Floating

Yampa…2023

May 21, 2023 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

With a short season and your odds stacked as high as a piece of paper, the Yampa is a coveted stretch of desert multi-day bliss. As the snow piled up in January and the final days were upon us to make our lottery elections, I held out hope.

Hope was dashed…obviously. While my luck is on par with most mortals, I can click on shit really fast. Cancellation day was a glorious day, and I screamed to my wife who quickly reminded me the date I got was over Mother’s Day. Spoiler alert: I went anyway, and she’s still with me.

Projections were calling for 22K plus flows but we ended up with 17.5k at launch. The river was close to the banks, but remained within them. The fleet was slowly assembled.

We amassed 18 people and 11 boats, anticipating, actually hoping for, some big water Yampa action. Were we disappointed to only get 17.5k? At the time yes, but that would change in short order. As soon as we entered the canyon our speed picked up and stayed above 6mph for the duration.

Uneventful day one. Day two began with a solid plan, though there were some that deviated immediately from that plan. If you notice below, Tepee hole/wave was huge. Guess what, someone hit it. Then they went swimming, for awhile. Cold and exhausted we retrieved our companions though they were to never recover their shoes again. The wave was that big ↓.

When we did make it down to Harding, the group was divided. Half were with the fun captain, while the other half went to the Wagon Wheel Overlook and took some photos.

The Yampa mystique is based upon not only its short and fleeting season, but it’s gently kneaded sandstone walls that carry on for miles. Soft swooping overhangs streaked in desert varnish are around every corner. While not characterized by it’s continuous rapids or requiring technical expertise, she does have a few teeth. Notably Tepee (at least for our swimmers) Big Joe, and the one that everyone remembers. Warm Springs. Marvel at the Grand Overhang before arriving at Tiger Wall where you pay homage. Hoping it brings you fortune as you hear the thunderous roar not far below…

One flip and recovery later (well executed and only a footnote of this trip) we continued on. As we rode a wave of historic snowmelt towards Lake Powell we were afforded the time to stop and admire the sites and beauty.

Split Mountain was fun, but too much fun was had by this guy. Happy to report that I was able to flip the fully loaded 16ft raft on an unnamed or otherwise unnotably feature, and with the help of the team, chased that boat for nearly 4 miles before flipping back mid river.

Overall a great success and a trip that had all the attributes you look for. Good people, athletic pursuits (hiking), good food, costumes, calculated carnage, and amazing desert sunsets.

River of Sorrows

June 18, 2019 by n.taylor 1 Comment

El Rio de Nuestra Señora de Dolores, River of Our Lady of Sorrows, now commonly referred to simply as “The Dolores”.

The history of this river is as extensive and depressing as the name(s) would suggest. Explored in 1765 it has been the lifeblood of humans for thousands of years in the area. Today we grow lots of alfalfa and divert nearly the entire river basin for that purpose. With the construction of McPhee Dam in the late 1980’s the river and it’s history were written yet again. Today, when water managers allow, you can put in at Bradfield Bridge. An area that seems dilapidated, only because of the lack of use in the last twenty or so years.

Originally one of the west’s great multi-day trips, it is now a trip that occurs only during particularly wet weather cycles in the basin. You may only have the opportunity to run this river once or twice in a decade. If you do get the opportunity it will be on incredibly short notice (sometimes just days or a week) as the reservoir must legally fill, and then “spill” the excess inflows in order to make boatable flows.

2019 was not supposed to be one of those years. Particularly wet spring conditions dramatically altered the runoff projections. Water managers scrambled to adjust their calculations as unprecedented weather patterns took hold in Southern Colorado. For those not living here, we had two feet of snow fall on Rabbit Ear’s Pass on the summer solstice…

While we put on the river with flows approaching 1200 CFS, typically the flows range from 40-75 CFS. Fishing and recreation are all but a memory below McPhee, as such the facilities reflect the sterility of the water itself.

Campsites were hard to find, all of them having seen infrequent use since the late 1980’s. Most of them were overgrown and unrecognizable.

The most famous stretch of this river is Snaggletooth Rapid. When the river would run free, Snaggletooth was a name that would give even the most experienced boaters pause. It was a barometer, a test of ones skill. At one point the Dolores was the most heavily used whitewater run in the state of Colorado. Check out this footage from Rig to Flip. Amazing stuff.

High Water- Snaggletooth 1983- Dolores River
Think you've run all the Big #WhiteWater out West? Not Likely… Rare footage of the Dolores raging 1983. This footage was all shot alongside Snaggletooth Rapid by an unknown camera outfit who made the edit your seeing here. It survived to us by the hands of long time boaters who love the Dolores and knew it well before the dam. The footage is nearly a full 30 minutes, over 26 different runs of the highest water ever recorded on film of Snaggletooth Rapid. You won't find this anywhere else. #rigtoflipColorado American Whitewater Patagonia Dolores River Boating Advocates Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office History Colorado NRS Astral Osprey Packs Bureau of Reclamation Bureau of Land Management – Colorado Bill Dvorak Jack's Plastic Welding Patagonia Telluride Upper Colorado River Private Boaters Assoc. Colorado Whitewater Association Stitches 'N Stuff Down River Equipment
Posted by Rig To Flip on Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The opportunity was one that I would not let pass. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I will go again when the chance occurs. Rafting down the Dolores was being surrounded by immense beauty, and at the same time, immense sadness. I hope that someday my children will be able to run this river, with far greater frequency that we are afforded today.

South Fork Pt. 2: We Went Fishing

July 22, 2018 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

We awoke at our borrowed cabin space and prepared a quick breakfast using some of the supplies on hand. We patiently waited to see if our pack train would arrive, and it seemed as though all hope had been lost when we saw them in the distance trudging forward. While they’re lack of timeliness and propensity to elicit anxiety consumed us all night, the pure elation of their arrival quickly diminished all of our previous contention.

Better Late than Never

Morning Breakfast

We bandaged up the feet of those who were exhibiting the wounds of the day before and prepared for the short 5 mile jaunt to the waters edge. One among us needed no such bandages, and his secret was his old golf shoes.

Elite Footwear

The trip from this point forward wasn’t about hiking, it was about fishing, and for the next few days we did a lot of fishing.

Parachute Adams

Magic Hour

Beer Break

Lots of These

Fish Food

Fishing From the Gear Boat

Westslope Cutt

Obligatory Hero Shot

Captain Whitey

More Magic Hour

Fumble

The evenings were filled with food and drink, watching the sun disappear behind the mountains. A place without a road for 60 miles in any direction gives you an odd sense of freedom, and we cherished every moment of it. We would eventually stop at the Big Prairie Ranger Station and begin the second half of our journey. The small stream we were floating down would soon turn into a real river, and with it came people that we had come to forget the first few days. The upper section of the trip will occupy a special place in the minds of everyone, and will be the reason for a return. Our final camp on the upper half other river was poetic, a large beach on a dramatic bend of the river. The night was filled with laughter and alcohol, the only surviving memory a grainy photograph of all of us together. Just as it should be.

Home for the Night

A Night to Remember