Before the oars

There is not a sheep in the crowd, just an octet of wolves. At no time do the temperaments (and tempers) emerge as clearly as when the fine art of canoe propulsion is being pursued.

It goes something like this: Whoever's in back, supposedly steering the canoe, is convinced the clod up front couldn't paddle correctly in a bathtub, let alone a river.

Whoever's in front, in the power position, paddling like a Volvo diesel, is convinced the idiot in back couldn't steer straight if the canoe had a satellite navigation system.

Lively adventure

It is the various methods and techniques of resolving these differences that enliven the voyage down the Green -- as well as spooking the aforementioned cows and propelling the various canoes into all manner of trouble, the least of which is crashing into the river bank once in a while.

There are many ways to take in the splendor of Southern Utah, a belt of national parks, monuments and wilderness areas stretching from the Nevada border to Colorado.

The area constitutes one of the most scenic and wild areas on Earth, and contains such wonders as Zion, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands and Bryce national parks, as well as a number of national monuments including the year-old (and still disputed) Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Most who come to the area do the canyon country by road, a few by air. But the watery routes, especially the wild and woolly rides down the Colorado, offer views of the staggering desert scenery that must be seen to be believed.

The Green, for most of its meandering trip through Southern Utah, is a placid and gentle river -- no whitewater to speak of, no thundering rapids, no deadly rocks or narrow canyon walls. It's nothing at all like doing a trip through Cataract Canyon or whizzing down the American River in the Sierra. It is advertised, in fact, as a ''calm and scenic float trip.'' None of this macho, 50-foot-high wave stuff, nossir.

The Green rises up in Wyoming, flows south through the Utah desert and finally joins the mighty Colorado River not far from Moab. Mostly, it's just a muddy river meandering through some of the finest canyon scenery in the world.