beta on Gates of Lodore

[moshe]

I'm on a trip down the Green - Gates of Lodore - first trip for everyone on this section. Anything of note to be aware of or pretty straightforward big water III? I've heard there are some great side canyon hikes as well.

Appreciate the info.

[benpetri]

Lodore is pretty easy going. I did a self supported kayak trip a couple of years ago with some class III-IV boaters and we didn't even have to scout anything. Flows depend on what the dam (Flaming Gorge) decides to release. We had 1500-2000, and the the rapids weren't much different than Shoshone at a similar level. Big water (10000+) would be more interesting, but probably not any harder than say Westwater. Assuming you have rafts, you might want to look at Upper disaster falls and Hells Half Mile (Dramatic names given by John Wesley Powell) as they have some rocks which may challenge boats.

As for side hikes, Echo park is worth playing around for awhile. The is a really cool echo cavern on river left just after the Yampa dumps in, at the base of the cliff. Also, there are some petroglyphs around there. The other good side hike is at Jone's hole. There is a side canyon with a creek and the famous butt dam falls. I didn't get to explore past that but supposedly there are some other things to check out. Definately a scenic easy going trip.

[Fuzzy]

try and camp at Pot Creek river right sweet camp bring the horse shoes a great classic desert run have a blast not bad fishing too if the water is not to high

[jmount04]

Be aware - the eddy lines can be pretty huge if the dam is going to be releasing 12,000 cfs - that's the rumor from the Monument. Usual maximum is 10,000 - but this is one of those - flush em out years... whoo! Enjoy and try to maximize time in Lodore Canyon.
John

[Geezer]

You might have some issues in Triplet and Hell's Half Mile but the rest is pretty much straight forward. You can boat scout Upper and Lower Disaster Falls and at higher levels most of the rocks will be covered up. Could be some hole action here and there. Enjoy the hell out of that trip.

[awineke]

Anyone have first-hand experience with Lodore at high water? I've got a trip planned for the end of the month and the river office was like "I dunno about that..." They said it would be pushing Class V if they did the big flush then. I'm a little skeptical of V, but I'm sure there are places you need to be careful...

[asleep.at.the.oars]

I would be pretty shocked to see Lodore get up anywhere close to 12,000 this year, the forcast peak is 6,600: http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/crsp/cs/fgd.html

Places where I've seen people run into trouble in Lodore when there's water: hitting the rock in Winnie's (just cause they're not awake yet), sliding into the undercut cliff river right at the bottom of lower Disaster, going through the Birth Canal at the bottom of Triplet (those big rocks river right), or ending up sideways through Hell's. Most everything is just rock'n'roll waves - T up, push into it, and smile. If the Yampa is pumping as well, Split Mountain can pick up too. Moonshine is a fun, Grand-esque wave train as long as you don't hit the lateral on the left, SOB will toss you around if you don't keep your nose into things, Schoolboy seems to suck people into the wall river left (despite a whole lot of river to the right), and Inglesby has a hole in the center that flips people who are already thinking take-out and get caught off guard.

In addition to Echo and Jones, there's a cool hike up Winnie's grotto, as well as at Rippling Brook and Limestone. The hike at Wild Mountain is worth doing for the view if you're camped there. The side canyon at Pot Creek goes all the way up to Diamond Mountain, so just turn around when you get hungry/bored.

Have a blast - it's a great trip.

[Tiggy]

Be prepared for asswipe rangers !

[kayaker]

The only thing the ranger dont like are when folks miss the basics:
groups that get separated (out of vision from all boats in group)
folks who take off their PFDs/BAs on river
spreading your camps out past designated camp reaches

I've seen big tickets issued to a boater who decided to push ahead of the group, he got to takeout solo and the rangers did all but pull their guns on him.

The side hike mentioned in above posts (with reference to butt plug falls) are referring to the Yampa River section below Echo Park where you meet up with Ely Creek (in Utah) just past the Stateline Camp.
Ely Creek is river right usually accessed through the Jones Hole Campsites 1 thru 3
hike up Ely Creek trail for one mile or so and turn left following the primary creek.
Butt Plug Falls aways your groups best effort to shut off the creek for a few moments to then provide the big douche to your shower crew awaiting below the ledge.
Good fun.

[will raft 4 beer]

Harp gets some huge standing waves at that level also, so be aware that it could flip a raft. yeehaw!