In rec.boats.paddle riverman wrote:
That leaves the best season from November or so, until it gets too low
in May. I prefer the later part of that window, because it avoids
late season thunderstorms and the possibility of flash floods. With
your wife as twitchy as she sounds about it, I would run it during
the spring (Feb, March) when the water levels are most consistent,
the weather is very nice (highs in the high 80s, low 90s) and the
wildflowers are going nuts. About 4 feet is primo.

Hey Riverman, is late January still too early?

My wife and I ran it over Christmas vacation, and it was very cold
at night. Daytime highs might have reached 65F for a few minutes,
but most of the time we spent, it seemed between freezing and 50F.
(This was before we had drysuits.)

The cast for going in November is that few other rivers are running
then, so you don't waste good snowmelt and spring run-off.

Beautiful canyons! The water did not seem as muddy as you say.
I've seen worse, e.g. the San Juan.