores I hadn’t yet paddled. I dragged my kayak across untracked mud and paddled the half-melted chocolate milkshake across Paradox Valley, through Paradox Canyon, and down past the San Miguel. There was more water coming down the San Miguel than the Dolores. I camped below a natural bridge and the historic hanging flume. While I was having a grand time, that Certain Someone went into full-on panic when I didn't call or come home. She called a few of my paddling friends to see if any were on a river adventure with me, including a fellow Montezuma County Search and Rescue member.

On Wednesday I was paddling along on the Dolores below the San Miguel when a plane belonging to another fellow SAR member from Montezuma County interrupted my quiet solitude, buzzing low over me. I waved (using all five fingers). A couple hours later the San Miguel County Sheriff's helicopter buzzed over (something must be going on, I wonder what?) and then promptly landed. By this time I was almost through Montrose County to Mesa County. I was quite shocked to find out that deputies from Montrose and San Miguel were looking for me! Feeling like a fugitive, I briefly wondered if there was something illegal about paddling receding flood waters. The deputies explained the situation, were friendly enough, and I think they and my buddies from Montezuma SAR all enjoyed flying their toys around the canyons as much as I enjoyed paddling. I smiled when I thought of how the heroes of The Monkey Wrench Gang were being chased through the canyon country by search and rescue.

There was no one else on the river. In the end I took out at Gateway as night settled in, and hitchhiked back to Bedrock the next morning. Incidentally, it was the anniversary of the historic 1911 flood on the Dolores, Animas, and other rivers of the San Juan Mountains.

And that Certain Someone still doesn’t remember our conversation the same way I do. I’m all for solo backcountry adventures, preferably without deadlines or communications, but next time I think I’ll write something down, with some explanation about storm-chasing kayakers not having solid itineraries.

*River advocates, through the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group, have been working on a deal to protect the lower Dolores for many years*. That deal is the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act, introduced by Senator Michael Bennet. It’s locally led, bipartisan, with the support of all three counties (Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel), the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, both of our senators and our representative in the House. The designations affect only public lands from below McPhee Dam, down to the upstream side of the Wilderness Study Area. This is a middle ground reached through years of negotiation: it will protect the Dolores, but not in a way that would affect water rights (including the Ute Mountain Ute settlement). It does prevent new development on those public lands, but it won’t put more water in the river—that’ll have to wait until there’s political will. It’s time to pass it now.


----------



## LRBBCO (Aug 6, 2018)

Sounds like an awesome time. I went through around that surge and passed the Dolores, San Miguel, and Rio Grande before arriving in the Salt and Gila headwaters. Everything was boatable and I was wishing I had a craft. Could have paddled the arroyos outsde of TorC. Alas, truck camping is OK too sometimes...


----------



## 3d3vart (Apr 15, 2010)

Our group got stopped by the sheriff down there on Wednesday when they were flying the new SAR chopper up and down the canyon from Naturita to the stateline looking for you. Glad it was a false alarm!


----------



## BenSlaughter (Jun 16, 2017)

Great story!
I've gone out of my way to make sure I'm not "expected" anywhere\anytime specific.
That way if I decide to spend an extra few days in the mountains or on a river, the cavalry won't be called. 

I wonder why I'm single?? 😄


----------



## Matt Barnes (Apr 28, 2009)

3d3vart said:


> Our group got stopped by the sheriff down there on Wednesday when they were flying the new SAR chopper up and down the canyon from Naturita to the stateline looking for you. Glad it was a false alarm!


Right-on. Which section did you run?


----------



## 3d3vart (Apr 15, 2010)

Matt Barnes said:


> Which section did you run?


We didn't run a section. Just down there doing some land rafting. Glad you got some...it looked G2G for a couple days at least.


----------

