While returning to Flagstaff from a quick trip the other day, we stopped for a few minutes at the Navajo bridge across the Colorado River near Lee’s Ferry. Lee’s Ferry is the launch location for boat trips down the Colorado River through Marble Canyon and Grand Canyon. These rafts had probably launched within the hour and were beginning a multi-day trip down the river.

Heavy rains in recent days had deposited a large load of silt into the Paria River—which empties into the Colorado River just below the boat launch site. Stream flow increased from a baseline of about 8 cfs (cubic feet per second) to around 1000 cfs.

These boaters may have been hoping for clear water for the initial portion of their river trip—but did not get it.