Day 1: Lunch and Dinner
Day 2: Breakfast and Lunch
The Marriott property where we pick up for the trip, Springhill Suites Moab, has a complimentary breakfast buffet for guests who stay there the night prior.
Delicious and plentiful! Fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, whole-grain breads, and desserts are presented in a mouth-watering array. A hearty breakfast fuels guests for the day’s start and dutch oven desserts give a sweet finish to day’s end. Snacks are offered between meals periodically throughout the trip. These are the meals served:
Breakfast
- French toast with assorted syrups, Canadian bacon, fresh fruit and OJ
- Coffee, hot tea, and cocoa are available in the morning
Lunches
- Lunch meats (turkey, ham, pastrami and roast beef), assorted breads, assorted cheeses, lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives and red onion.
- Chicken pita salad sandwiches with chicken, red onion, lettuce, tomato, cashews, mayo and spices. Assorted cheeses, pickles, red onion and olives.
All lunches include peanut butter and jelly, fresh fruit, chips, cookies and a variety of condiments.
Dinner
- New York strip steak, green bean almondine, house salad, broccoli and cauliflower
Hors d'oeuvres
Desserts
- Fresh baked Dutch oven frosted cakes
- During fire restrictions, dessert options may vary
Snacks may include: trail mix, granola bars, Chex mix, Ritz bits, Rice Crispy treats, candy bars and honey roasted peanuts. Fresh fruit is also available on request.
Western supplies cold water and low-calorie lemonade, available both on and off the rafts. Guests are encouraged to drink plenty of liquids to stay well hydrated, and can fill personal water bottles as desired. Filling a water bottle with smaller amounts more frequently gives guests a cold drink every time, and discourages wasting precious water that has been left to warm up.
If additional beverages are desired (soda, beer, other alcoholic beverages), guests may bring up to 6 cans or the equivalent thereof. Containers should be unbreakable. They will be kept cold and accessible on the raft.
On multi-day river trips, our food service is limited by several factors:
- We use a portable, camp-stove style, kitchen with a limited cooking surface and a limited supply of propane.
- Our cold and dry food storage capacity is also limited because it all has to fit on the boats along with the camp gear and the guests.
- Because we operate in remote, rural locations, many items are simply not available.
- Our guides, who are also the cooks, are so busy with all of the tasks involved with running a river trip, that they do not have excess time to prepare special food requests. They strive to maximize the time spent hiking, rafting and enjoying the canyon with less time spent preparing food.
Within these limitations, we’ve crafted a menu that is designed to be prepared quickly and efficiently and to appeal to a large variety of tastes. All of our meals are served “buffet or family style” with any custom, per person preparation being limited to things like “how would you like your steak cooked” or “do you prefer your eggs scrambled or over-easy?”
While we try to accommodate some special dietary needs, we are not always able. If you have a specific food allergy or sensitivity, please let us know. If you have dietary restrictions based on a lifestyle choice or religious practice, please let us know. If your food allergy is severe, we need to have a more in-depth conversation about what can and cannot be done.
Please understand that we may not be able to completely meet your needs. However, we have found that most people find what they need from within our established menu.
The policy we have developed to maximize the common welfare of all guests on a river trip, and to allow our guides to focus their time and attention on critical aspects of a trip is that:
- “Guests may bring supplemental items if they do not require special preparation by our guides, or use of our cooking facilities.” We will always have an ample supply of snacks, fresh fruits, vegetables, and side items to choose from. While our storage space is limited, we have both cold and dry storage available on our boats for any supplemental products you may bring.
Substitutions for guests with SEVERE ALLERGIES
We cannot absolutely guarantee your safety if your food allergy is severe enough to cause anaphylaxis. If you have a severe allergy, you will be required to bring at least two Epi-pens on your trip. Please understand that one injection of an EpiPen will only last 10-20 minutes and that an evacuation from the river may take hours. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 1-866-904-1160.
- All reasonable efforts will be made to avoid cross-contamination. We cannot guarantee that any of our products are free from allergens (including dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and other allergens) as we use shared equipment to store, prepare and serve them. For this reason, allergies to commonly used products such as onions, bell peppers, black pepper, garlic, or corn may not be possible to accommodate as most of these are present in the pre-made products we purchase. Please inform us as to the exact severity of these allergies, and whether it is anaphylactic or gastrointestinal.
- Peanut butter will be served on a separate table with disposable utensils. Guests with severe allergies may go through the line first, before cross-contamination may occur. When preparing something like a salad with nuts, part of the salad will be set aside and covered for you before the nuts are added.
- It is our policy not to remove an ingredient from a trip when a guest has an allergy to the ingredient.
- You are welcome in the kitchen during meal preparation to read food labels and check if you are allergic to any meal items.
Substitutions for VEGETARIAN GUESTS
Western River Expeditions can provide vegetarian alternatives for many items. Please see the list below and compare it with the standard meals for your trip. If you feel that this will not be sufficient, you are welcome to bring additional options. Your guides will store any food that you bring but will not be able to prepare it for you due to limitations of the kitchen facilities such as the number of pots and burners.
- Black bean veggie burger patties or Portobello Mushroom (available by pre-trip request) - Replace dinner protein such as steak, chicken, and fish
Dishes such as green beans almondine and chicken salad can be prepared without meat. Peanut butter is always available at lunch and hummus is also provided for vegetarian guests. Whenever possible meat will be served separately from other items to maximize options for vegetarian guests. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 1-866-904-1160.
Substitutions for GLUTEN-FREE GUESTS
Western River Expeditions will provide gluten-free alternatives for many items. Please see the list below and compare it with the standard meals for your trip. If you feel that this will not be sufficient, you are welcome to bring additional options. Your guides will store any food that you bring but will not be able to prepare it for you due to limitations of the kitchen facilities such as the number of pots and burners. The backcountry often does not provide ideal conditions to avoid cross-contamination. All reasonable efforts will be made to keep foods separate but if your sensitivity is severe, we may not be able to accommodate you. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 1-866-904-1160.
- Gluten-free bread- Replaces lunch bread, dinner bread, and bagels
- Can also provide lettuce wraps for all lunches instead of gluten-free bread.
- Substitute granola and yogurt in lieu of pancakes.
- Gluten-free pancakes- Replaces blueberry pancakes
- Corn tortillas- Replace flour tortillas used for lunch wraps and chicken fajita dinner
- Gluten-free bagels- Replace bagels
- Gluten-free snack bars- Replace snacks containing gluten
If you prefer to not eat gluten-free processed foods, we are happy to provide other options (i.e. lettuce wraps instead of bread, chocolate bars instead of gluten-free brownies, etc.)
Specific Dairy information
Many of our meals have alternative options for avoiding dairy. Depending on your sensitivity, make sure to consult with your guides, and review the labels of the brands that are on your trip. We generally avoid cooking with butter, and your guides will be happy to accommodate this if you check with them on the first day of the trip. Items to watch and avoid are:
- Most cake and muffin mixes contain dairy or whey.
- French toast mix has evaporated milk in it, which can be left out upon request
- Some of our bread contain whey, but many do not.
- Desserts is a cakelike product that contains dairy.
- Some of our snacks.
If you are highly sensitive, we strongly advise that you bring supplemental snacks, desserts, and other foods to make sure you have adequate products to eat. We always have fresh fruits and vegetables available, but with the additional energy expended during an active trip like this, it is important to have an ample supply of alternative products you are comfortable ingesting, primarily snacks and desserts. We will have ample storage, dry or refrigerated available. We hope that this will help you plan accordingly and that you have a great trip with us!
Specific Nut information
For our nut free guests, we will be able to make the meal without nuts and set aside a portion for you, and then we will add nuts for the rest of the guests. Please consult your trip leader at the beginning of your trip to address the severity of your allergy.
- PB&J will be served at the table for every lunch. If you have a severe nut allergy please consult your trip leader and we will set a separate table that the peanut butter will be placed on. Chicken salad contains cashews, which can be left out of a portion for guests with nut allergies.
- Many of our snacks are made in a factory where they could be contaminated by nuts. We will also provide a small stock of nut free bars. This, however is an area that it might be good to bring some supplementary snacks that you like for us to store.
We bring a variety of snacks on every trip. As a general rule, snacks will be served mid-morning and mid-afternoon while traveling down river. If you would like to bring some of your own snacks, small, pre-packaged items are best. We can provide cold or dry storage. If you have special dietary needs, bringing some of your own snacks that work well for you is a great idea.
Hard alcohol is allowed at your own discretion. Storage will be provided on the boats.
Note: Hydration (ie. drinking enough water to offset diuretics such as alcohol or even caffeinated beverages) is especially vital to your health and safety on the river in the hot desert sun. Also, be aware that intoxication on a rafting trip, along the river and in camp can be particularly dangerous, so we advise prudence!
Controlled substances, such as Marijuana, are illegal to possess in Canyonlands National Park.