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Utah’s Rock Art and Rafting
One of the best whitewater seasons in recent memory is
running through September in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument. Rafting
outfitter Adrift Adventures has space available on several late summer trips
that blend river thrills with dinosaur digs and Indian rock art.
Adrift's August calendar leads off with "Jurassic Journey," a five-day
fossil hunting and rafting expedition. Trip highlights include plunging
through 2,000 ft. deep Lodore Canyon's fun rapids aboard large and safe
oar-powered rafts, viewing spectacular Indian rock art, hiking outlaw
trails, observing eagles, big horn sheep and river otter, and camping under
the stars.
"Jurassic Journey" begins at Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center in Dinosaur
National Monument, the world's largest in-situ dinosaur fossil bone quarry,
for a guided tour. Next, as fossil hunting is not permitted within the park,
Adrift takes guests outside the park to secret fossil sites where "hunting"
for marine invertebrate fossils is permitted.
Pre- or post-trip, Adrift recommends an excursion to the newly enlarged Utah
Field House of Natural History State Park in nearby Vernal. This spectacular
storehouse of prehistory includes a giant Diplodocus skeleton, 90 feet from
tip to tail; a simulated dig site; and interactive fossil and children's
labs.
Registration in Adrift's "Jurassic Journey" is limited to families. Package
includes local airport pickup, shuttles, meals, licensed professional guides
and all necessary equipment and is priced for a family budget. Launch date
is August 1; cost is $729 per person (adults), $638 per person (children age
6-12).
"Rock Art and Rafting" blends a Green River rafting expedition with expert
interpretation of one of the richest collections of Native American rock art
in the West. The trip is ideal for students of southwestern Indian rock art
and culture and western U.S. history; of course, the classroom is a
wilderness river canyon.
Following a day that includes tours of several world-renowned rock art
panels, as well as rock art sites that few have ever seen, Adrift takes you
to the river. The Green River trip encompasses exhilarating rapids, more
rock art panels, Fremont and Ute Indian live/work sites, riverside wildlife,
all in what is considered the birthplace of western river rafting.
The five-day "Rock Art and Rafting" expedition has a September 3 launch
date. Cost is $729 per person; a 10% discount is offered to seniors 55 and
older, who might also consider inviting their grandkids along at Adrift's
reduced children's rates.
Each week, Adrift launches four-day "Green River/Lodore Canyon" rafting
trips. Hidden in 2,500 ft. deep canyons, the Green River is home to rapids
with names like Hell's Half Mile and Disaster Falls. This is a great trip
for first time, or experienced, rafters looking for wilderness canyons and
howling whitewater. Cost is $699 per person (adults); $599 per person
(children, age 6-12).
Adrift Adventures, Inc. is a family-owned and operated Utah corporation that
is celebrating 24 years of great rafting trips and learning adventures in
2004. Nominated for a Conde Nast Traveler Magazine Ecotourism Award, Adrift
has rafting programs for all ages and abilities - with specific experience
and expertise in family trips and environmental learning expeditions.
Adrift is a concessionaire of the National Park Service and holds special
use permits with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Colorado Division of
Parks. Additional information on all the trips offered by Adrift Adventures
is available at
www.adrift.com or by calling toll-free, (800) 824-0150.
Edited by Marilyn Miller
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