This was taken yesterday, looks pretty awesome to me, wish I knew how to surf that thing.

 

I believe the level may have spiked? Here is a link to an article Salida's Scout Wave Responds to High Water Flows in the Arkansas - by Susan Roebuck - Ark Valley Voice

this is not the takeout

 

I went through it on Monday (2100 cfs) in a 13 foot Hyside with a frame and not much weight. I went into it as fast as possible and still got stood up, second wave at the time filled the boat. Made it through but it almost sucked us in, definitely changes by the hour. Sometimes it’s just one big class four-ish hole and sometimes it is smaller with a second wave/hole. If you did swim it is a safe spot. I would say a lot of people are pulling out at the new ramp on left just before it.

 

Thankfully my sister gave me a heads up about this prior to my trip this weekend with my family including my 2 young daughters. Currently around 2200 cfs and this wave is very large. I think we'd be okay in a 14 foot raft with a couple adults up front for ballast, but who knows. Not me, cause there's no way I'd take my kids through it, or the other family members who aren't regular boaters. The swim would be fine for adults since there's no hazards below, but it looked so iffy that's it's certainly not worth the risk just to get down to Salida East. Not exactly a flip-worthy experience. We took out at the new ramp on river left just above it. Some thoughts:

What a sh*tshow. My sister told me it has been a hot button topic around town, and I found that to be the case. Lots of people scoping it out and having open conversations riverside about how problematic it's been. From what I gathered (and who knows on the accuracy) they built it up over the fall but once the water came up late May there were unexpected hydraulic effects resulting in boats getting flipped and churned before being released. So they brought in a crane and a couple giant sandbags to narrow the channel so it would flush out more, but it wasn't very effective. Then they added many more giant sandbags, which was the version I saw and looks quite different from the May 26 picture above. It looks like they are maybe trying to construct a chute on the left to get around it? Or maybe just trying to channel it more? If it's a chute, it didn't look very passable to me in its current state. The river is fairly narrow at this spot, so to get a useable chute in seems challenging. It seems openly acknowledged by all that this thing is dangerous. The ranger at Stone Bridge said the crane will be back with more sandbags, etc. and the whole thing may have to be reworked again after this season. Heard several locals saying the same thing in town. The ranger was strongly advising everyone not to run it unless they had scouted it and were running it on purpose. I'm also acknowledging that it's high water right now so maybe it won't be that big of a deal at more normal flows. That picture from May 26 looks pretty runnable. However, the article posted above says a lot and the flow mentioned was 1250 - not particularly high for it to already be causing such problems. And consider the logic here - at the same flows last year the majority of rafts would have been headed down to Salida East. Today, every rubber boat I saw took out above it and I saw zero people surfing. So now I guess almost no one can use it during higher flows?

What a bummer - for me and those like me. I get it - to each their own. I'm sure there are many boaters, SUPers, and surfers who will love it. But this was such a great stretch (specifically Big Bend to Salida East) for taking your kids, your parents, introducing new folks to the river, all that in a way that's both relaxing and safe, with a few fun splashes. There's not a ton of unpermitted places to do that. And now it's kind of bunk. Was there really no way to do this with more types of river users in mind? You want a massive wave for surfing? Sounds awesome! But if it's going to make a class II section into a III+ or even IV, a safe and easily accessible chute around it probably should have been part of the plan all along because now there are a ton of river users who are simply cut out of the equation. And, given its location with a big ol' eddy above it, why was there not a big ol' eddy built just below so that those who want to can walk around and get picked up? I know - first world problems, and there is a solution of simply taking out above it. But it just sucks to not be able to take my kids all the way down a stretch that I've gotten so much simple joy out of for so many years. I guess I'm just feeling pretty bummed about it, and wish there was more I could change besides my attitude. Also makes me wonder about the impact on commercials. I'm certainly not in the pocket of BIG RAFTING, and obviously Browns is the real draw, but I have to think there's gonna be some negative impact on an important part of the local economy. What about those tubing fools? Maybe it's a wash with all the new money coming in from BIG SURFING. Who knows. Or maybe it'll just make the other class II sections more crowded with commercials running families on stern mounts.

Silver Lining - The new ramp and parking lot on river left just above the Scout Wave is a pretty significant upgrade. The takeout in town at the bridge has always been a bit of a pain - the ramp is narrow and very busy and the eddy is small and takes the fun out of that wave (part of the reason why I've always enjoyed continuing to Salida East). The eddy for the new ramp is easier to get into, even at the current highish flows. The ramp itself is really only single lane, but without a ton of people hanging around it feels less busy and more relaxed. We waited for 2 other groups to load up ahead of us and still got off the ramp in about 20 minutes. Room for 3 big boats at the takeout, and I suppose you could pull in near some of the trees just below and then line it back if you missed it or it was full (but if you truly miss it then I guess get ready for the big wave!). Even with the higher water it was pretty easy to pull over on the right just below the bridge and sit for a minute to wait for it to clear out and then ferry over. I learned about the new ramp just after scouting the new dumb wave, so the new ramp made my bitterness over the wave sting a little less.

Now that I've written a novel and gotten out some of my frustration, I'll get to the point - this feature is real new and real big and you should know before you go. I would recommend that everyone scout it and only run it under circumstances you are comfortable with, no matter how many times you've run this section in the past, because it has completely changed the river.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with every point you made here! I have come to Salida every summer for years to float this stretch of river. They have ruined it for me!!!

 

We ran it on Saturday at 2100 CFS. I ran it in a 14' Hyside w/ a frame, cooler, drybox, and a passenger up front. Ran it middle left, push hard and start way upriver... we barely made it through.

This guy ran it right before us. His boat surfed for 30-45 min before cycling out. Albeit they lost two oars:

 

It's been great to have a surf wave that functions through the low-flow seasons. I agree it needs some work for high water season, but I'm also of the mindset that all artificial river features are just sort of "best guesses" until they see real life flows. It's my sense that it's still a work in progress and that nobody is saying its current form is its final form.

 

A couple things to clarify here, and the caveat that I have zero to do with it other than I live here and know people that are involved in this project.

The original intention of this feature was to create a glassy surf wave from 200-1200 CFS, then once it got about 1200 CFS it was to spread out and basically make a nice little riffle, this way everyone with families could still float big bend to salida east.

But obviously that didn't happen and now there is the biggest hit on the river down town.

It looks like they tried to make a boat chute on river left but looking at it yesterday I am not sure that was very successful, I bet you could take a duckie or little raft down it.

As of yesterday there is a line on the right side of the hole, that is pretty clean, you will want to punch it with some momentum and a slight bow right angle. Even with that I am not sure I would want to run little ones or old people through there.

Any way, there is still a ton of miles below there to run families down starting at salida east. So even though this section is different you still have about 30 miles below there to raft so all is not lost.

 

I bet you a dollar they get that feature dialed. I bet you another dollar that somebody's ass is in a sling for putting a keeper in the middle of town.

 

^^^Yes and maybe not in a sling, but I am glad I am not them.

 

Even with computational fluid dynamics modeling, there's no real way to know what a feature's going to do until the flow comes up. Agree with the three posts above.

 

Hey y'all- watched the town put up a sign on the bridge today. It may help. the boat chute, river left, seems to be the answer. But don't know how wide it is. Watched 6 commercial rafts go down with no problems. I think they were 13 ft.

 

 

I’m writing to just bump this so family floaters see it to spread the word. My super puma got eaten at 2000 cfs July 1st unfortunately with my family in it. All of the above is real - and the signage needs to be better. My logic brain needs a sign that says class Iv keeper hole not “new water feature”, as I’ve floated this section for 15 years. We all are safe.

 

I floated on Sunday and had been warned about it. We pulled out river right (backing down that ramp sucks donkey balls). I had my teens and a newbie friend and didn't feel like taking them through when we'd already saved a boater who flipped his brand new NRS boat upstream on a non-descript corner. I didn't see the left ramp... how far up was it? I agree the town parks and rec dept needs to fix it. That section is the long time 'family/fishing' float. Funny how the owner of Badfish SUP's and the engineering firm Recreation Engineering and Planning who built it was co-chair of the Salida Recreation Board.
Right after we pulled off a family of five with smaller 8-10yo kids dump trucked in the wave. The raft surfed for 5 min....

 

My 13' Super Puma got flipped yesterday at 1900 cfs. It isn't a smooth wave at this level, it justs drops into a wall of recirculating water. I stalled out on top of the pile and slipped sideways and was in the water before I knew it. I saw the sign "Man Made Water Feature Ahead" and thought, duh, its been there a while. I hadn't seen it at this level and didn't know what I was getting into.

Be careful out there, this wave is tough right now. Fortunately I walked away with scrapes and bruises and a lost oar, hat and sunglasses. It could have been much worse.

 

We lived the exact same experience in the same boat two days apart. That’s a nice picture above of my nice orange boat .

 

Scout Wave is no joke (7/1, this surf was anticipated and somewhat desired, the non swimmers were kicked out of the boat upstream)

 

I was waiting for you to loop that little cat!

 

I went through at the end of May when it was around 1800cfs, we did it in a 13' Hyside, not a ton of weight in the boat. We made it through but it was close. There was actually a small hole forming after the wall when the water was at that level.

We also went through when the go around was in good shape, now the bags have disintegrated and the way around might kick you back into the hole if you bounce off the wall wrong.

It just sucks that we have to hope for the water to drop to make it easily passable again. As my friend said, "it's ridiculous that this is a thing". I just want to be able to cruise through town without stressing about it.

Hopefully they have a plan for the winter to make this better.

 

It really surprises me that this wave was built with no fish ladders and seemingly, no plan for a bypass route for rafts, iks, tubers...- being that it has been such a family-friendly float area in Salida. I'm a river surfer and 30+ year river runner. I'm sure there's a backstory somewhere that would explain why/how this wave was put in so fast. I wonder what/if there the public input opportunities were...?

 

I wonder what/if there the public input opportunities were...?

The town doesn't give a sh*t what people think, it's transitioned into a dictatorship over the last 5 to 8 years, all the "new locals" think they know better than anyone ......

The monthly town council meetings are a joke, they pretend they listen to the people, and then do as they darn well please. People had high hopes that the new administration would effect a positive change from the mess of the last one, and they were completely disappointed. Now the "green" Chaffee Commissioner, who used to be the mayor of Salida, is going to be the only incumbent in the next election, so the entire county will likely circle the bowl just like Salida.. Shame.. I do hope my prediction is inaccurate, but I fear it isn't.

I seriously don't think they care that they created a mess, as long as the sales taxes continue to roll in.. Problem is, someone is going to end up getting hurt, and there's the question of liability.. Use at your own risk goes so far in a court..

So at the end of the day, enjoy the river, and try not to get hurt..

 

Ran this yesterday and had a couple boats surfing in that wave with a couple swimmers and one flip injury - it's definitely NOT family-friendly any more. The flimsy "boat chute" was impassable except to IK's or similar size (rocky and low flow). Better/standard pre-warnings would be better that just the overhead banner flapping from the bridge above this new drop. Like the ones upstream where the weir and chutes are. Running this is serious, especially when you don't expect it.

 

What a shame this alteration is! They took a family friendly stretch of river for boaters, fisherman, and tubers and turned it in to a dangerous obstacle. Unfortunately it is probably going to take a drowning before those responsible for this fiasco to fix it. Pretty high price to pay to appease a small piece of the pie that surfers are. Guess what? Haven't seen any surfers on Scout's wave!

 

At around 2100 the wall of water becomes about 3x taller than at 1900. At 1900 four boats (3x14s, 1x10.5) with single oarspeople ran the center pushing hard and came through. Keep your oars/paddles in the water for the second wave. At 2200 all boats make it clean if they have downstream weight even if they hit the meat which is a hair left of center. If you run it with a slight right aspect - center toward the right shore - you’ll have an easier time as there’s a bit of a tongue over there. If you are solo, rig your cooler up front, stand up and lean downstream as you hit it, whatever, get your weight to the high side. Run the left channel if you don’t have downstream weight or have any hesitations. The left channel is essentially touching shore - get over there.

 

OK, so I was in Salida rafting this weekend. When I arrived in Salida on Friday I immediately went to take a look at this new scout wave since my float was contingent on either running it or taking out early.

1100 CFS

First Impressions: the second wave after the "Green Wave" looked to me like a classic class IV hole with no way to avoid it, so it all came down to whether you could get enough momentum to get over it or not. With first time rafters and children, I was not taking that risk. It's a big noisy hole. If I'd had a couple of guys up front with a paddle, might have tried it.

At 1100 CFS the route around the hole they build last minute to get rafters around it was not feasible, too small and rocky, basically at joke.

We ended up taking out at the ad-hoc crappy-ass boat ramp they build on river left (150 yards above this hole ). Really bad, there is no good place to tie up , the ramp is choked with cars, pedestrians, dogs and campchairs.

IMO, unless you are really into "surfing", they have royally F*cked up the Salida WW park. Bad things are going to happen if they don't get this addressed.

IDK what the plans are for addressing this issue, but I sure hope they have some. My concern is that there is likely a contingent of people who would like to keep this hole in place, surfers, kayakers, boogie boarders, locals, etc. And their voice will win out.

I personally think this whole wave should be torn down altogether, as it's clearly a hazard in a kid friendly "mellow" WW park, and it hinders the ability of all types of boaters to navigate downstream of Salida.

 

I think there are a couple places you forgot to post this. The sup classifieds, for instance.
😉

 

I personally like the improvements to the playpark and don't personally take issue with it. I think everyone should chill out and wait for the off season to see how they fix the issue... many new play parks see adjustments the following offseason so I'm not sure what the outrage is all about other than it handed some people their ass. It's called "know before you go, check the water levels and understand your own personal risk". Worst case it's called a portage... this is nothing new with our sport and happens all the time on different stretches / rivers depending upon water levels and hazards.

I haven't been on the Buzz forever, but I do remember a day when it wasn't all rafting and family content. Just because the renovated park doesn't fit your liking for a "family friendly" or "booze" float doesn't mean there isn't a large contingent of other users that aren't happy with the modifications. Even before the modifications were made there were levels that were not "safe" for a kid to float through... Understand your fun to fu*k ratio folks and plan accordingly. You don't like the direction the ratio is skewed... drive to a different stretch or advocate for a better ramp above the park, not consistently talk shit about improvements other user groups are excited about because it doesn't cater to your preferred usage year round.

Much like politics, the vocal minority doesn't necessarily represent to silent majority... in other words, stop bitching about it until next season and give them a chance to fix the issue. Frankly, to keep legislating / designing to the lowest common denominator is a slippery slope. Or keep bitching about it and spend more money to tear it out than it will take to remedy the issue and be no better than Dallas, TX (look up Dallas wave). For fu*ks sake I thought I moved far away from those kind of people... as it turns out there seems to be a large contingent of them in this state as well that talk shit on TX or similar but are really no different in essence.

 

From what I have seen, lots of folks are enjoying this wave. Wish I had something like this on my town run. During FIBARK I noticed several rafts using the boat chute on river lift with no issues. Personally I would just stuff it right in the meat let her have her way with me.