When the snow starts to melt on the high plateaus above the canyon country of Utah, intermittent rivers start to flow, and I start refreshing the USGS site every few hours looking for an upward trend that means it’s time to go boating. Often these rivers flow between February and May, so this gear list is a direct reflection of that. In the high deserts of Utah in mid-March anything could happen. You could see rain one year, snow the next, and even some 85-degree days that leave you squinting through the glare for a shaded alcove under which to hide. Because of this variability, the gear list I have made accounts for chillier spring weather scenarios. I will offer some suggestions for pushing this list towards summer…

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