OCR Text |
Show Record 5446 when we landed. In going down the Green River when we were trav-eling straight down the river, with no intention of stopping, we had no difficulty with sand bars and did not strike any sand bars. If we wanted to go into the bank, for instance, on the west side, of the river and current is on the east side of the river, it is impossible to get in constantly without hitting a sand bar; in other words, you can't land on a sand bar without hitting it. 5447 I recall no instance on the trip from the town of Green River to the head of Cataract Canyon when our boat hit a sand bar while it was in the channel of the river or at any time except when we had deliberately left the channel. From the foot of Cataract Canyon down to the Utah- Arizona 5448 line we frequently hit sand bars and were stuck on sand bars, as were other boats being used by members of the survey party. If the chief would tell you to go and give him a shot from a certain point and you started to go over there, there possibly wouldn't be enough water and you would get stuck on a sand bar and would get out and pull the boat as far as you could and leave it there until you had given him the shot the wanted; then he would come down to where you were and would possibly send the other rod man to the other side of the river, and in going to the designated point he might get stuck or might not get struck; it would all depend on how the channel was. Numerous times we could go right to the place where he would send us without a bit of difficulty, but at other times we would have to get out and wade. 5449 So far as I recall my boat never got struck on a sand bar and never hit a sand bar on the entire stretch of the Colorado River from the foot of Cataract Canyon to the Utah- Arizona line while it was in the channel of the river. If the wind was blowing and the water was rough it was hard to determine the channel, bust otherwise you usually have no difficulty in finding it. So far as I remember I never hit a sand bar or got stuck on the trip from 830 |