Upper C :: Trip #17

Saturday, October 20, 2012

River: Upper Colorado
Put-in/Take-out: Pumphouse to Radium  4.5 miles
Flow: 650 cfs
Other boaters: Toby's boat w/Mark
Weather: Sunny, highs 60s.

After I'd packed it all in for the season, Toby gives me a call for one more float on the Upper C  - "Never put your boat away until mid-November," he tells me. 
Glad I went. Only other people on the river were fishermen, and there were plenty. 
Mark & Toby had their fishing gear, Mark caught a couple. 
Every time I take out my boat, I'm thinking that I'll take my fishing gear along... but never do it. Too busy rowing my boat to do any serious fishing.
Saw a few bighorns just before the canyon. Stopped at the Radium hot springs and warmed my feet. Another fine day drinking whisky on the river.

Rio Chama, New Mexico :: Trip #16

Sunday, September 16 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012

River: Rio Chama, New Mexico
Put-in/Take Out: Cooper's Ranch just below El Vado Dam to Big Eddy  31 miles
Flow:  670 cfs and rising
Other boaters: Toby, Mikey (Gringo), Charlie, John & Cory.
Total 3 boats; mine, Toby's and John's.
The Rio Chama, a major tributary of the Rio Grande, flows through a multi-colored sandstone canyon whose walls grow to 1,500 feet. The river runs through areas that are designated as wilderness or as wilderness study areas. Towering cliffs, heavily wooded side canyons, and historical sites offer an outstanding wild river backdrop for the angler or float boater. The Rio Chama is a Wild and Scenic River, and was designated by Congress in 1988. To protect the river environment and maintain an opportunity for a high quality experience, boating use has been limited since 1990.
Because of the demand for trips in late spring and summer, there is a lottery system to assign launch dates. But after Labor Day, no permit is required. And normally after Labor Day, the flows drop to around 50 cfs. Due to whatever reason (irrigation, water rights, etc), the flows are perfect for a nice 3-day trip (or so the plan 'A' went).
The river passes through designated wilderness on the upper stretches; the lower section is lightly developed and very scenic.
Sunday was travel day; arrived late at the put-in & car camped by the river. Watched the moving water... a very nice thing to see! We'd have to get going early the next morning running shuttle.
Monday: Got my boat rigged, ready to run the 2+ hour shuttle to Big Eddy. Back on the river by noon. Floated a few miles to a fine campsite, set my tent near the rapids on the river - providing nice white noise to sleep by. 
Tuesday: Expecting a short day, we'll cover around 8 miles before the next campsite. Saw other boaters! 3 guys; one on a duckie, others on a raft, pulled out at our campsite so they could scout the next rapid. Apparently, in the past year a large boulder came off the cliff and changed the dynamics of the rapid a bit. They scouted & we watched 'em run it. No worries.
Packed-up and back on the river continuing thru the canyon. Came upon the group that passed us earlier, they were set-up at the campsite we were shooting for. No worries, there's more camping downriver. We passed a few sites over, being the picky bunch of guys that we are...eventually coming out of the canyon into flat water... passing the Monestary... at that point we were getting so close to the take-out, we decided to blow-off the campsite search and push it to the end. And the daylight was fading. Just as the sun was setting, we hit some of the most fun rapids of the entire trip! Nice wave trains, class II & III fun! Getting splashed and loving it, but looking forward to the take-out as a post-sunset chill in the air was making me long for some fleece. Made it to the take-out where there was no camping or fires allowed. Got our boats out & loaded, went a few miles up the road to a perfect car camping spot on Forest Service land. Massive drinking and meat eating was mandatory after a long day of pushing oars on the river. Whiskey, burgers, brats & wings. Hell yes.
Wednesday: Pack it up, head back to the put-in for Cory's car, then head home!
Easy trip...only incident was a blown wheel bearing on Toby's trailer. Saw the puff of smoke and hub come flying off the wheel just north of Alamosa...wasn't sure at the time what it was. Kept going, but kept my distance...the left wheel on the trailer was leaning askew. Got to just outside BV in Nathrop to drop off Gringo, then checked the wheel on the trailer - bad news, the bearing was gone and the wheel about to fall off. Damed lucky to get as far without that happening. Thanks to a local who works on cars & thanks to NAPA, back on the road in a couple hours.

Upper C :: Trip #15

Saturday, September 15, 2012

River: Upper Colorado
Put-in/Take-out: Pumphouse to Radium  4.5 miles
Flow: 761 cfs
Weather: Sunny, highs 70s.
Other boaters: Sonya, Tony & the ShitShow

Arrived at Radium early (10am) for late breakfast & bloody marys. Went to Pumphouse to rig, met Toby, Nicole & kids... they went ahead of me, since the rest of the crew were all on "river time." The rest of the "show" eventually got there, put-in by 2pm. Nice float with many eddy-outs, off the river by around 4pm. 

Load it all up and get ready for road trip to New Mexico tomorrow to raft the Rio Chama.

Upper C :: Trip #13 + #14 Labor Day Weekend

Saturday, September 1, 2012

River: Upper Colorado
Put-in/Take-out: Pumphouse to Rancho DelRio  11 miles
Flow: 998 cfs
Weather: Sunny, highs around 80.
Other boaters: Toby, Nicole & Kids.
We were supposed to boat with Sonya & company, saw her at the take-out & she was running late...it's Sonya's 40th birthday party weekend. 
Waited at put-in... waited some more at the beach before entering the canyon... waited more at the Radium Hot Springs, where we met some of the crew... but had to continue on down the river as the kids were a bit antsy. And knowing Sonya's on "river time," their boats could be another hour behind us. At least we knew where everyone was going!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

River: Upper Colorado
Put-in/Take-out: Rancho DelRio to Bond, just past State Bridge  8 miles
Flow: 994 cfs
Weather: Sunny early, then overcast by afternoon, highs around 80.
Other boaters: Sonya & the Shit Show... at least 9 boats + kayaks.
Mellow float, lots of drinking. Saw a production crew at the take-out trying to shoot a movie... what looked like a really bad movie. Based on the costumes and vehicles, it appeared to be a bad knock-off of Mad Max. All of the drunk boaters were fascinated by this activity and were pretty well mannered. Right up until the director yelled to us "Quiet on the Set!"
Well, NOBODY tells this shit show of rafters to be quiet. We proceeded to make life hell for these people, creating quite the noise whilst taking our sweet time loading boats. Whose bright idea was it to shoot a movie on the river LABOR DAY WEEKEND? Yep, when you're low budget filmmakers, you take what you can get, when you can get it.

Upper C ::Trip #11+#12

Saturday, July 21, 2012
River: Upper Colorado 

Put-in/Take-out: Pumphouse to Radium 4.5 miles x 2 = 10. 

(river calculations, based on extra-curricular rowing)

Flow: 1050 cfs getting nice.
Weather: Sunny w/a chance of late day t-storms, highs 80s
Other boaters: Toby & Nicole w/Kayla & Cassidy; Frisco couple (names I cannot remember 'cause I'm stupid. sorry. ask Toby, he knows 'em)

First of two trips this lovely day. This lovely, crowded, only water running day. 

Well, when I told Toby my first casualty of my new rafting gear was the latch on my cooler, I thought that was amusing... until the day unfolded.

We ran shuttle after rigging boats, came back to find my boat slightly disfigured. Dammit. Looks like I have leak in one of my air chambers on the boat. 

Whatever, let's pump it up & go, we have whitewater to catch!

Only we had to eddy out a few times to allow me to pump the one chamber, center tube left.

After Westwater, I knew I had to readjust the oar towers so my oars wouldn't hit the tops of big waves (like in Westwater). Towers up...let's see how that geometry works...not so well. I could barely dip my right oar in the water all the way. But it sure would be easy to get those out of the big waves! Not so effective today.

Eddy out, adjust and go.

Had to get moving back to Pumphouse to pick-up Sara for the next lap!

Trip #12:

Ran shuttle, re-rigged at Pumphouse...pumped my sagging air chamber some more.. and got Sara on Toby's boat.... she failed miserably at bringing Ernie. 

Weather holding nicely, we could see thunderstorms gathering in the distance. 

The moose crossing was classic; enter moose stage/river right... trot along shore, disappear in willows, gone. For an instant. Then the moose appears again looking to cross the river right in front of our boats! 

BACKPADDLE! 

Yep, the moose decided to cross the Upper Colorado River directly in front of our boats!

Successfully. Then wandered off in a nearby field. 

So very cool.

Many thanks to "Wildlife Toby" who has a distinct effect of bringing out and sighting wildlife on river trips ...

How do you top that on a river trip?

We'll see.... stay tuned to this same channel, same blog time, same blog  blah blah... I have many other trips planned with Toby, next time bring the nice, big camera!!!

And the next big trip with Toby is coming in September; the Gates Of Lodore.... another first for this river rat. Enjoying a greater season of firsts on my new boat.... now, I just need to figure out that leak. Either a valve problem or a patch job required. Hoping it's just the valve stuck with some sand or grit from cleaning... update to come.

Overall, another fine day on the Upper C X 2. Rock on.

UPDATE::
Found the scrawny, little pinhole and patched it!
(after watching the videos & reading the instructions!!)
((yes, I'm a MAN who reads instructions. Carry on.))

Colorado River :: Westwater Canyon, UT :: Trip #10

Thursday-Friday, July 5-6, 2012

River: Colorado - Westwater Canyon, UT
Put-in/Take-out: Westwater Ranger Station to Cisco   53 miles

Flow: 2500 cfs
Weather: Day One - overcast w/a few sprinkles felt great w/temps in the 80s, cleared out by late afternoon. Day Two - Beautiful! Sunny, dry, hot, high 90s.
Other boaters: Toby & Nicole w/Kayla & Casssidy; Dave & Maura w/Caleb & (?)Joshua(?) boys; Nancy with her "Flippy Me."

Nestled deep in the sandstone cliffs between Grand Junction, Colorado and Moab, Utah, Westwater Canyon rocked my world.

Late on the 4th of July, we all drive to the Westwater Ranger Station arriving after dark, set camp, ready to get an early start the next day. Ran shuttle and stopped by the Cisco Disco. Interesting backroads in Utah...if you didn't know where you were going, you'd swear you're on an unmaintained, dead-end, deserted dirt road. Thank goodness I knew where I was going, even though it was my first time running shuttle on these unknown roads. Felt sketchy at times, but we did it fine.
Day One had a few thrilling rapids, but nothing like what we were about to get into the 2nd day.Campsite: Hades. Just above the canyon entrance to the big water.
As the Colorado River descends into Westwater Canyon, the walls begin to close in, while rising to 1,200 feet in height. Due to the narrowness of this rock strewn channel with its fast water and high canyon walls, the rapids in Westwater Canyon are challenging at anytime during the boating season, great news for this low-flow water season in much of Colorado.

Marble Canyon Rapid, the first in the inner gorge, gets the action started. My first lap full of water. Then as Marble Canyon ends, we enter Staircase Rapid for a series of deep, trough waves that had me smiling from ear to ear. That smile wouldn't leave my face for much of the day. A short distance downstream was the entrance to Big Hummer Rapid, with a wild splash and a big hole, then Funnel Falls Rapid, a truly breathtaking drop that offers the best of adrenaline rushes and I popped a wheelie. The pace of the river runs even faster now, as the next two rapids Surprise and No Name go flashing by. Then it was time to regroup and prepare for the one everyone talks about...Skull.
Skull Rapid is formed as the river makes a tight, hard turn to river left. The rapid has a narrow approach where the idea was to drop in, catch a small eddy on the left, then go left of the big rock. I watched TL Toby attempt the move, then got snagged on the big rock in the middle ("high side!!"). Following, I pulled left & saw the passage too tight, then made the poor last minute choice to go right... as I'm watching the big rock come up to my boat dead center, right between my feet, the exact same rock Toby just hit. (Don't look at the rock, look at the water where you want to go... just like tree skiing, you don't look at the trees!) Now pivoting off the rock, I'm sideways, facing the middle of the river going thru Skull... with no problem. Gave me a great vantage to watch Nancy flip her Mini-Me and swim the left side of the rock (where I was aiming). Those large and powerful waves try to wash everything over the top of Skull Rock and into the monstrous hole at the bottom of the rapid. My mission was to grab Nancy's flipped boat & gear, Toby & Nicole were on rescue for Nancy. Grabbed the boat as I hit the Rock of Shock, a solid rock wall dead ahead of Skull, flanked on river right with a powerful back eddy that flushes everything into the Room of Doom, a large cavern scoured out of the rock. Sounds exciting? Well, not so much if you can't muster enough oar power to get out. I was attempting to tow a flipped mini-me raft out of the back eddy, but it felt like I was anchored solid when I hit the current with the flipped boat. After a few unsuccessful tries, nearing the point of exhaustion, Nancy was delivered by boat part of the way across the river, then swam into the Room of Doom. The only way to get her boat out was to flip it upright. Since I did not have a flip-line (bad boater, bad!), Nancy used my bowline as a flip line and uprighted her boat. Much easier getting out of the Room of Doom in a solo boat. They say a successful run thru this rapid takes some precise maneuvering... I have some precision to strive for on the next attempt. The river still offers three more major rapids, before exiting the canyon - Cross Bones, Sock-it-to-Me and Last Chance. These last three rapids offered fantastic runs, before the flat water. 

Popping a wheelie and burying the front tubes of my boat underwater with a nice lapful of water, going sideways thru Skull and just hopping on those wave trains for fun... that's my boat. Stable, quick and sleek. The biggest water so far for my boat and I now have a lot more confidence to run my local Colorado rivers when the water gets flowing big again.

Upper C::Trip #9

Sunday, June 24, 2012

River: Upper Colorado
Put-in/Take-out: Pumphouse to Rancho Del Rio  11 miles

Flow: 860+ cfs (getting better)
Weather: Beautiful! Sunny, high 80s.
Other boaters: Nancy, Virgil, and about 5 other boats.

River flowing nicely with increased releases. A few boaters bailed at Radium.

Didn't get on the river until nearly 2 in the afternoon, slow floating with eddies, made the take-out and back to Pumphouse to de-rig, not home until after 9pm. Everyone bailed on me to go out to eat... it was past my bedtime.