The above video is from a different adventure, but in a similar region.
Lower Dirty Devil River Flash Tour!
Doom originally published a version of this blog on April 12, 2011. Sadly, no one associated with Four Corners Guides will be doing the Dirty Devil again with bicycles. Why? Because we discovered a few years ago it’s not legal to have bicycles on certain sections of the Dirty, even if you are not riding them. However, we now have permits to do packrafting trips on this ephemeral river. If you’re interested in scheduling a packrafting adventure, please email us! And if you want to read more Storytime with Doom tales, check out, “Foolz Tour: Aka Desert Therapy.
Story & photos by Steve “Doom” Fassbinder. Video by Specialized Bicycles.
Once upon a time on the Dirty Devil River...
Seventeen years ago I passed over this very bridge for the first time. I was on my first bike tour, solo, green as could be. I rode a 1980’s Derosa about two centimeters too small for me. And I carried borrowed touring bags, a retro-fitted fanny pack with a shoulder strap and my bed roll.
Sunburnt and thirsty, the experiene completely hooked me. This was also my first glimpse into the desolate and mysterious reaches of Southern Utah, a place that I now consider my backyard.
The Go Go Gadget Boat
It’s early April in Southern Colorado and it’s snowing like a mother out…. My first inclination is to, think snow, as they say… But I’ve been watching the Dirty Devil River levels lately. My new packraft (with custom bike tie downs) is ready for a test run. And my ears have been sand free for way too long.
The southern stretch of the Dirty Devil runs from Poison Springs Road, about 20 river miles to its confluence with the Colorado River (now the beginning of Lake Powell). This is a rarely run river due to its normally low water levels and remote location. As this is a solo mission, I’ll be parking at the take out, and riding my mountain bike with all necessary gear to be out on the water for two days and one night. A 16-mile ride down a wash full of sand dunes and swamps follows my 26-mile pavement climb to the beginning of Poison Springs Road.
Deceptive river!
After one little hike-a-bike at the bottom of the road, I was treated to a killer view of the Dirty Devil drainage.
In about an hour, I transformed from bike mode to float mode. This gave me plenty of time to nurse a cold beer and get psyched up to launch into the canyon. Once you push off here you’re in it, with no way out but the planned exit, which is a day away under all the best conditions. I took my non-USCG approved PFD (a 29’r tube…. more volume right?).
I love how deceptive the light on the river is here. It looks like a big-ass river. But it’s about six inches deep across this whole area. And it looks so crisp and clear, but “she’s a dirty devil!”
The low water forced me to get out and drag my boat for a while at the end of the day after the sun went down. A very cold and unhappy situation, I hoped not to repeat it the next morning when the temp would be just above freezing.
full circle on the dirty devil river
Well I made it. I knew from the moment I passed over that bridge 17 years ago that I wanted to see the rest of that canyon some day. It only took 17 years.
So the muck at the take out was honestly not as bad as I’d expected. I only sank up to my knees, and kept my footwear!! Sweet. Until about 10 years ago this was all under the waters of Lake Powell, hmmmm…
The Stats
- 180-130 cfs
- Day 1: I rode 42-mile ride to the put in: a 26-mile pavement climb and 16 miles of dirt road downhill. The road is VERY sandy. The ride took a solid three hours. And I addled for six hours the first day.
- Day 2: I paddled for four hours, hiked a slot canyon for two hours. Then I paddled another four or so hours. And I made it back on the road back to Durango by 6p.m.
- Two days, one night, zero people
Addendum
This would have been a much more reasonable trip done over three days and two nights. But I wanted to know if it was possible to do it in two days. It was, but not as a very leisurely tour. Also I wouldn’t attempt this with much less water that the average of 150 cfs that I experienced, unless of course you like dragging your boat.
I ran the upper section a few years later in May with just a packraft and with an average of 50 cfs. Though fun, we dragged our boats for half the distance (which is really f’in hard).
Note: I went to Alpacka HQ with a cut out pattern of my bike frame and had custom tie downs located where my top tube, chainstay and fork hit the boat. I use toe straps to crank the frame down, and small bungees to strap the wheels on top. It’s a super solid system, and a huge improvement over using bungees and the stock pack attachments locations on my old boat. (Now we use the very effective Titan Straps.)
