Trip Reporter

I made this in case people were curious about boating in Peru. The video is long, so if you only care about whitewater fastforward to 5:20.

B catches a fast, glassy Kahuna wave on the Snake. This is fast and hard to catch!
http://vimeo.com/28170886

I spent my summer up in Idaho and started Kayaking on the Payette river. I worked up to where I'm comfortable with class III but I'm willing to try whatever. I'm also interested in creeking if anyone knows some nice places around for that... The reason I'm posting this is cuz I have NO CLUE where it would be a good idea to go paddle and would love some fellow paddlers to go with. If anyone is interested please let me know!

I got a good inventory today for what needs to be cleaned up this fall. From the bottom of Sawmill through the Upper Middle Run there are about three limbo logs that could be removed. In the Park Run at Swinging Bridge there is a large pine fallen parallel with the river that can be skirted around but it has a few small limbs in the way. The next wood is a mandatory portage consisting of two large logs not far above the Lower Run put-in (above Carnage Corner.) There is another log jam just below carnage corner, barely squeezed around it. And finally there is a river wide log half way between...

Took a look at Riverdale wave; was surprised to see someone surfing the second wave, in a longer boat. Noticed that they flipped, missed a roll, took awhile to set up; no worries, seems plenty deep behind that second wave @670. So this is probably the best intermediate front surf in the Ogden area (Croyden-like); since OPP first hole is trashy, second wave is decent, fun, but not really a front surf, more like side/front surf, and the 3rd hole is way trashy.
Crystals new wave on the Ogden is another nice change of scenery from OPP; your parked car feels safe for a change (park at Walmart...

We caught it close to the 795 cfs peak from the rain spike; ~500 in the bend at 5 PM; was surprised noone else was out. 2nd drop tried to grab me after a sloppy boof; hard paddling and it let go. Non-bumpy runout, really nice level, especially for August.
Power plant fence gate was locked left; so we portaged right; downclimbed right after the concrete and traversed at waters edge to a good putin; kind of a pain, but at least that avoids the 4 foot diameter loose blocks above.

Oh, there is killer new rebar below the dam on the left. If the left gate was ever raised and looked...

Been boating a long time. I have run a ton of stuff including all of the Oregon classics, some of the Washington classics, a ton of the Colorado classics, and Idaho's goods from low to flood. Nothing prepared me for this years runoff. In average years, I have wound up in either Oregon, Cali, or CO for early season. This year, I couldn't take the days for any of these in anticipation of a MF trip at prime flows. Yep. Working stiff at the mercy of the man.

I watched the local flows go big, I watched folks go big. I watched, uncomfortable in a new unknown boat that scared me a bit...

The full trip report, and video is located on my blog.

http://dankeownwhitewaterobsession.blogspot.com/2011/07/running-gorilla-for-first-time-on-green.html

Just want to say, I just did Rick Springs on Logan recently at 900 cfs, and... I think it was one of the funnest runs I've ever done. There's a slide, tons of awesome eddy lines, a bunch of front and side surfable waves/holes of all sizes, it moves pretty fast and ZERO flatwater for the first 3 miles, and to top it off... it's one of the most scenic runs around.

On another topic, I have found that the Logan to be one of the most versatile rivers I know of. There's at least 2 sections for each skill level... including the three class I dams for beginners to practice rolls in cold/moving...

Bridger is still class II+ at 900. Its a little washed out. I am told the surfing is better in the 700-800 range. Some low brush could make it class III I guess. This is a good beginner run, although its short. Since it ends in a pond, you would probably not lose any gear in case of a swim, and you can do some roll practice in the pond too. The water is still cold, maybe 50.
We put in about a quarter mile above Bridger, at a very low bridge, which has wood on it. Putting in higher (like below 3rd dam) is not recommended due to that low bridge with wood.

Then, we had a great time...

The season on the Payettes is usually long and it's good to have them when nothing else is running. But I think the best time to go up there is when the SF peaks. Bronco Billy has some of the biggest waves I've seen in my life and staircase is a blast. The holes in staircase start to wash at about 7.5k making the boater relax a little bit and enjoy the big water. Making the move in slalom is pretty...

Some good information is coming out of this thread on the Buzz;

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/black-boxes-san-rafael-swell-high-water-advisement-37573.html

Didn't mean to hit this twice this year, but it just sort of happened. No gnar, but another breathtaking Ut run. Definitely worth hitting up. Left me wondering how I hadn't done this previously.

Several in our group agreed that this is one of the most amazing runs we have ever done. Easily. The non stop walls through much of the run are nothing short of
mind blowing. The upper six miles were very bony, but for the first
time in my life, I didn't mind that. Only running around 400 on the gage. Unlike the common perception, there was no hiking. We did 8 portages, more would be needed if the water was higher. Even though the latter half of the run doesn't have
singularly tough rapids, only solid class 4 boaters should be in there. Lots can go wrong quickly with very...

Took my first run ever on the City Creek through Memorial Grove. Huge extravagant wedding in the back ground. Down right stupid fun. Hit it up before its gone.

If you are wanting to get out and paddle, but hesitant about the huge flows we have right now, here is a suggested list of runs, in order of difficulty.

Hen-Tag- II-III; must portage Croyden bridge, and stay far left at Taggart hole.
Having a river roll is more important at the high water levels. Get that new drytop, dress warm and practice your roll on Hen-Tag.
Upper South Fork Ogden, II-III. There is nothing like Taggart hole on the upper South Fork, and no low bridges to portage. Still, the bends are pushy, and there is a class III move here and there. While fiddling...

89 to Riverdale is big water class III above 2000, right here in Ogden. The flats move fast, and have some big swirlies. The habit of laying on the back of your boat and looking at the sky, when in the flats, can only be done for a few seconds at these high flows; keep an eye out for getting pushed into the brush.
There are many channel choices; they have all looked clear so far. In one spot you feel like you are slaloming through standing trees, but there is plenty of room.
This is a good playboat run, with some decent waves. Below the 84 onramp bridge is a huge wave train; if there...

This is my favorite class IV run in the Ogden area right now. @1600 its pushier (than 1200, 1300, etc), but I watched a strong boater boof into every hole on this run @1600; "good practice for the Narrows" :-).
With Bridalveil below 1000, this is probably the best class IV run south of Logan, and north of Price canyon.
There is a low bridge soon after the putin, which is a mandatory roll @1600, suggested roll @1500 (since it caused a serious head impact ~1550), and a tight limbo @1450.
There is a limbo pipe in the crux, but there is plenty of room to limbo, and it seems to be...

This is one of the easiest runs in the area at the extremely high water levels we are seeing; continuous II+, with a class IIIish move. No wood or too-low bridges on 6/10/2011. You can put in right below Causey dam, and get some nice wave trains immediately. The riverwide wave-hole 100 yards below the putin is washed out into a glassy wave. There are a couple channel choices; they all looked clear.
This run may be easier than Hen-Tag, and less dangerous, because Hen Tag has a bridge portage, and a serious hole at Taggart. There is nothing like Taggart on the upper section of the South Fork...

This is a teaser to a video that I plan to work on for the next little while. Let me know what you think, but keep in mind that the ending as you see it will not be the ending in the final cut. Also I may drop one of the text windows at the beginning.
Watch enjoy, and comment if you like it I think I should change anything. http://vimeo.com/24857164

Road is open as of June 4th, 2011. One of our dear hill billy friends told us there would be 4+ feet of snow up there and that we shouldn't even try it in a Subaru. Once we drove up to the gate we realized he meant 4+ feet of snow stretched out in long one inch deep strips mostly in the shade.

We cleared some fresh wood out of the gorge so the run is clean now and as fluffy as
it probably ever gets these days. There was one big log at
the top of Unborn soul right in the corner where you drop in that we
moved out. There was also a fresh landslide between the pine tree...

Here is a video I slapped together. Nothing special just thought I would share. Bridal Vail is one of my favorite runs to hand paddle as of now.