After a leisurely morning cooking a nice breakfast and preparing my gear for the Lodore stretch, I relaxed and read until the group I was expecting arrived. There are two books covering the Green River for most of its length and a third book about the history. Colin Fletcher wrote "River" about his float from about fifteen miles below the Green River lakes to the Sea of Cortez. I've read a few of his books, and like every novice outdoorsman in the '70s and '80s I was heavily influenced by his seminal work on backpacking, "The Complete Walker." The downside is his style. Fletcher only knows two sentence structures, run-on and incomplete. For someone with a traditional literary style, it is a head banging, tooth grinding read. "River" has some interesting insights but almost no functional sentences.

Ann Zwinger's "Run, River, Run" follows the author from the Lakes to the Confluence with the Colorado. Zwinger is a far better writer then Fletcher, a superbly curious observer of nature, and reminds me of Annie Dillard with her lyrical descriptions of her wild surroundings. This is a book densely packed with interesting information about the ecology of the river.

At the museum in Green River, I picked up a copy of "If We Had a Boat" by Roy Webb. It is a history of running the Green River, with the title quote from the very first attempt almost 200 years ago. It was a very entertaining read, lively and informative.

At about 11:00 the trip I was joining showed up. I had met the permit holder on-line when looking for information on the upper Green. Dennis lives in Rock Creek and knows the Pinedale area well. I was really touched that a total stranger invited me on his trip, and it was apparent within a few hours that the group of about 20 was very close-knit. Everyone was related, or a long time friend. I was the outsider but was cheerfully welcomed in.

The family aspect of the group really impressed me. The oldest fellow had been running rivers for decades, and his sons and protégés were now organizing the trips and teaching their own kids. There were two young women, sisters in their late teens, each running their own cataraft for the first time. Their Dad was the lead boatman, and I'm not sure how he tied into the whole thing with the godfather of the group, but suffice it to say it was really inspirational to see three generations of friends and family running the river.

I offered what help I could to get their boats rigged. Mine was already done and poised to launch. I had been unsure about how exactly this trip would work, so I had my stove and four days of food. The facts are simple: a Lodore permit is statistically hard to get, as hard as the Middle Fork of the Salmon or a Grand Canyon trip. Not only is Lodore spectacular, it is short. The entire run is a mere 45 miles and in theory if there was no wind and no need to scout, I could run it in a single day. Most permits are for four days.