No wood to speak of.
Flood this spring seems to have changed Damnation Alley. The pronounced ledge just after you round the corner at the entrance of the drop seems to have flattened out a bit. Lines always been down the middle, but now it's more of a flush.
Saturday's flow seemed to be a strong medium in my opinion. I haven't looked, but I think a friend on the way home said it was ~700 at top gauge and 1,100 at bottom gauge. Used to be that was a higher flow.
For those who like hiking more than flatwater, you can now legally exit the river somewhere just after the big ranch with it's own footbridge. It would cut off about 4 miles and maybe make a good low water option. There's a trib coming in after the ranch there on river left and I think it's fair game to hike up after passing the trib. If you spot a fence from the river it's public land downstream of that fence. The private property line is clear from the parking lot, but maybe not so clear from the river. I didn't check out the hike, but from the parking lot above it seemed like about 1/2 mile. To get to this parking lot, one would go as if they were going to the regular take out, but instead of descending to the river at the top of the hill after the ranch, go right and fairly quickly BLM signs begin appearing that mark the rest of the way. The road is an easy 4WD road in it's current condition, I would not take a nice car. Might be a good idea to hike down from the lot in order to recognize the location at river level. If anyone actually USES this takeout, please give the rest of us the low-down. Encampment sucks at low water but it's only because of the last 5 miles. This new take out might extend the season.
Happy paddling.
Flood this spring seems to have changed Damnation Alley. The pronounced ledge just after you round the corner at the entrance of the drop seems to have flattened out a bit. Lines always been down the middle, but now it's more of a flush.
Saturday's flow seemed to be a strong medium in my opinion. I haven't looked, but I think a friend on the way home said it was ~700 at top gauge and 1,100 at bottom gauge. Used to be that was a higher flow.
For those who like hiking more than flatwater, you can now legally exit the river somewhere just after the big ranch with it's own footbridge. It would cut off about 4 miles and maybe make a good low water option. There's a trib coming in after the ranch there on river left and I think it's fair game to hike up after passing the trib. If you spot a fence from the river it's public land downstream of that fence. The private property line is clear from the parking lot, but maybe not so clear from the river. I didn't check out the hike, but from the parking lot above it seemed like about 1/2 mile. To get to this parking lot, one would go as if they were going to the regular take out, but instead of descending to the river at the top of the hill after the ranch, go right and fairly quickly BLM signs begin appearing that mark the rest of the way. The road is an easy 4WD road in it's current condition, I would not take a nice car. Might be a good idea to hike down from the lot in order to recognize the location at river level. If anyone actually USES this takeout, please give the rest of us the low-down. Encampment sucks at low water but it's only because of the last 5 miles. This new take out might extend the season.
Happy paddling.