Mmmmm, I wouldn't say it's done OFTEN, but I'm sure people have done it. Here's a video of a guy doing a solo raft trip in February down there, looks a little chilly...
I've done it in 4 days rowing an 18' raft so I'm sure you could do it fairly easily in a longboat in 3, just a lot of flat water above and below the rapids.
I long boated it in 3 days from Potash last September at ~6k. It was a bit of a marathon and didn't allow for hardly any time ashore/hiking. Short days of winter would probably require some alpine starts and some late evenings of paddling.
I have done 2 trips during the last week of November. Great time both times. Cold though and on both trips we did the rapids in one day. This makes it so that all they other days you can just dress in no wet river gear, which is quite nice.
I've run Cat twice in the last year or so, and the camping below the Imperial rapids has been getting progressively better, do to the dropping water levels of Lake Foul. It's not that hard to find a place to camp down there anymore, with the rapids continuing to Gypsum Canyon, and the current continuing on and off till the take out. Becoming a fan of Rapids all in one day!
Happy boating down there!! Becoming one of my favorite stretches.
Hopefully Powell will continue to stay low, as this speeds up the siltation process, eventually this dead beat dam will have to go.
+1 for rapids in 1 day if you're on a raft for comfort. I've been on Cat 5 times, and most enjoyable was a 2 day trip in December. 3 playboats, self-support, a bit cold in the evenings without fire, but long days of paddling flat water kept us warm...well worth the play.
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