Who has a Green River permit?

[Sombeech]

See how to embed KSL Videos in your posts

[accadacca]

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

[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

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 That was my wifes' first trip and she loved it as we both stayed in the boat

[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 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...

[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. 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

[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...on.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!

[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/fl...plot.cgi?grzu1

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