In this, my first ever "summer trip tip," I have a good tip based on a family tradition — and it is almost in your backyard if you are reading this in Utah.
Every other year Grandpa Brown takes his grandchildren on a river-rafting trip down the Green River. There are only two conditions: the grandchild has to be at least six years old and he or she has to have at least one parent in attendance on the trip.
When my oldest child was finally “Green River” eligible, we were excited. On that day, five adults and eight children piled into two rafts.
The raft trip starts at the bottom of the dam at Flaming Gorge and lasts about seven miles or approximately 2-3 hours. We went down twice that day. You'll need lots of snacks and plenty of water (I’ll have more about that later), sunscreen and a couple of shuttle drivers who don't like to raft. (You can tell from my short list that I'm a guy.)
During my son, Scottie's, first time floating a real river in a real raft, and not knowing how cold water coming out of the bottom of a dam feels, he was the first one to jump out of a raft. It was a few minutes before 9 a.m. As soon as his body struck the water, he bounced right back into the raft, and his bravery was duly noted by his cousins.
There are several historical sites along the seven-mile trip. There are no signs, and not even the fishing guides know about them, so I will have to tell you myself.
Sandy beach: The first is a sandy beach the grandchildren call "our secret place." Nobody else who has ever been down the river has seen the beach or stopped there. I can't tell you anything more about it lest you discover its whereabouts.
Little spring: The second is a little spring that comes out of the rocks just above the river — about two miles into the trip. That's where we used to stop and get a drink when I was a child. If you have taken a drink out of a mountain spring lately, you'll know why we don't stop there to quench our thirst anymore, but that does not stop Grandpa Brown from pointing it out every time we float past it.
Bad rock: (This is the paragraph you don't want your wife to read if you are really considering this trip.) The third is the rock my mom's raft hit many years ago. It's about four-and-half miles into the trip — ironically located in the mother-in-law rapids.
She was sitting in the back of the raft and she was holding 3-year-old me on her lap. The impact of the raft hitting the rock threw her out of the back of the raft. As she was falling she pushed me back into the raft. Fortunately, she was able to hold onto her life jacket and endure the freezing cold rapids for about 100 yards before being pulled to shore by the Three Nephites, who luckily had a fire going. (Note: the Three Nephites and fires are no longer allowed along the river.)
Now her grandchildren just stare at the rock in silence as they float by it. My mom, incidentally, has not been in a raft since that day and is a great shuttle driver if you need a volunteer.
Brown trout: The fourth is where my friend, Troy, caught a 22-inch brown trout many years ago. In his version of the story, the brown trout has grown to 25 inches or so. He hooked it just as we were going into some rapids about five miles into the trip.
Although the rest of us where paddling furiously around fearsome boulders, he never put his pole down once. The brown trout had met its match and did not live to tell about it.
Bad knees: The sixth is the rapids where my dad’s knees were ruined. These rapids are near the end of the run where the river widens and shallows out. The incident happened back in the day when he still floated the Green in his old yellow raft that needed to be blown up every time we stopped to fish off the bank. (We rent now.)
He was on his knees in the front of the raft as he navigated the shallow rapids. He did not see some rocks in front of him and POW! His knees slammed right into them. It was so painful that he may have let out a swear word or two.
Over the next several years he wore big, white knees pads and that sort of helped him deal with the pain of his knees hitting the rocks, but the knee pads never helped him see the approaching rocks any better. Nowadays he just sits in the back of the raft and plays with his grandchildren while his children do all of the work.
Newest marker: The newest historical marker, of course, is where Scottie jumped out of the raft just before 9 a.m. I am sure members of the Brown Family will be talking about it for generations to come. It's about 200 yards below the launch area.
After the first trip down, Scottie said that was the "awesomest" thing he had ever done. After the second trip down, he said, "That was boring."
So, my last Green River vacation tip — if you take children, make it short.
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