Selway River Flow Beta

9702 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by keith beck, Aug 7, 2014

Chris Bilbrey

Discussion Starter · Jul 22, 2014

Looking for beta on Selway River at low water. Planning to launch Aug 4 & projected flow is 1.0 ft or lower on the Paradise Guage. Running a light, 14 ft raft and any input on what rapids are like at these flows would be great. Chao.

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mongopush

· #2 · Jul 22, 2014

14 foot is a big boat for those flows. I'm sure you could make it. Might be a pain in the ass getting over rocks at the top and below Moose creek. I think it would be a lot of work making 10 miles a day. IMHO, its boney for a kayak at those flows. But that's just me.

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Chris Bilbrey

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 23, 2014

Thanks for the input. What size boat & how low have you run it? I know it's a stretch...but for sakes...it's the Selway.

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mcoper8901

· #4 · Jul 23, 2014

I'm putting on aug 7 with a hardshell and an inflatable. I think it's going to be higher than one foot this year-- although maybe not by much... Google searching selway lowell to paradise conversion will bring up a chart that shows how the cfs at lowell compares to the gauge height reading at paradise. I heard from a guy who said he would not raft it lower than 1'. He said he did it AT 1' and he wouldn't do it any lower.

That being said, I have only done the Selway at 6' ish. It's going to be a whole new river. Good luck out there.

Mac Cooper

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mongopush

· #5 · Jul 23, 2014

Chris Bilbrey said:
Thanks for the input. What size boat & how low have you run it? I know it's a stretch...but for sakes...it's the Selway.

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The lowest I've ran it was just over 700 cfs. Group was 5 hardshells and 3 IKs. I'd say pack light enough that you can get out of your boat and man handle it around.

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upshitscreek

· #6 · Jul 23, 2014

My advice is if running the upper first 5-10 miles of a low water MF of Salmon trip kicks your butt then you should rethink your low water Selway plans. As it's a solid step up from that without a doubt. And the wider the boat, the more difficulties you will have, for certain.

or if coming around the bend and looking at picket fences in a raft like this shitshow at Ladle makes you wee yourself then you should probably avoid it, as well. I've put this up on MB before but just a touch under 1ft or so....

You are a new poster so no idea of your rowing skills(or lack there of),ect so the rest is really up to you and looking at your own skills honestly.

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gunnerman

· #7 · Jul 23, 2014

Wow chris, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, well take a good hard look at this picture. Why would anyone want to take a 14 ft. raft into that mess, at that level.
That's why we have this great forum to save us alot of headache. I'd be looking at plan B.

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keith beck

· #8 · Jul 23, 2014

Ladle picture

What is the cfs/gauge for this picture?

upshitscreek said:
My advice is if running the upper first 5-10 miles of a low water MF of Salmon trip kicks your butt then you should rethink your low water Selway plans. As it's a solid step up from that without a doubt. And the wider the boat, the more difficulties you will have, for certain.

or if coming around the bend and looking at picket fences in a raft like this shitshow at Ladle makes you wee yourself then you should probably avoid it, as well. I've put this up on MB before but just a touch under 1ft or so....

You are a new poster so no idea of your rowing skills(or lack there of),ect so the rest is really up to you and looking at your own skills honestly.

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restrac2000

· #9 · Jul 23, 2014

I can't imagine running some of the rapids in a 14 foot rig below 1 ft.....if memory serves me well Washer Woman would be hideous, Ham has potential to suck, and of course Ladle. Ladle was tight in my 12 footer at like 1.5 (specific already starting to fade). Stuck my bow on the rock in Washer Woman for a few seconds before I got spit out.

Its a fabulous run but most of the people I know who go post lottery go with baby boats like IKs or in a boat like Aire's Outcast series. A full 14 foot rig with a standard width body/frame and the oarspan to go along with it seems like a nightmare to me.

Also send whoever has been down first through Pinball Alley.....its a deceptive counter intuitive line that has potential for lots of cursing.

That left line at Ladle looks wild .... does the right line close out below 1 ft?

Phillip

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upshitscreek

· #10 · Jul 23, 2014

restrac2000 said:
.... does the right line close out below 1 ft?

Phillip

Yep. I was expecting that to be an option but it wasn't even close to one for a raft after looking at it. A kayak or IK could have made this one steep chute there but it was another layer of impassable picket fence halfway down for a normal raft. The only line for a narrow raft was right to center and it took muscle and dragging to get it through even that.

Funny thing about that trip was that the water level was cratering while we were on it. So it never really got easier lower down too. Again to my surprise. Moose juice was more of spit in the sand,ect.

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Chris Bilbrey

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 24, 2014

Thanks for all your feedback. I have spent over 15 yrs running rivers in the southwest and Colorado but damn, that's low water and ton of rocks! That was my gut feeling and from what I have seen via YouTube and from other discussions with boaters outside this forum, your remarks are as said. More aqua and another year for my rig. Chao.

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Dilson

· #12 · Aug 6, 2014

We put in on the 2nd and took off yesterday. Took 2 14ft cats with standard frames but high clearance and lightly loaded, and 2 IK's. The cats got hung up far less than I thought we would, especially in the 1st and 2nd day. The first real rapid for us, Galloping girdy(?), had some wood in it and was very tight but runnable. We walked the cats about 20 yards in Pinball but other than a few other short hangups we did fine and had fun. Ladle at first glance was a mess but another pair of eyes saw a line and I followed. Definitely left some urethane on the rocks and even the IK's got hung up a couple times a day but it was just under 1' and runnable in cats. I would not want to take a raft, even a 12' if I had a cat or other option. Being able to straddle and Fred Flinstone made all the difference. The drops were fun and the beaches were big. The flat water at the end with an upstream wind was the biggest chore of the trip.

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keith beck

· #13 · Aug 7, 2014

Dilson: What a coincidence...! We also put in on Aug 2. We were the group of 5 hardshell Ks: one yellow, 2 red, 2 green. We passed you all that afternoon and then camped early, and you re-passed us to camp further down. Saw you several more times. Took out same day you did. We also had a great trip. We took off early and had a downstream breeze thru the slows..... Cheers, keith

Dilson said:
We put in on the 2nd and took off yesterday. Took 2 14ft cats with standard frames but high clearance and lightly loaded, and 2 IK's. The cats got hung up far less than I thought we would, especially in the 1st and 2nd day. The first real rapid for us, Galloping girdy(?), had some wood in it and was very tight but runnable. We walked the cats about 20 yards in Pinball but other than a few other short hangups we did fine and had fun. Ladle at first glance was a mess but another pair of eyes saw a line and I followed. Definitely left some urethane on the rocks and even the IK's got hung up a couple times a day but it was just under 1' and runnable in cats. I would not want to take a raft, even a 12' if I had a cat or other option. Being able to straddle and Fred Flinstone made all the difference. The drops were fun and the beaches were big. The flat water at the end with an upstream wind was the biggest chore of the trip.

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