Bear Creek 4-30-07

The lower elevations in the front range are going off. Bear Creek has been rising fast over the past few days and it has been getting run alot. This fast influx of flows so early in the season has resulted in numerous beatdowns and broken boats. With this in mind, I headed off to Bear Creek Monday as it peaked at 380 cfs unsure whether to be excited or scared (I am using the DWR gauge at Morrison because there is a diversion in town which I think accounts for the lower flow at the lower gauge).

Overall, the run at this level is sweet. The rapids are quicker and there are a few holes, but nothing you cannot line up on and punch. Scouting No Fun Falls is definitely a good idea. If you don't get left going around the turn, things are going to get interesting.

No fun falls from below with Alex in the foreground:



The dam is probably the worst looking drop on the run, but it goes smoothly more often than not. The landing is about a foot deep and there is a bit of a strange hydraulic at higher flows...but it goes and it is pretty fun.

Dam drop from above:



Cameron running the dam on an earlier low water run:



I think the creek peaked today but I could be wrong. Hopefully it will run at a decent level for a while. Get it while you can!

Dowd Chute and Upper Blue 4-29-07

Sometimes its good to have a beautiful day of mellow boating in the mountains. First, we went to Dowd Chute (about 600 cfs).

Christine somewhere in the Chute:



Then we went to the Upper Eagle (also about 600 cfs). This section is running because Dillon Reservoir is almost full before the runoff. It may run higher in the near future. The first half of the run is flat, and the second half is Class III with a couple decent playspots (nothing worth traveling across the state for). Here is one of them:



It was a warm sunny day, but the water up there is still chilly (<40 degrees) so bring your pogies.

Barrel Springs 4-22-07

After the disapointing Escalante flow on Saturday, we decided to paddle on some water Sunday. We could see that Barrel had water from the road on the drive out so we headed back that way. Normally, you have to subtract 1000-1300 from the Shoshone flow to get the Barrel Springs flow because of the hydro diversion. Right now though, they are hardly taking any water out. The Shoshone flow was 1700 and for whatever reason, most of that was being released through the dam.

Upper Death is a rarely run rapid just above where most people put in. This photo makes it look much better than it really is because you cannot see the size of the rapid, all the rock flakes just under the surface waiting to knock you off line, or the terrible seive on the left. Its runnable but...



The whole reason for the run is Barrel Springs rapid. At this level, it was long and fun IV+. Tom somewhere in the middle of the rapid:



We had a good time on the first run, so we did another lap before heading home. It was a fun run and I highly recommend it.

Escalante 4-21-07

We drove all the way out to Escalante on faith, without a visual on the level. This was a mistake. There was not enough water. I really wish this run had a gauge. We paddled anyway.

Eric in some random slot drop:



Double drop was pretty fun. Tom dropping in from above:



Christian about to practice his combat roll at corkscrew:



It was still a great canyon with nice camping, and nobody got shot at. I'll definitely be back to paddle this run with more water.

Clear Creek Narrows 4-18-07

The Black Rock run on Clear Creek is normally run at >300 cfs. Desperate to get wet, six paddlers showed up to lap the Narrows at 130 cfs. The Narrows is definitely the cleanest rapid at this level. Its pretty fun but short. I'd rate it 3+.

The first drop offers god boof potential...or not:



The other significant drop forms the Mr. Bill hole at higher water. Its just a fun little slot at fish flows:



Its worth doing if you are desperate. The walk back up to the top is definitely harder than the kayaking.

October Hole 4-9-07

The October Hole is the result of a community effort to raise funds and add some off season whitewater to the Boulder/Lyons area. After a rousing fundraiser in 2006, the feature was built last spring. Unfortunately, building whitewater features is more art than science and it did not work that well. Miraculously over the winter, some boulders in the river shifted right where we wanted them and now its game on. There is no single gauge for the hole. Here is a link that explains how to calculate the flow:

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/lyons-gages-12594.html

The flow spiked and then dropped fast today so I'm not sure how much we had. My best guess is 250 droping to 200 over the course of the evening. Apparently earlier in the day it was epic.

Lyons Local Jason in the hole:



And a couple gratuitous shots of myself:





The word from the locals is that they are going to drain Carter Lake this spring. This could mean a big spring at the O-hole but no fall water. Maybe we'll need to rename it the April hole.

Union Chutes 4-2-07

1050 cfs + nice weather = good late evening turnout. Most folks were surfing the mellow wave at the 4th drop. Its a little flushy but okay for spins and blunts.

Unidentified paddler on the wave:

Gore Canyon 4-1-07

Most people paddle Gore in the fall but its pretty good in the spring too. The flow was 700 cfs which is lower than the range given in the book, but its still worth paddling. Overall the difficulty does not change much from at higher flows. The lines are just different.

Carter and Dan wondering why they caught the right eddy above Tunnel.


Tunnel from above- there's a big ass hole down there somewhere.


Pretty view of the Gore Range from the put-in.