Green RiverMay 2026 (Spillway Full Release, 9,800 CFS)

Flaming Gorge Dam at 9,800 CFS — full release blowing out the canyon below Spillway, green water already running fast from the first hundred yards.

Lifejacket-required sign on the bank — half-submerged at 9,800 CFS. Everything was underwater.

Wooded shoreline with rocks tumbling into the water — surface texture of the Green at full release.

Ponderosa pines on a red rock slope above the river — classic Red Canyon mix of conifer and red wall.

Two figures on a sandstone bench at the water's edge, the river running cold and fast past them — solo float, busy section.

The dory tied up in shade above the Little Hole trail, clear cobble visible under the green tailwater.

Dory and another small boat pulled up at the trees, American flag at the bank — a wind-roughed pull-out somewhere along the A Section.

A Section corridor — narrow band of green water between shadowed walls and conifer slopes.

Mid-canyon corridor at full release, light moving across the walls.

A Section reach — red walls and green water, the canyon doing what it does.

Canyon turn — current swinging the dory through the bend.

Red sandstone wall reflected on green water — A Section quiet stretch at full release.

Canyon corridor continuing — fast water under steady sun.

Mid-canyon — light, water, walls.

Approaching another bend, the canyon settling into its second-day rhythm.

Dory blasting through the waves at Red Creek in the B Section of the Green River.

Approaching the Vernal crew's camp — the bend where the morning's plan finally caught up to itself.

Quieter water through Browns Park — cottonwood and sage on the banks.

Building up to Red Creek — fast water and the read for the scout-and-shoot scramble.

Vernal boys' dory dropping through Red Creek Rapid at 9,800 CFS — shot from the scramble above the rapid after the margarita pickup.

Below the wave train at Red Creek — Vernal boys' boat clearing the run.

Red Creek aftermath — current flushing past the photographer's perch above.

Looking back upstream from the scramble — the rapid running clean at full release.

Red Creek wave train — water shapes that only exist at this flow.

Aftermath of the run — water laying back down below the wave train.

Back at the dory — gear staged, photos secured.

Browns Park reach — open sky, cottonwood bottoms, river slowing back into its valley character.

B Section corridor — light on the surface, banks pulling back.

Bend below Red Creek — current still fast but the canyon walls gone.

Side channel through reeds — small boat far ahead, the wide-open feel of the B Section.