Ruby Horsethief Rafting Trip 2023

Prepare for the adventure of a lifetime! Join us on the 2023 Ruby Horsethief rafting trip—a three-day, two-night extravaganza. We’ve secured 4 massive rafts and 2 stunning camp sites. Picture launching from Grand Junction, CO, and conquering 10 miles of the mighty Colorado River, creation of the mega raft, blasting tunes and good people. Nights will be filled with campfire hangouts, drinks/food, and music. On Saturday, enjoy the beach, pack up, and head to our second camp site for swimming and cliff jumps. On Sunday, we return to conclude the trip. Don’t miss this epic journey!

THANK YOU FOR AN AMAZING TRIP

Details

August 11th – Friday (Day 1) – We all arrive at the Loma Boat ramp around 9am – 13.3 miles // Camp spot – Mee 3
August 12th – Saturday (Day 2) – 2.8 miles // Camp spot – Blackrocks 2
August 13th – Sunday (Day 3) – 8.5 miles to the pickup where our cars are waiting

FAQs


Next Steps:

  • Lock in Dates: August 11-13th!
  • Lock in Camp Sites: Mee 3 / Blackrocks 2
  • Lock in Rafts: 4 rafts of 6 people per raft, 2 dogs
  • Pay deposit $150
  • Assign Rafts
  • Figure out your travel fly/drive – We depart here Friday morning
  • Figure out your gear/food
Boat # Person 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person 4 Person 5 Person 6
#1 Travis Cannon (Paid) Brian Smith (Paid) Leslie (Paid -V) Rayelle (Paid -V)
#2 Coggy (Paid -P) Andrew Tran (Paid -V) Kyle St. Peter (Paid -P) James Cox (Paid -V) Joe Dean (Paid -V)
#3 RJ (Paid -Z) Erin C (Paid -V) Rodrigo (Paid -Z) Austen Mount (Paid -V) Mitch Young (Paid -V)
#4 Amanda Webster (Paid -V) Luke Miller (Paid -V) Jason Sievert (Paid -V) Kelsey (Paid -V) Tim Bell (Paid -V)
Dogs (2/2) Benjamin Cooper
Car # Person 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person 4 Person 5 Person 6
Car #1 From Denver (Thursday Evening) Travis Cannon Mitch Young Rayelle Benjamin (Dog)
Car #2 From Denver (Friday Morning 330am) RJ Erin C Rodrigo Austen Mount Cooper (Dog)
Car #3 From Denver (Friday Morning 330am) Brian Smith *Open* *Open*
Car #3 From Denver (Friday Morning 330am) Joe Dean Amanda Webster Luke Miller Tim Bell
From OC Coggy Andrew Tran Kyle St. Peter James Cox
From Idaho Jason Sievert Kelsey
Not Sure Leslie Tim Bell


The bare minimum will be clothes, food, water, a tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag. Some type of waterproof bag to store everything. If you need gear you can rent at REI.com or there are people with extra gear. Raft camping is a combination of backpack camping (weight is a factor) and car camping (weight is a non-factor). Feel free to bring either, the only issue being space on the rafts for each person + gear, which is why I recommend communication and collaboration on gear within your car and raft.

Food – Since we are all coming from different locations, Denver or the Mountains. Id figure we’d food prep either by boat/car your or location. Some of us have been on this raft, so we have just prepped all of our food and eat it cold. Some are familiar with backpacking and wanting to bring a Bunsen burner. That is allowed and the only source of fire due to the fire ban. Id suggests you talk to the folks you are riding with what food to bring. It will be 6 meals. Friday lunch to Sunday breakfast. Also, each boat should have a day cooler. This is so we limit the number of times we open the main cooler and keep the ice intact for three days. We will get bags of ice for each day and liquor on the day of launch.
Drinks – As for booze, light beer, Mexican beer, and bitch pops (Trulys/White Claws) only. I do not see a “no glass” rule here: https://www.recreation.gov/permits/74466/additional-information. Wine will work (Rose and White for the day) and Red for the night. Definitely whiskey/bourbon for night time and vodka & tequila for day drinks. They are great floaters for bitch pops. Let’s save space. So mixes we will do Crystal light. The peach tea is great with whiskey. And seltzers because some of us don’t drink. Soda will dehydrate us and waste space, so usually not recommended.
Please, no craft beers. Folks always bring them but then go after the Mexican beer and bitch pops. They end up warm and waste space. If you Truly think you want a craft beer, just buy Truly lol. Kidding, A six-pack of craft beer may work for yourself as a night drink but that is the max for the entire trip. This is a quantity over quality type trip.
What to bring individually:

  • Each person/boat needs to figure out what tent they will be sleeping in and who in your group is bringing the tents.
  • Pillow, sleeping bag, sleeping pad – we are on rocks/sand
  • Hammocks
  • Water bottles – and we will need maybe 2 or 3 gallons of water per person.
  • Chairs – Please bring your own chair
  • Boat shoes. Water shoes. Whatever you are wearing during the day, you will be wearing shoes in the water at least when we get off and on the boat. It happens a lot. We enjoy a good island stop.
  • Dry hiking boots. At night we are in the desert. You will want dry shoes in the rocking space. Also if you want to do a hike.
  • Night wear – sweats/track pants. long sleeves. light jacket It looks to be in the 60s but I’d bring long sleeves and comfy pants to avoid bug bites.
  • Fresh clothes – I always end up overpacking by bringing different outfits for each day and night and just end up wearing the same thing. But what’s important is fresh underwear and socks for each night. And fresh suits if needed.
  • Daywear – swimsuit or shorts. If you get burnt bad a sun hat for sure. And rash guard/sun-shirt/dry shirt whatever you call it
  • Bandana or sarong. Some sort of fabric you can get wet. It’s a great way to keep yourself cool. It’s going to be the high 90s in the desert during the day.
  • Day Cooler – we do not want to keep reopening the main cooler. Each boat should bring their own day cooler for that day’s booze, water, and food. And a fresh bag of ice. The raft cooler will hold next days booze, water, food, and ice bags that we will repack morning or night, not a peak heat.
  • Cooking wear – if your boat is going to cook – Bunsen burner only. Fire ban in effect.
  • Sunscreen
  • Sunglasses
  • Face wipes, toothbrush, shampoo if you want to wash lol
  • Wet Wipes (biodegradable) /Shovel/Trowel – believe we can Mcgruber those. btw you cannot go to the bathroom on the sand. Either go in the water or Mcgruber it.
  • Bug Spray
  • fully charged speakers – if you have one or two bring them (waterproof only)
  • Saved music on your phone – There is no service!
  • Goodies :):):)
  • Anything great for the darkness – glows up
  • headlamps or flashlights
  • batteries things to recharged
  • squirt guns
  • Rafts – that have some way of being tied to the large raft. It needs a plastic handle or something plastic the rope can tie to.
  • Dry Bags – stuff doesn’t get so wet but if the rafts did flip, what would you not want to get wet.
  • Easy up for the second-day shore. Since we are there most of the day. Could maybe use one more.
  • Fishing Equipment if that’s your gig
  • Anything else water/dessert-related fun I am missing

Links


The raft assignments are for organizational purposes and for launch/landing only. Once we get about 5-10 min away from launch we tie all the rafts together to create a super raft! At that point, you’re welcome to move from one raft to the others, hop on your small raft, etc.. Note we sometimes hit rapids or obstacles and will need to untie quickly, bringing carabiners or bungie cords are recommended.


Ideally 2 days Friday and Monday. We leave Denver Thursday night after work and get into Grand Junction late, so Friday and optionally Monday because you will be tired. We stay at a Hotel Thursday – Friday. Friday morning we like to go to the liquor store early to get drinks/ice dialed in, then meet at the launch site. We need to fill out waivers, get the rafts ready, and fill the rafts with gear. We want to leave the launch site around 9:30am am that way we can launch early to avoid crazy heat get to the first campsite at a good time.


It’s mostly a chill cruise-type rafting trip. There are a couple of areas that get level 1 rapids and we break apart for these sections, then hook back up. We also need to avoid rocks, trees, and islands.


Yes! Absolutely, please text or email me if you have extra gear and I can help assign it to people who will be traveling light. There is also a list of desired items for the group. If you can bring some community items it would help! 949-433-8969 [email protected]


We pack up camp on the final day, float the remaining of the river. The raft company meets us at the arrival point to help us disembark. We usually opt for our cars to be moved to the arrival site ($100 per car), then head out. I recommend leaving a fresh change of clothes and fresh drinks in the car. We usually arrive by mid to late afternoon depending on when we are able to pack-up and leave the camp Sunday.


There is a limit on people and dogs per campsite, the max on both is 24 people and 2 dogs. Only dogs who are friendly and strong swimmers allowed. We do sometimes run into other camps with other family’s and non-leashed dogs around. Dogs are free.


The deposit covers the campsite ($206), 4x 6-person 18″ rafts ($2280), and raft fees (Raft pickup). We are going to use the extra to help cover the costs of the car transportation. We fronted the money for all of this and the campsite and raft rentals were extremely hard to get due to the amount of people also trying to also reserve the same weekend. We are making this non-refundable. If you’re hesitant about this trip please do not say yes unless you’re absolutely sure you can attend. Space is very limited and it’s a highly desired trip. Once we have hit the finish line I promise it’s one of the best experiences you will ever have done!


Happy to answer them, Feel free to email or text me: [email protected] or 949-433-8969