For the last dozen years we’ve gathered all sorts of musical instruments and gone on a river trip. It's all the wonder of river running, desert strolling and warm riverside camping in combination with music in starlit sand amphitheaters. It's the camaraderie of a music camp and a river trip all rolled into one! Bring any sorts of instruments (dulcimers, guitars, oboes and ocarinas), your camping get up, your smiles and your friends and we'll bring professional guides, rafts, fabulous food and whatever other specialized equipment you might need on the river. No river experience is necessary. We'll teach you everything you need to know about camping and river traveling.
PHOTO GALLERY OF MOONS AND TUNES TRIPS
The 2010 edition of Moons and Tunes will travel 28 miles of the San Juan River in Southeastern Utah. We leave from Bluff, Utah and take out at Mexican Hat Utah. THE SAN JUAN RIVER: Along this stretch of river are Anasazi ruins and rock art that is the most complete and extensive I've ever seen. We'll visit the huge petroglyph panels of Butler Wash - here are some photos. We'll visit Desecration panel, a very interesting rock art site which was "desecrated" by local Navajo tribes people in the 1950 at the direction of a native American medicine man - very interesting and unique part of rock art history. There are numerous ruins in the erosion caves along the river. I enjoyed reading about the available sites along this stretch. If you like a good story, Tony Hillerman wrote about Chinle Wash which he re-named in Thief of Time. We'll pass by there. The white-water is mild, the perfect stretch for inflatable kayaks (duckies.) The river company will bring some of these for us. THE COST: is $650 per person. Your check is your reservation. Please send before March 1, 2010, check made out to Bonnie Carol, sent to 15 Sherwood Road, Nederland, CO, 80466. I'll mention that if everyone who has told me they are coming actually comes we are already full, so as always, don't dawdle with your decision. Sometimes there are late-breaking places on the trip if someone can't come at the last minute, but there seems to be lots of interest in this trip. A note about the cost. This trip usually costs around $900 - $ 1000 if you just call the river company and sign up, and we get a price break because I do all the organizing (i.e., contact me, not the river company with questions). As I have planned trips - river and otherwise - I have learned that it is a rare adventure that costs less than $200 a day when food, lodging, equipment, attractions and transportation are included. However, on river trips, the transportation (boats!) and the lodging (camping in the great outdoors) are quite special, and cost less than the usual B & Bs in remote parts of Scotland, for example). This is to say that river trips, what with the camaraderie, music, scenery, wilderness, hiking, and gourmet food are quite the recreation value! (There's something you can tell your doubting relatives to inspire them to join us. If you've been on a Moons and Tunes trip, you don't need to be convinced, I presume.)
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GUIDES AND EQUIPMENT? We will have professional river guides to run our rafts, cook our dinners, and help us have a safe and fun trip. The guides will also bring our boats, gourmet food and whatever other specialized river equipment we might need such as waterproof bags for your gear and life jackets. All you need to bring is your sleeping bag and tent, outdoors clothes, your musical instruments and anything else you'd like to contribute to the fun - poems, stories, costumes and... BOATS? We'll have rubber rafts in which we’ll ride and in which our gear is transported. We'll also have some inflatable kayaks for anyone who wants to have more fun. (More fun? How is this possible?) Deso/Gray is a great run for the inflatable kayaks. EXPERIENCE? No
experience is necessary - we'll teach you all you need to know to
camp and run the river. Many people have come on these trips as their
first-ever-in-their-lifetime camping trip.
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