There are a ton of people around here whose paddling lives revolve around running Bailey (like "We did Bailey 5 times this weekend not counting Friday after work! & Joey ran Supermax!!!"). I personally don't think Bailey's all that sweet, so I don't monitor the flows on it. The people who spend their summers on Bailey probably have more accurate speculations as to when it will run than I do. So my original comment was a disclaimer to the info that followed.
For your purposes, Steve, Bailey will suffice as a fine backyard class IV run. Just don't become part of Club Bailey. I've heard that it's like the mob: once you're in, you're in for life.
Steve,
I think the solid class 5 guys like Todd G.,have become alittle jaded towards Bailey.It may be easy to them but in my opinion its a touch more difficult than any of the iv runs on Clear creek, AASBC, Boulder canyon,Lefthand ,Big Thompson book run ,or the Numbers,even if you portage the 1st drop of 4 falls and top of Supermax and maybe Deer crk..I would do some of these first,go with someone who knows the run. It's not death defying ,but is challengeing if you're class 4 IMO
I'd probably agree. Don't know Todd personally, but I know he's one of Kyle's regular partners in crime, so...
To me, saying don't join Club Bailey if you live in Denver is like living in Asheville and saying don't join Club Green. (for the record Todd lives in FC, no? -- so this applies to Denver boaters) Ok, so Bailey is great, and the Green is uber-classic, but you get the point. If it wasn't for the tunnel release, I would live in BV or Steamboat. True, the endless class II sucks, but it can still be done on a weekday and it's got a loooong season. IMO, what Bailey really needs is a clean 20-30 footer at the takeout. I would never complain about the class II if that was the case!
Caspian talks like he knows how to boat, but I don't think he's any good on the river. He is so "uber" excited about Bailey, that I think that he'll be a "Bailey Clubber" in no time (if he isn't already).
Swan, you know I will never be a member of Club Bailey, and not because I don't want to, but because they don't let you into the Club if you bring along a Bailey virgin who leaves the keys at the put-in (on a rainy day). Sorry, I already asked the Committee and they said SwannyKnif isn't allowed "back".
p.s. did Royal Gorge today - it has a section that reminded me lots of the Vermillion - industrial crap. Now if it only was 12 degrees with 17,000 cfs it would be like old times...
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