The next day we planned to make a lot of miles and find a camp as opportunity presented. With the rising current we were making six miles per hour, but at mid-day the wind rose out of the south. (We were to find this pattern almost every day.) By one PM, we were battling 20 - 30 mile per hour winds. As we rounded a bend and took the wind straight on the side, we were simply forced against the right river bank and could go no further. Luckily it was a nice beach with plenty of trees to protect us from the wind and other people's eyes. The nearest ranch building was a couple miles away and there were no roads around, so we hauled the boats behind a screen of willows and waited for the wind to drop. And waited. Finally we decided to camp right there, and get a very early start the next day.

Note that at several points along the trip the land was posted, but often it was not. However, the Fish and Game map explicitly states that while the water is public, the land it flows over is private. Even anchoring is considered trespassing, and now and then you see signs pointing that out to river runners. Many of the group I joined from the Lodore trip are from the Pinedale area and told me that if I ever came back, they could easily arrange permission to camp with the local land holders. Obviously that's not an option for people without connections. The region is missing out on a tremendous opportunity to draw tourists by not having more designated campsites on this lovely river.

We planned a very early start for the next morning, knowing that wind might be a problem again. That day we did an epic 45 miles in 8.5 hours, including a couple of breaks, finally making camp at a legal site, Reardon Draw. The next day we finished off the remaining 22 miles to Names Hill, loaded the boats into the vehicle, and headed back to Warren Bridge for the other car. That night we relaxed in Pinedale before setting out on the trip south for the next section.

Although the water is flat from Daniel Access/40 Rod all the way to Fontanelle Reservoir, we did encounter one hazard. At many points along the way are diversion weirs made of large rocks dumped across the river. The object is to create a pool from which water can be drained off in ditches to water the hay meadows that stretch for miles in every direction. (Ranching, hunting, and fishing appear to be the chief economic activities in this area. Below LaBarge it is natural gas and oil extraction.) Most of these diversion weirs had a clear, open channel, usually on the side opposite the ditch but sometimes in the center. One, the Ashley-Wolf (marked on the Fish and Game map by the name of the ditch the dam feeds) had about a three foot drop. We both stayed upright and punched through the hole at the bottom, but it could easily flip an unwary boater.

Further below, and now cautious about the dams, Doug was in the lead. Approaching the Harmon dam, it appeared there was a clean line just right of center. One nice thing about SOARs is they are stable enough that you can stand up for a better look at an obstacle. Doug had a look and picked his line, with me not far behind but still wary. Already committed on the tongue, Doug saw too late that there was a line stretched across the river. It clothes-lined him right out of his boat. Doug hung onto his paddle, quickly gained his footing in waist deep water, grabbed his boat, and made it to shore. He was completely soaked, it was windy and overcast, and the water was cold. I brewed hot water for tea while Doug changed to dry clothes.