The first time I ran Westwater, I was taken aback by its beauty. The narrow, massive black and red rock walls encompassing you. The feeling of being completely isolated in nature. The history shining through that black rock fondly referred to by a fellow guide as the rock that is “older than sex.”

Gneiss is a high-grade metamorhphic rock which belongs to the precambrian age. Exposure of this rock is limited, with only a few places exisiting in the Four Corners region: Westwater, Unaweep and the Grand Canyon. The Great Unconformity in Ruby and Westwater Canyons spans from 1.7 billion years to the overlying 220 million years old Triassic Chinle formation (a gap of 1.5 billion years). (Bussard, “Westwater Canyon”)

Three years and a few runs later, the canyon still does not disappoint. When I asked Skyler what he wanted to do for his 26th birthday, he was rather nonchalant about the answer. So I dug a little deeper and figured he might enjoy a day in this rowdy red rock land.

We gathered together 20 friends, from Gunnison, Telluride, and Moab. Rounded up a few boats (thanks Brett for letting us borrow yours!), miscellaneous gear, figured out shuttles (somewhat), and made it to the put-in around 8:30 am on Sunday, August 26th. With one paddle raft, three oar rigs, one inflatable oar canoe and a shredder, we were river bound.

Sharing my “home waters” with my Colorado crew was a blast. I had tried to explain the difference between the red river I knew, and the shallow, crystal clear rock gardens of the Taylor and Gunnison rivers. Even that massive CFS (cubic feet per second) differences were fun encounter. The Taylor had been running around 200-250 CFS all season, whereas Westwater was currently dropping to “low water” at around 3,300 CFS. Completely different rivers.

I had never been on Westwater for a private trip before, and it was quite different than the commercial runs. I had also never seen it at 3,300 CFS (cubic feet per second). When I had run it previously, Room of Doom had lived up to its name, whereas you would never want to be sucked into it. It is an extemely intense eddy which can be near to impossible to get out of at certain levels, even leading to people having to get rescued out of it before. Yet when we ran, it was calm enough that our whole crew eddied-out in it and chilled as we watched boats run Skull rapid.

Between playing accidental hide-and-seek with one boat, tackeling friends off of theirs, and encountering a crazy windstorm (with the rain, lightning and thunder just barely holding off) at the dead water, it was a trip to remember. The video above highlights just some of the fun caught on camera (some footage cred belongs to the lovely Madi Welsh). A huge thanks to all those who made it out and who helped make the trip possible! And, of course, a very happy rotation around the sun for mister Skyler.