The verdict is in—one is the loneliest number. Two is like…100% less lonely. But three? Four? Five…Twenty? Here’s where things can get sketchy. Yes, more people on a river trip does bring the loneliness quotient down, but additional people have the potential to bring the aggravation level up. More is not necessarily the merrier.

Anybody who has ever put together or tried to put together a “big” group knows that the people in your party are sometimes the most unpredictable part of a river trip. After you win a permit everybody is “in.” But a few months later, maybe not.

In the intervening months or weeks between the initial excitement and convivial glow of being invited on a river trip, life happens. Grandma is in the hospital, the kids have a travel soccer tournament that week, the wife ran off with her ex-boyfriend. So many things can happen. And then, if river conditions aren’t optimal, the winnowing can get ruthless. The weather report sucks, the flows are too high or too low, there is too much smoke from a nearby fire. A trip roster can absolutely collapse to the point where the trip gets canceled. I’ve seen it all, heard it all—more than once.

Sometimes, the best bet is to take the one person who can’t or won’t flake.

One of my favorite trips of all time was a rafting trip down the Green River through Desolation Canyon with my wife. Let me first say that no rafting trip is “mid.” But in comparison to other rafting trips, Deso is “mid.”

The drive to the launch at Sand Wash is a vehicle-busting, bone-jarring eternity. Then there is the mosquito and horsefly pestilence that can be biblical, er diabolical. In fact, there are screened cabins for rent to protect boaters from the swarms. The first part of the float is sluggish, the best part of the float is too fast. The rapids are frequent, but small. And the weather is unpredictable and can alternate between way too hot and way too cold.

Not surprisingly, it’s one of the easiest permits to win, or, since cancellations are frequent, it is one of the easiest permits to pick up last-minute. But in the right company, even Deso can be converted from mid into marvelous.

“Just you two?” He asked. And then glanced at the eight-boat shit show rigging next to us. “You guys are doing it right.” (He meant us.)

And we were. For six days, we kept our own schedule, kept the meals simple, kept our wardrobe choices simple (most days we just wore sunscreen) and kept our own company. The trip was perfect.

So twelve years and numerous “big group” rafting trips later, I decided it was time for another multi-day date with my wife. Apparently, the universe agreed. Two days before Valentine’s Day, I opened my email: You were successful in the 2024 Dinosaur Green & Yampa High-Use River Permits…

Great! No need for a card, flowers, or chocolates.

Happy Valentine’s, Honey.

The first hazard of solo+1 travel is a nagging feeling that you are being selfish. This is especially true if you are using a coveted permit like a May 28 Yampa River trip for two people. During the high use period on the Yampa River there are only one or two private launches a day. Compounding the exclusivity factor is the reality that the Yampa River is run-off dependent and has a narrow window when you can float it. The maximum group size for a Yampa Permit is 25 people. There were 23 other people who could be enjoying the Yampa—if I so chose.

This feeling of selfishness is abstract—until it’s not.

The original plan, when our friends and family asked if we’d won any permits, was to lie, obfuscate, or change the subject. But that didn’t work. Plan B was to just own it.

“Any permits?
“A Yampa.”
“Oh my God! A Yampa!” (Somewhere back in their brain they believe they are about to be invited. They are wrong.)
“I’m just taking my wife.”

Hostile silence.

In terms of doing right by the river corridor, taking fewer people is easy to justify. No matter how careful everyone is, twenty-five people make a much bigger environmental impact than two. But in terms of doing right by your social circle… People will say they are okay with your choice; don’t be fooled. They are not.

The second major hazard is not really a hazard; it’s just a mathematical reality. There is going to be no sharing the work. On most river trips camp chores like cooking and cleaning are assigned to teams. On a team’s night they cook dinner, wash dishes and then make breakfast the next morning. But after their night is over, they’re on vacation.

With two people, you and your +1 are the “A” team, the “B” team and the “C” team. The upside to this is that you know who to blame if something doesn’t get done or the food gets burned.

The third hazard is sunburn. On a river trip with just your better half, you can expose your other half. There’s something glorious about being out in nature au naturale, but common sense is called for. Depending who you are, there’s a good chance nobody other than your +1 wants to see you naked, so have a cover-up at the ready. There are other people on the river. (Think of the kids!)

Also, those really pale parts of you don’t get sunlight that often; they will burn quickly and painfully. Fortunately, asking for help with sunscreen in hard-to-reach places won’t get as weird as it might if you were on a trip with a bunch of strangers. (Trust me, I’ve been there.)

The fourth hazard is the one that everyone thinks of first. What if something goes wrong? There is and is not safety in numbers. More people means more hands to help if assistance is necessary. But more people also makes the need for assistance more likely. If you’re rafting solo+1, there is no rescue boat. For risk purposes you need to act like yours is a solo trip and be very conservative on hikes, around camp, and especially running rapids.

On our Deso trip many years ago, I was new to rafting. And while most of the rapids on the Green River through Desolation Canyon are minor, there are a handful that should be scouted. A Solo+1 trip is not the time to read and run. When in doubt—scout. This piece of advice has two functions: One, you can study your lines intently and possibly get some input from your partner. Two, if you’re really nervous about the rapid, you can wait till another group floats the rapid or stops to scout. It’s important to remember that another group is not responsible for your safety, but they are a psychological and sometimes actual insurance policy against disaster.

The final hazard of taking a solo+1 trip may be the hardest one to navigate. You may find that spending long days in the sun with your favorite person is so enjoyable and so relaxing that you decide to never take your friends or strangers rafting again. Moderation is the key here. More is (typically) the merrier when it comes to winning a River Permit Lottery, but every once in a while, I give you permission to stay selfish.