Visiting Ouray tomorrow

[canyonfodder]

Visiting Ouray tomorrow, thinking about doing Lower Angel Creek or Portland Creek or both. Some of the beta says it gets icy around mid-september. Anyone know what it's like now? Highs in the mid-60s in Ouray, not sure what that means for the canyon routes. Any tips will be appreciated, just trying to see if it's worth it or if we should do something else. We've done the intro Zion canyons, some LA canyons, and some waterfalls in the Catskills. Thanks!

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[lucach]

Visiting Ouray tomorrow, thinking about doing Lower Angel Creek or Portland Creek or both. Some of the beta says it gets icy around mid-september. Anyone know what it's like now? Highs in the mid-60s in Ouray, not sure what that means for the canyon routes. Any tips will be appreciated, just trying to see if it's worth it or if we should do something else. We've done the intro Zion canyons, some LA canyons, and some waterfalls in the Catskills. Thanks!Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

I was in Ouray in August for the International canyon rendezvous, spend 9 days and did 11 canyons. Portal and Angel are definitely NOT the best. It's like going to Zion to do Pine Creek. I would recommend to get in touch with the locals on Facebook: Colorado Canyoning.

[canyonfodder]

Thanks for the tip on the Facebook group. We're happy with short, easy canyons, and Pine Creek is also high on our list (never done it, looks beautiful). Once we do the easy ones, we'll progress to harder ones. Anyway, for now, we're just trying to get a sense of whether ice will be an issue.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Taylor]

Are you really wondering if there's ice in the canyons right now? The high temps were in the 80's and 90's across most of the west last week, including Colorado. There's no ice.

[lucach]

Thanks for the tip on the Facebook group. We're happy with short, easy canyons, and Pine Creek is also high on our list (never done it.

Sorry, I wrote Pine Creek but I really meant Keyhole. Pine Creek is one of the best canyons in Zion, in effort vs beauty is #1 in my list and recommended to anyone (as long as flash floods not on the horizon). Keyhole, not so much.

We did Portal in 30 minutes, and we did it after we did full Oak creek in 7h. So Portal is a good bonus canyon, but not a destination in itself.

Check the beta on http://www.ropewiki.com/Ouray and use the Waterflow feature to find out how the canyons are flowing right now. Focus on the 5 star canyons, which are the best, and the 4 star too. Corbette is currently flowing low, maybe because of the snow or maybe because of lack of it,. Corbett is one of the classics. Also very good are Bear and full Oak and allow escape points in case you get tired/scared.

Cascade is very technical, not recommended unless you are super experienced. Also technical but unique with its ice cave is Weehaken.
The South Fork of Mineral King is in my opinion the best water canyon in the region, but the one with strongest flow and not for people with little experience in glacier melt Class C.

The Durango waterpark is only 30 minute canyon like Portal, but it's super fun with lots of jumps and slides and loads of water. Just make sure you compare waterflow pictures with the ones posted on the beta before you get in and wear wetsuits.

[Scott P]

I just got back from Ouray, but didn't do any technical canyons. There is no ice in the canyons right now.