Summer is coming to an end, and when I got the opportunity to raft Ruby-Horsethief on the Colorado River, I didn't hesitate to say "YES!" Ruby-Horsethief is a mellow float down the Colorado River between Loma and Westwater.
There are virtually no rapids, so my sister and I decided to paddle duckies (inflatable kayaks) down the river. We all met at the put-in around 5:30 pm and quickly rigged boats while three people in our group shuttled cars to the takeout.
We launched around 7:00 pm, and expected a 45 minute float to our campsite. The sky turned pink as the sun went behind the canyon wall, and I realized it was going to get dark - fast! We had missed our night-one campsite, which was supposed to be Bull Draw!
We continued on until 10:00 pm working hard to stay close together and listening to beavers splash in the water all around us. Just as I began to get a tiny bit panicked, we found a spot to camp for the night. It wasn't a great spot, but I was relieved to be off the dark water.
The next day we continued on and found our second campsite at Black Rocks without any trouble. We pulled up, made camp and settled in for the night. A few people from our group hiked down to the "jumping rock" for a bit of added excitement. The rest of us cooled off by floating in the calm water right in front of our campsite.
On Sunday we headed out early and made good time to the take-out. The weather remained beautiful for the entirety of our trip, and we all packed up our gear with big smiles and sunburns!
