A First Descent of the Escalante River

February 20, 2018

We are water people, intrigued by new adventures especially in desolate areas. This group of paddlers decided to forge new waters and be the first to descend the Escalante river on a SUP. The account of their experience makes us want to jump on a plane or in a car and experience it. This is an incredible story of a group of people enjoying the wilderness and water of these beautiful canyon lands.

WILD AND BROKEN: A FIRST SUP DESCENT IN UTAH

February 15, 2018 By SUP Magazine

PADDLING A RELIC OF THE MIGHTY ESCALANTE RIVER

By Morgan Tilton

Photos by Dylan Brown

The river's milk chocolate surface, marbled with whirlpools of whitewater, draped like an infinity pool over the drops ahead. I gaped at my buddy, Dylan Brown, as he bumbled down the first cascade and rocketed backwards off his standup paddleboard--which took a 180-spin and smacked the surface, gear faced down. After clambering with the SUP (which was now lodged against a boulder), he finally leveraged it flat, jumped back on and raced down concurrent drops after his paddle. I looked back at our crew of paddlers--Jordan Curet, Morgan Smith and Aaron Kloer--whose lips moved, but the thundering turbulence that bounced off the walls of the canyon quelled any chance of hearing them.

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