Haven't done it yet this year, so this is not current, but--- last year there was wood in a couple of places. and tricky at that. There was a pin on some underwater logs that made what looked like a nice v-wave thru a simple drop and another river wide log at a left bend below a drop. I'm sure things were moving due to the flush. could be more or less.
No Gage. If there is enough water in the first section of Lime then the third should be good.
Haven't set a date just yet....I have to do some work down in Durango and will hit up Lime and S. Mineral Ck while I'm there and maybe the Florida Riv since that is where this huge landslide (that i am working on) is creeping and may potentially fail. BTW Lemon Res is full and they are releasing some pretty large flows over there periodically. I know the dam-keeper and he said he would release it full bore for us when I am there (1200 cfs) because of the work we did. I'll post if we decide to do it!
I ran the Florida Wednesday at 671 cfs and it was good to go. The hole at the bottom of the bonzai drop was getting sticky. It surfed me in my GUS for a couple seconds. I ran the Florida this year at ~1000 cfs and we barely made it under the bridges. At that level I think it is pretty full on, there are some big holes and very fast moving water. I am not sure it would be good to go any higher because of the bridges. Anything ~500 or lower I think it is a good III+ run with a creeky feel. Although it is not that hard, I have debated taking learners and other class III boaters on it. A swim would suck and force you to trespass. I will be watching the guage and if it goes big I will see you there.
I guess we will ask the dude to crank it up to 1000 cfs if that's the highest you recommend. I have never ran this stretch but it looks fun, especially after working all day. Where do you take out.
BTW, we usually park our trucks at the put in....if you look to the east (river left) from the put-in, there is a potential giant landslide that is creeping down-hill. A couple debris-flows have given the landowners around there a headache during the last couple years. Also, the river turns right then back left just after the put-in which is most likely due to the encroaching of this landslide and it's past history.
Can the damn keeper just hook up his buddies like that? If so we need some boaters running the gates. I called the damn keeper earlier this year and he yelled at me stating that there are no recreational releases. He was a total asshole, I just laughed knowing he would have to let the 250% snowpack out sometime.
I run it from just below the dam at the turn out on the river left and the left side of the road coming from Durango to CR 250, this strech has all of the gradient. Be respectful of peoples land on this run. For the most part everbody I have encountered has smiled and cheered us on. One woman I encountered at the take out was all pissy but a few after politly talking with her she cooled off. When are you coming?
Well, our plans have been altered slightly but I think we will be there in the next 2-3 weeks. We may come sooner, but we are waiting on some new instrumentation. I'll talk with the dam-keeper. He is actually kind of cool once you know him, otherwise, like you said....He flew helicopters in Vietnam and once he was released, he vowed to never cut his beard again....and he has lived up to his vow! He is still heavily armed so i woudn't get on his bad side. It'll probably cost me, but I know his weekness....Rolling Rock! I'll post when we come and we should meet up. After working, that river sure looks refreshing!
Jon
The guage is on this site. Go to the DWR station guages and it is "Florida River below Lemon Reservoir". It is currently at 284 and 300 is my personal cut off. I have run it down to 150 but you need alot a brews and to be deperate to paddle to make that worth it. Let me know when you come in town, when it is running big it is good to have someone that knows where the wood and wire are.
If access becomes an issue, I've got a sweet take out on my land. I posted directions a few months back. Can do again. Let us know when 1K is going to happen, please.
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