It was a small plume on the horizon as they hauled their rafts to the Loma boat ramp at the top of the Ruby-Horsethief Canyon stretch of the Colorado River on Saturday.
A few hours later, as Caleb Weinberg and his crew of nine people on three rafts and four kayaks leaned into gusting winds and thick smoke as “it was raining ash on us,” he said.
After making it to their campsite, the sky cleared but the winds remained as Mesa County sheriff’s deputies pulled up in a motorboat. They suggested that the campers relocate a bit downstream and cross the river closer to the railroad tracks in case the Snyder fire kept growing.
“Someone told us that the fire was growing by 5,000 acres an hour,” said Weinberg, who lives in Aspen and was captaining a diverse crew that included his 21-year-old son and his pals.
By dawn, the Weinberg crew was part of one of the largest evacuation missions in the history of Mesa County Search and Rescue, which enrolled Union Pacific rail-riding trucks to pull more than 120 rafters and several dogs out of the Ruby-Horsethief Canyon as the Snyder fire exploded.
After the warning from deputies, Weinberg and his campers pulled up tent stakes and reloaded the boats. They floated down to an island close to the tracks. Another group had relocated to the same spot. Mesa County Search and Rescue volunteers came knocking around 1 a.m. The fire was growing and there were rail-riding trucks ready to haul them to safety. Again, it was not a demand, only a suggestion.
“We had a quick conversation and that really seemed like a smart thing to do,” Weinberg said.
In a quick hustle, they packed up their boats, ferried them to the north side of the river and tied them up. They climbed up the banks and loaded into the back of the large “hi-rail” rigs, which have flanged steel wheels for cruising railroad tracks as well as rubber tires for highways, hence the “hi-rail” name.
“They were not panicked but they had a sense of urgency going,” Weinberg said of the search and rescue volunteers. “That other group was, well, they were partying a bit. They did not need to be woken up. They were not moving quickly. Those (rescue) folks dealt with them pretty well.”
123 rafters and six dogs
Along with their hi-rail rigs, Union Pacific sent nine workers to help Mesa County Search and Rescue.
“We were glad to be able to assist in the communities we serve,” Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen said. “Nothing is more important than safety to Union Pacific.”
“This was the biggest mass evacuation we have had in recent history,” said Molly Bethe, a Mesa County Search and Rescue volunteer trained in both swiftwater and high-angle rescue who was one of 10 responders to the evacuation.
The volunteers worked with Bureau of Land Management rangers, officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Mesa County sheriff’s deputies, Union Pacific Railroad workers and bus drivers with Grand Valley Transit to coordinate the nearly 12-hour mission.
The response started with deputies warning campers that there was a fire in the area before progressing into recommendations to move to the north side of the river and then a more urgent call to evacuate.
Without those hi-rail trucks, rescuers were looking at ferrying campers on motorboats 15-plus miles downstream to the Westwater Ranger Station. The winds were preventing even the motorboats from moving back upstream.
Without the assistance from Union Pacific, Bethe estimated the rescue effort would have taken an additional five hours. As it was, she got home at 3:15 a.m.
“We are really happy everyone made the decision to go with us,” Bethe said. “There was a campground downstream that did end up burning that night, so we are grateful that everyone made the call to evacuate with us.”
“What a great light show”
The rail-riding trucks hauled 123 campers and six dogs out of the canyon to waiting buses. The rescue effort included transportation to the put-in at Loma, a firehouse in Fruita where they could overnight or the take-out at the Westwater Ranger Station.
“The bus signs said ‘Special Event,’ like we were going to a concert or something,” Weinberg said.
Farther downstream, Cole Griffin and his friends had just rowed through dense smoke and wind-whipped whitecaps. It was grueling work for the longtime friends who had landed the night before in Denver from Chicago and New York.
As they drove into Fruita on Friday, they marveled at the lightning storm on the horizon and said “What a great light show,” Griffin said. (Officials suspect the Snyder fire started when lightning struck trees in the remote desert south of Fruita and Grand Junction.)
“When we started in the morning, there was a little bit of smoke,” Griffin said. “I thought maybe it was from the Cottonwood fire, far away.”
As they floated downstream, the gusts picked up and the smoke settled on the river.
“There were a couple times when the wind was pushing us upstream,” Griffin said.
The seven members of Griffin’s group landed at the Mee Canyon campsite, about 14 miles downstream from Loma. They were unloading their rafts when the deputies arrived in the motorboat with a warning.
The fire was growing and the campers should either move to the north side of the river, near the railroad tracks, or at least make a plan to get over there if the fire on the south side of the river kept growing.
“I was down to stick it out and continue the adventure but that would have been a very stupid idea and I’m really glad the group decided otherwise,” Griffin said.
Shortly after midnight, they loaded into the hi-rail rigs and shuttled down to the buses.
Griffin, who lives in Denver, had pitched the trip to his pals as a lazy river float through canyon country. It turned into something much more intense.
“It was definitely Type 2 fun,” he said. “I told everyone I’ve resigned from trip planning.”