Crystal River: Bogan Canyon Trip Report

Trip: June 7 2014
left Carbondale: 11:00am
back to Carbondale: 5:00pm
boat: Aire Super Puma: 13 ft
4 people: R4 side by side
Flow: aprox 1700 cfs as measured by RCYC2 at 13:00hrs
This was a medium high flow
Length: 13 Miles
Run was primarily class III boating with Class IV rapids. Beware of wood, strainers and moving wood. A kayak probe would be good to have on Bogan Canyon proper.
We tended to run inside / outside lines so that we could be heads up for wood on the horizon.
Bonus: At the take out there is a beer and icecream shop directly across from the park at the Redstone General Store.
--------------
All coordinates can be cut and pasted to Google Maps.

We dropped the shuttle vehicle at the park in Redstone (39.183290, -107.237703) and drove up to scout the rapids and portages.
We scouted Hawk Creek Humiliator (pull out on river side of road about 1.5 miles from (39.165162, -107.246163)),
Hayes Creek Herniator (pull over at Hayes Creek Falls viewing area (39.158569, -107.250605))
and the 2 mandatory portages. You will know when the road crosses the river. lower: 39.152357, -107.253294 upper: 39.141021, -107.258837 .
Pay attention to where you want to eddy out for the portage(s). The lower eddy is rather large and just upstream from the culvert / bridge.
The upper eddy is small and just below a rocky wall holding up the hwy. A log stuck in a pile of rocks helps mark this.
From here we headed up to the put in taking our time to look down at the river to see if we could spot any hazards. We did not see any.

Put in at the Marble Quarry Bridge: (39.069178, -107.190392)

The upper section of the run is fast, busy class III. A few larger holes to punch.
The river widens out and braids from Slate Creek to Milton Creek with wood potential around the grass airstrip.
At the subdivision bridge, the river get slightly steeper and moves up 1/2 grade. The river then passes under the Hwy 3 bridge and you pass into Bogan Canyon proper.
The canyon itself is class III+ / IV. The water is not hard, but is active. Beware of blind left corners. Cowboy Corner has a rock that attracts wood like a magnet. The run in is a series of holes in middle and river left, with a sharp left at the bottom. This area is away from the road.
Just below the campgrounds, the river braids again for about 2 miles.
As the river constricts adjacent to Hwy 133, be on the look out for the micro eddy you scouted earlier with the wood post. Make the portage to the end of the pull out of the far side of the road.
The next section is roadside and although fast, no major rapids exist. Find the eddy and make the second portage. The last section from here to town is my favorite. The river is roadside, but very constricted.
Hays Creek Herniator has some great drops. At lower water, this is more technical. Hawk Creek can be a bit of a surprise after just running Hayes Creek. Hawk creek has some big waves. The medium and high water line is right down the middle over some rocks.
At lower water, you may want to stay right or left.

We had a great day on this stretch. It is semi remote and a decent distance at 13 miles.