There are two lakes that form the runable headwaters of the Green River. Both lie in glacier-carved basins, and in fact anyone with a rudimentary understanding of geology will identify glacial moraines all along the road up to the lakes. 10,000 years ago this area was heavily glaciated, and even now snow normally remains in patches all year up in the mountains. Not in 2012. Snow pack was below 50% of normal here and we were a bit concerned about the flow. Close study of the snotel sites, the river gauges, and calls to fishing outfitters suggested that the melt-off would happen in early June, and it wouldn't last long.

The lakes are beautiful, and if I had not gotten a last minute invitation to join a Lodore trip launching on the 16th, I would have brought my ice axe and crampons to hike up to the high cirques above the lakes, where the Green truly originates. But this trip was about running the runable water, not hiking, so I didn't feel bad about missing out. And of course, I really wanted to make that Lodore launch. This was the driving factor behind the speed we made on the river.

There is a Forest Service campground right on the lower lake. It was technically closed until late June, but the road was open and we camped in the parking lot. We put onto the lower lake early in the afternoon on May 31. It took about an hour and a half to paddle two miles up the lake to the stream that joins the lower lake with the upper. Then we spent almost another hour lining and dragging our boats up that stream (one mile), with a close eye on the brush for bears and moose. Finally we paddled out on to the upper lake, for a final mile to the stream that feeds the upper lake. Beyond that, boats cannot float. We paused for photos, then turned around and headed back. Naturally the sky was darkening and the wind increasing.