The Times-Independent

Tales of Trails: The Daily

For days when hiking is unappealing, perhaps rowing suits your fancy


The Daily is not the choppiest stretch of whitewater on the Colorado, but depending on the flow of the river, it can be enough to tip a raft. They’re called a life vest for a reason. Wear one and make sure everyone else does, too. Photos by Carter Pape

The Colorado River, for me, is most closely tied to three thoughts: First, it is where I go to get sunburns. Second, it is cold. Third, it carved some of my favorite geological features in Moab.

That’s some of what the Colorado River is to me, personally. It is a lot of things for many people. It is a bellwether of upstream drought conditions; it is a recreation location; it has generated debate over the value of damming rivers.

This picture is what I think the Colorado River feels like year-round.

For Moab, the Colorado is not a source of drinking water — at least, not to the extent that it could be. The river has many historical significances to the area, but today, the largest role it plays in Moab is one of recreation.

The Daily is the most popular segment of the river in this regard. It ends at Take Out Beach, which is a 17-minute drive from downtown. Officially, it is 13 miles long and starts at Hittle Bottom, but there are multiple lauch and retrieval points within and beyond that stretch.

To me, this does not look like a good time. This looks like an ice bath. But they’re having fun. Certainly it’s more fun than being ejected from a raft.

No matter where you start, you will be highly exposed to the sun. There are many dangers to be aware of before going out on the river for the day, and I sometimes feel like a chump for covering myself head-to-toe in sunscreen, but I also know that I’m far from the only person who takes that kind of precaution on the river.

Whenever I go out with raft guides or friends who frequent the river, it always seems to me that the most well-prepared people or the most veteran of rafters are the ones with the long sleeves, pants, and head coverings.

Canyonlands Field Institute rafts sit on the river bank before a clean-up trip in 2019. The nonprofit hosts a trash collection day along the Daily each year, assisted by the Bureau of Land Management and Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.

Not only that, but these are the same people who bring the equipment — including, depending on the nature of the trip, a cooler full of water for the entire party — and give the safety talk at the beginning of the trip. I’ve heard it enough that I can repeat some of the key points and let the guide know when they’ve neglected a point.

This is all just to say: Prepare yourself against the Sun when going out on the river. I personally hate sunburns — I think I have some kind of post-traumatic stress from a sun poisoning incident in middle school — but even if you are willing to tolerate them, it’s worth considering the other health effects of exposure to UV radiation. If the river veterans wear long sleeves and pants when they go out, you might consider doing the same.

Snowy Rocky Mountains, and other ranges, such as the La Sals, pictured here in June 2019, are the source of the Colorado River. The water is chilly in part because it’s moving (it’s like wind chill, but for water), but it’s also sourced from ice melt.

Another important way — and this gets said whenever outdoor adventure comes up in Moab — to stay safe is by bringing more water than you think you’ll need. I have gone through three liters of water in a day on the Colorado before, and that was on a cool day. Bring a lot of your own water; it’s not worth the risk to rely on the generosity or forethought of others to get you through the day.

I mentioned that the river is cold. Even in the summer, I have found myself shivering as I get out of the water and into the 110° F heat of the day. I have very little body fat, though, so maybe that’s to be expected. Regardless, the river is for me one of the best and most enjoyable ways to cool down when the sun is scorching. Even if I am cold as I walk out of the water, laying in the sun to warm up is a nice way to exploit the extreme heat.

The Colorado River reached high flow rates in the summer of 2019, engulfing areas that don’t usually go underwater, like this area across the river from Lions Park.

Finally, the river shapes the landscape. Some of the most awe-inspiring views out there in Moab are found next to or on the Colorado. You won’t get the panoramic vista that Dead Horse Point or Thelma and Louise Point offer, but you will get to see up-close the towering structures the river has left behind as it has carved the red sandstone. These massive cliff faces are among the defining features of the area, and the river is to credit for most of them.

Amply prepare for a trip down the Daily, because it would suck to worry about whether you have enough food, water or sunscreen when you could instead be enjoying the unique landscape and wildlife that thrives here thanks to the shared resource we all get to enjoy.

A herd of deer cross the river in September. Desert bighorn sheep and eagles are also among the animals I have spotted while on the Colorado, though not usually close enough for a good photo.