Who has a Green River permit?

[Sombeech]

15414934

[accadacca]

There is going to be some wild rides on rivers this year! :scared:

[middlefork]

Sweet! Looks like it's running about 8950 CFS today. I ran it in '84 at about 11,000 CFS. Great trip for me, the wife was not impressed after she had swum Upper Disaster Falls :lol8:

I also ran the Yampa the year before and was standing at Warm Springs Rapid the day it hit the all time record flow of around 33,000 CFS :eek2::eek2: That was my wifes' first trip and she loved it as we both stayed in the boat :mrgreen:

[restrac2000]

We have a late May launch in Deso. High probability of seeing flows between 35-45k. Will be a privilege to see water that high in the modern rafting era.

Have friends running Gates. Not sure I would want to be in there at they levels they are forecasting.

Everyone be safe out there this year. Gonna be epic.

Phillip

[Sombeech]

We have a late May launch in Deso. High probability of seeing flows between 35-45k. Will be a privilege to see water that high in the modern rafting era.

Have friends running Gates. Not sure I would want to be in there at they levels they are forecasting.

Everyone be safe out there this year. Gonna be epic.

Phillip

Nice. Be sure to post a report when you get back!

[ststephen]

I'm on a Gates of Lodore trip for mid-July :eek2: Should I be concerned?

[restrac2000]

I wouldn't be but I have never made the run. Bet the flows will be ideal that time of year. I just don't have any experience with continuous Class IV whitewater at high water so Lodore sounds way out of my league this year. Not a lot of room for error and I just don't have any Class IV daily runs to practice on with my Cat in Southern Utah.

Take my advice with a grain of salt. Just synthesizing information from lots of friends and the trip reports and recollections being shared across the internet this year. The community is a buzzing with the snowpack this year.

Enjoy your run....very jealous....one of these days I will get to see Lodore and the Yampa.

Phillip

[Bo_Beck]

July 22nd launch on Deso. Hope there's plenty of water still!

[middlefork]

I wouldn't be but I have never made the run. Bet the flows will be ideal that time of year. I just don't have any experience with continuous Class IV whitewater at high water so Lodore sounds way out of my league this year. Not a lot of room for error and I just don't have any Class IV daily runs to practice on with my Cat in Southern Utah.

Take my advice with a grain of salt. Just synthesizing information from lots of friends and the trip reports and recollections being shared across the internet this year. The community is a buzzing with the snowpack this year.

Enjoy your run....very jealous....one of these days I will get to see Lodore and the Yampa.

Phillip

I don't know if you are on Westwater today or not, but the 13,000 CFS they are forcasting today would make it a much more serious run than Lodore at 8,000 CFS. IMHO. The rapids on Westwater are much closer togeather than the ones on Ladore.

[restrac2000]

No Westwater run today...never found any boaters to meet up with and definitely not willing to run it as a solo boat. I understand that Westwater is a committing run in the teens, though we would have likely been through the meat of it before it peaked higher than 13k. Many of my friends are Westwater fiends and updated me on the changes that happen in there: big boiling eddy lines, unusually strong pillows like Rock of Shock, and of course the fabled room of doom.

I have run Westwater several times but always below 10k. Glad not to be in there without my usual rafting crew. Not to mention the 50 mph winds.

But as a boater, there is something very different about a day run (5-ish miles of rapids?) with continuous class III moves (potential IV hazards if you miss the runs) than a multi-day Class IV run. Willing to stand corrected since I have never done Lodore. Also, aren't they forecasting Lodore to be running in the mid-to-high teens for the peak this year? That is what I said I wouldn't want to run, especially on a first trip with all newbies (only one of my friends has experience there).

Phillip

[restrac2000]

Ah....my "wouldn't be" is actually a reply to ststephen about being concerned in July; i.e. I wouldn't be concerned then. Sounds like they will still have 5-10k running then which sounds fun for my skill level.

[ststephen]

Thanks for the insight. My trip will have a wide range of skill levels. There are at least a few folks that are very experienced, but not enough to pilot all the rafts. Hope this won't be a "Ship of Fools" trip...:lol8:

[restrac2000]

Have a blast! I can only imagine how beautiful that float is mid-summer. I bet you and your buddies will have a blast and clean, safe runs.

I always get into a speculative mode before the first, big trip of the year. Too much boating porn and too many maps aren't good for the brain ;^)

You guys doing the main run or putting in at the dam for the extended stretch?

Phillip

[restrac2000]

Think I may have gotten my data/flows wrong.

10-12k seems to be the highest Lodore will get,huh? That would be the highest it seems with tribs below the dam adding tons of water. Is that more accurate, middlefork?

Am I over-estimating the experience in Lodore? I definitely don't take WW lightly. Everywhere I check rates Lodore Class IV and WW Class III. I understand how arbitrary that can be though. But looking at the photos of Lodore makes me believe their are a lot more features to flip a boat. Every trip below 10k in WW has proven itself to be a straightforward, but serious, run that requires class III skills. That said, I have never been flushed or pushed into the room. I have run Skull Hole dead on though.

Phillip

[Alex]

I've read on utahrafters that dam might be dumping 12k soon. That will be the record for Lodore. Predictions for Yampa are about 30-35k, so that means Deso might push 45k during peak! I have May 25th launch with kidos, I keep debating about not going through with it, but seeing the huge river flush like that is a very rare occasion.

Just got off Yampa and we were there when the flush from the dam came down. The river rose a foot in 10 minutes, make sure to double rope your boats to shore!

I've done WW at multiple teens and high water levels, I really don't care for that canyon at those numbers. Too high, too fast, too dangerous. At 23k, we got done with the canyon in 20 minutes. :eek2: White knuckling the whole way down.

I much prefer WW at lower than 10k level.

[middlefork]

I would say that if you have run Westwater at different levels you probabaly would not have problems on Ladore. At lower levels they are what I would term technical rapids that require moving around the river in larger waves. However at higher flows they have a tendency to become more straight forward but with larger waves.

Anyway I hope everyone has safe and enjoyable trips. Looking forward to the trip reports :nod:

[ststephen]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has some recent conditions. Also, I have a question: are most folks using wet suits right now? What about folks that are known to be cold easily? I'm also interested if anyone has beta on rock art or interesting side hikes while doing the Gates of Lodore run. Only about a week away now! Yes!!!

[middlefork]

Here is a link to the current condtions.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/forecast/PILversion.php?pil=RVR

On the Ladore section, Upper and Lower Disaster Falls and Triplet are all short rapids and would be short swims if anything happened. In between is flat water. I would not think a wetsuit would be needed for them. Hells Half Mile is longer and will be the biggest on that section. You may want a wet suit on it. I don't think I would wear a wetsuit after that until going into Split Mountain. A splash jacket may be nice to have handy on all the other rapids.

Sorry I can't help on the rock art.

Not much hiking in the Ladore Section. You can hike at Echo Park and Jones Hole is a nice hike the fish hatchery.

Have Fun! :2thumbs:

[Alex]

Just got back from A&B last weekend, it's easy as pie. At 9k cfs now you'd blow through A&B in 3-4 hours. We camped at Big Pine for two nights. Water is frigid, my feet were numb after sitting in it for 2 minutes. My kid even refused to go swimming in a wet suit and he doesn't refuse swimming at all!

Running Lodore in 2 weeks, will tell you how it is then.

[Alex]

Forecast looks like they are still dumping full 9k for the next week

http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?grzu1

I wouldn't be surprised if they keep dumping through out July.

[ststephen]

Thanks for the pointers. Yeah, the outfitter just told us to expect >8K for our run (put in July 8). They also said a few folks have canceled due to the high flow and a few commercial rafts have flipped. Sounds like we'll be in for some excitement...

[Alex]

Looks like we are launching on Lodore on 14th of July, hopefully the flow will keep at ~9k, I'd love to see Lodore at flood stage. ststephen, please post a TR as soon as you get off, I'd be curious what sites you guys stayed at, what's flooded and what's open.

Thanks!

[ststephen]

We're just getting out on the 13th. I'll try to post something that eve in whatever hotel we stop at on the way back to CA. If you can check this thread via a smart phone perhaps I can pass along some tips. Our put in is actually 7/9; camping at the river on 7/8 the night before. Boy the rivers up in MT (where I'm visiting now) are all sure huge!

[Alex]

Yes, everything is raging now!

Ya man, I will check this thread on my way to put in. I drive out early morning of the put in so will have reception on the way. If there is something useful to pass along, let me know. Thanks!

[Sombeech]

can't wait :afro:

[Sagebrusher]

Looks like we are launching on Lodore on 14th of July, hopefully the flow will keep at ~9k, I'd love to see Lodore at flood stage. ststephen, please post a TR as soon as you get off, I'd be curious what sites you guys stayed at, what's flooded and what's open.

Thanks!

Looks like you don't have to worry about it, the two main tributaries of Flaming Gorge are over 10,000 cfs combined...

http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?ltaw4
http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?grrw4

[middlefork]

8850 cfs this morning at the dam :2thumbs: Have a great run!.

[ststephen]

I think I was not fast enough to help Alex. It was great! Our group had a lot of kids, the youngest being 6 and 8. The family with those two youngest kids decided to split up and meet us at Echo Park to rejoin. That opened up a boat for rowing, so instead of sharing rowing duties I did the whole thing. We camped at Pot Creek 2, Rippling Brook 1, Jones Hole 1, and The Cove. At the Cove, we had to share the site because a small group was already there and they said that Compromise was under water. Not sure if it was (we didn't really look for it), but a lot of the eddies were hard to catch with the big flow. Rippling Brook's beach was gone under water too (from what they tell me).

We had a little rain, but not bad. Mosquitoes were not too bad either. Worst spot for them was the Cove and the put-in at Gates.

What a great time! I'll post a full TR when I'm finally home.

[middlefork]

:2thumbs: Sounds like you had fun. Can't wait for the report. Alex will be fine not near as high of flow 4600 CFS this morning at the dam.

[Sagebrusher]

:2thumbs: Sounds like you had fun. Can't wait for the report. Alex will be fine not near as high of flow 4600 CFS this morning at the dam.

Doh! I wonder why they reduced the flow?

[middlefork]

Trying to fill the the lake by juggling how much water they expect to come in versus how much storage area they have left. I think the "normal" flow is around 1200-1800 CFS.

[Alex]

Just got back last night. Our sites weren't the best. We stayed at Tripplet, Jones 1 and Cove. We had almost a lay over day since we only had to go from Jones 1 to Cove one day, so we didn't launch until 2:30pm. Cove was hot! No shade at all.

The flow was 6k and dropped to 4500 cfs. It was a fun mellow ride. At that flow things are easy. We had a few kayakers swim a few rapids. Everyone was new to duckies and one lady brought an ocean kayak, she ended up swimming a few rapids before giving up completely.

We had a blast, I am still recovering from lack of sleep and the river partying :eek2::slobber: Met great folks.

The bugs were bad at the Cove camp site, everywhere else they were fine.

[Sombeech]

Just got back last night.


I'll be posting some pics today, video later this week

[ststephen]

What a difference a couple of days makes. We had near 9K the whole time. We did the same late start from Jones to Cove. The rain late in the day as we arrived at the Cove made it less hot and provided a very nice sunset. Pics coming soon...

[Alex]

I'll be posting some pics today, video later this week

I forgot to give you my SLR memory card for the Hell's Half mile footage.

[middlefork]

:2thumbs::popcorn:

[Sombeech]

I forgot to give you my SLR memory card for the Hell's Half mile footage.

Yeah, I didn't realize you were filming video. I'll see if I can get it from you this week if you want it thrown in with my stuff.

[Alex]

It's fine, but I am leaving on Wed early in am :(

[Sombeech]

It's fine, but I am leaving on Wed early in am :(

I might be able to run over with a hard drive and grab the files from you if it's convenient for you Tuesday evening?

[Alex]

Sure and bring my bag?

I'll be packing though

[middlefork]

Great pics! That looks like a perfect level to run Hells Half Mile.:2thumbs:
One night at Cove had to be the worst night I've ever had on a river trip. I think every deer fly in that part of the state lived in the sagebrush on that flat!:lol8:

[Sombeech]

Great pics! That looks like a perfect level to run Hells Half Mile.:2thumbs:
One night at Cove had to be the worst night I've ever had on a river trip. I think every deer fly in that part of the state lived in the sagebrush on that flat!:lol8:

I think they were actually attracted to Deet!

[ststephen]

How odd. Just a few days before at the Cove we had no deer flies. Tons of skeeters though. But, they quit biting about an hour after it was fully dark.