Your suggestions are always welcome.

• River Running Trip Planning Links
  • Permit Information
• Rafting Gear Links
• Periodicals
• Camping Gear Vendor Links
• Survival Information
• Conservation & Preservation
• Clubs and Organizations
• Rafting Stories
• Colorado Local River Information

• Permit Information - Where to go for river permit information in Colorado, Utah and Arizona (and others).

  River	Run Description	Agency	Permit Cost	Submission Deadline
  Colorado River	Westwater Canyon	BLM - Moab	$7/p	Call 60 days before requested launch.
  Colorado River	Cataract Canyon	NPS	$30	None
  Colorado River	Grand Canyon	NPS - GCNP	$100 + $100/p	Applications must be postmarked in February.
  Green River	Gates of Lodore	NPS - DNM	$125	February 1
  Yampa River	Cross Mtn Gorge	NPS - DNM	$125	February 1
  Green River	Desolation-Gray	BLM - Price	$18/p
  Green River	Labyrinth Canyon	BLM - Price	$0	None
  San Juan River	Sand Island to Mexican Hat/Clay Hills	BLM - Monticello	Fees $4.50 per person, upper - $9.50 per person, lower - $12.50 per person, both	February 1
  Dolores River	Gateway to Dewey Bridge	BLM - Moab
  Salt River	Salt River Canyon Wilderness Area	FS - Tonto NF	$10 + $5.00/p	January 15
  Rio Chama	From El Vado	BLM - Taos	$6+ $5/p	Seasonal. See website.
  Salmon & Selway	Middle, Main	FS - Salmon-Challis NF	$6 Application	January 31

• NWS - The National Weather Service has all the poop. Check 'em first!
  • NWS Denver
  • NWS Pueblo
  • NWS Grand Junction
  • NWS Salt Lake City

• Weather.com, and it's sister company Intellicast offer up to the minute weather information across the globe. Solid site.

• AccuWeather is my choice for weather information. I visit their site every day.

• Fire Bans -
  • The Colorado Office of Emergency Management maintains the official list of all fire restrictions in the State of Colorado. Learn before you burn!
  • Utah Fire Info.gov offers up to date fire information for the State of Utah.
  • AZ Fire Info.com is Arizona's resource for this information.

• Check out the Bureau of Land Management's web site for all manner of great information pertaining to public land in Colorado. You can also browse direct to one of these field offices:
  • Grand Junction
  • Moab

• Chris Webster's PhatEye.com is considered the de facto standard for river flow information. You can even register to have flow information delivered to your email based on the thresholds that you set.

• The United States Geological Survey site provides real time and archive river flow data. If you want to see what the river flows looked like in June of '91, this is the place.

• The Colorado page on the American Whitewater's website provides some great flow information

• The Colorado Division of Water Resources site provides Colorado stream flow information. If you find that there is no data for a station on USGS, check here.

Rafting Gear Links:

• Northwest River Supply (NRS) is considered the Ralph Lauren of river running gear vendors. Check out their extensive website.

• Four Corners Riversports has several pieces of paddling-specific gear that are hard find elsewhere. Check out the aluminum Dutch oven, the galvanized firepan and much more. They also run a paddle-school (located in Durango).

• Triple-A Inflatables in downtown Denver is a local source for all things rafting. If you need boats, supplies, drybags or anything else for that matter.

• Downriver Equipment in Wheatridge is another good local source for rafting and river tripping gear.

Periodicals:

• Paddling.net offers a little bit of everything for the paddler. You can check out gear reviews, boating forums, weekly columns and more. Great Site. Very little rafting stuff though.
• Paddling Magazine's website is the online version of the monthly publication (and a little more). I visit this site regularly.
• Another online version of a popular paper monthly is Canoe & Kayak magazine. There is a little something for everyone here as well.
• National Geographic's Adventure magazine is a great periodical that Seth introduced me to. It is filled with gear reviews, columns and stories related to adventure travel all over the world.

Camping and Gear Vendor Links:

• Campmor has a great selection and competitive price on camping gear. A trusted source.
• REI is an obvious source. They have a very nice website with great product information. Sometimes I'll research my purchase at REI and end up buying it somewhere else! (sorry).
• The LED Light carries every LED lighting accessory known to man. Tons of lights and gadgets and hard to find items. Give 'em a look.
• Wiggy's in Grand Junction makes some of the finest sleeping bags that money can buy. If you can afford one, they come very highly recommended.
• Visit Zyflex for a low cost alternative in thermal wear. Great stuff at a great price.

Camping and Survival Information

• SurvivalX.com offers an extensive collection of wilderness survival techniques and links. A lot of the information has a bit of a military bent to it, but it's still good information to have.
• Some excellent information on the treatment and avoidance of hypothermia can be found here.
• Looking for some new and interesting camping recipes? Check out the Fabulous Foods Camper's Cookbook. They also have a companion site called Campers Corner that provides some pretty good information.
• Check out the campfire song directory at Flying Pigs. There are a lot of scout songs, but a ton of other songs as well.
• The contents of Wilderness Survival.net "are taken from actual US Army training manuals... You will not find a more complete resource on Wilderness Survival."

Conservation & Preservation Links:

• Glen Canyon Institute is "dedicated to restoring Glen Canyon, the heart of the Colorado Plateau. In 1963, Glen Canyon Dam was completed and 186 miles of the most beautiful and unique canyons in the world were flooded as Powell Reservoir was filled. David Brower summed up the feelings of many when he called the loss of Glen Canyon, "America's most regretted environmental mistake.""
• River Runners for Wilderness is an organization for all river runners dedicated to the Wilderness Colorado River and its tributaries.
• "Living Rivers promotes river restoration through mobilization. By articulating conservation and alternative management strategies to the public, we seek to revive the natural habitat and spirit of rivers by undoing the extensive damage done by dams, diversions and pollution."
• Friends of the River (F.O.R.) identifies outstanding rivers in California - and in watersheds shared with Oregon, Nevada and Arizona - and mobilizes positive citizen action to protect and restore the ecosystems of these rivers.
• American Rivers is another activist group dedicated to defending our rivers. Their motto is Restore. Protect. Enjoy. Check them out, they are a good group and deserve your support.
• Check out and join 'Leave No Trace', the organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of our public lands. Make sure that you follow the Principals of LNT when you camp. Together we all make a difference, good or bad is up to us.
• The National Rivers website is "your center for canoeing, kayaking, rafting, fly-fishing, river conservation, river access, and river navigability law. (Including river running, river trips, raft trips, whitewater trips, float trips, wilderness rivers, and Wild and Scenic Rivers.) Sponsored by the National Organization for Rivers (NORS.)"
• The Hells Canyon Preservation Council "is developing an exciting new legislative solution to provide the permanent protection that the Ecosystem, and those who love it, deserve." They are dedicated to the protection of Hell's Canyon and the surrounding ecosystem.
• The Colorado Whitewater Association's mission is to promote and protect the sport of whitewater paddling in the Rocky Mountain region.

Colorado/Utah/Arizona Clubs and Organizations:

• "The Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association was established in 1996 to provide the self-outfitted boating public with an advocate and a clear voice seeking to achieve fair access for the non-commercial river runner in Grand Canyon and the rivers of the Colorado Plateau region; to actively work in support of Wilderness designation for Grand Canyon National Park; and to seek reform of the commercial river concession industry and other outfitter concessions on our public lands."
• Pikes Peak River Runners are another great local club working for the protection of boater's rights in Colorado. Thanks Pete and Christina!
• The Private Boaters Coalition was formed by the Pikes Peak River Runners to educate private boaters about the impact of the Arkansas River-Browns Canyon permitting plan. They are a force for good in Colorado, let's support 'em!
• The Yahoo group Utah Rafters is a great local rafting forum.
• The Poudre Paddlers Canoe and Kayak Club is another great paddling networking resource.
• Another great local resource for sea kayakers is the Rocky Mountain Sea Kayak Club. Their website provides trip and membership information and much more.
• The High Country River Rafters work as advocates for Colorado's rivers while offering opportunities for education and fun.

Rafting Stories

• Read an excerpt from Ron Watters book on legendary whitewater pioneer, Walt Blackadar. The book is entitled 'Never Turn Back' and this chapter is called "Through the Night". "...It's about a group of river rafters with no ocean-going experience who make a risky, all-night journey across the capricious seas of the Gulf of Alaska." The chapter and the book are a great read.
• Jim Wright's story, "Learning to Love the Groover" is a hilarious tale of one man's quest to make peace with the groover. Take a minute and read it, it's great.

Colorado Local River Information:

• Jerry Nolan's Local River Guide is a cool resource, especially if your paddling takes you to the Grand Valley. Jerry's site features his pictures of several runs as well as important information.
• Marek Uliasz of the RMSKC has a great website called Mountain Wayfarer that contains a ton of paddling specific information and trip information for Colorado and the Southwest and beyond. Marek is also a talented photographer as you will see from his pictures.