What Jeff said. A buddy and I ran it Sunday and it was minimum to say the least. We walked Ribripper and Corkscrew and wheelchaired around the drop below Corner Pocket. It looks to have been running well the week or two previous though and it's definitely primed for the next warm spell if it doesn't all trickle off.
No. The wood situation was clean at that time. Even the wood in '57 seemed to have flushed. The mandatory portage around the huge lodgepole is still present, but that would take quite a bit of work to get out.
The Columbine Pass snotel seems to be best indicator. It's sitting about average right now so depending on the weather pattern there will probably be an little Escalante season. The creek seems to have several days even after the snotel hits zero.
I've never used the snotel to gauge Escalante's season, so forgive my naivete. But if I'm reading it right there's still ~40" of snow on the ground @ Columbine. Surely that's good enough for more than a few weeks of boating, no?
I use the snow water equivalent measurement, which ought to be more useful. I looked back at my notes - it's all guesswork, but I have that a daily ~-1.0 change in SWE equates to a low flow in Escalante. That's about what it is now, so my best guess is runnable but low this weekend.
columbine snowpack is melting rapidly these days, and the snow water equivalent is rising pretty darn fast, currently at something like 52% right now: 409 - Columbine Pass Snow History | Snoflo
The difference between the Gunnison at GJ gauge and the Gunnison at Delta is around 1300 cfs. I am taking the difference from the peak flow of each day which doesn't occur at the same time of day. It's been pretty warm lately and I would guess it is staying above freezing at night at the headwaters.
From today. 3-4 inches higher on the bank than my run down on March 25. Didn't make it up to the fin, but I bet it's running decent. https://ibb.co/dqDzLk
Photo taken 4/22 in the evening. Roughly the same level on Sunday.
Pardon my ignorance, but this was my first escalante trip. Is the fin the gray rock on the left, or is it under water in this photo? It was definitely fun, but it felt pretty low to me.
I agree with Kennyv, that is medium to the high-side. From my experience, Escalante is a super manky run, with lots of square rocks to hit. And normally it doesn't get too high, hence the flow rating.
I have heard tales of magnetic wall being backed up with a massive hole and the waterfall having a perfect ski jump, but I have never seen it.
My brain is having trouble processing that photo. Doesn't the rock on the horizon line at the left get covered when the water starts to get high? It's been too long since I've been out there.
With cool temps all last week we knew it'd be low but went to have a look anyway. Still surprisingly fun at this level, even with snow falling sideways for the upper ~1/3 of the run.
Camped nearby and woke on Sat AM to ~5" of snow on the ground. That moisture in the soil combined with warming temps all week should give it one last gasp this ~weekend.
Hey all, I will be in GJ visiting family this weekend and would love to meet up some folks to run this IF there is water. Feel free to call or text 303.999.8822
It may be running. The difference in GJ/Delta peaks on the Gunnison yesterday was 1350. Subtract 700 for the Uncompahgre @ Delta, which leaves 650. Then you have Roubideau, Little/Big Dominguez, East Creek, Kannah Creek and several smaller streams that flow into the Gunnison between the gauges. So Escalante is probably only contributing 150-300 at best. Hard to say without a visual whether its worth the trip, or whether it will bump up with warm days Thurs-Sat.
It was running last Saturday, and we've gotten a boatload of rain since.
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