[DanCan]

So has anyone been on that stretch in the past few days? Is it still raftable? Just got back from Westwater, flow is really low, sorta rough getting a fully loaded gear rig down through there so I'm thinking of taking some friends for a paddle rig run down the Snake.

DanCan

 

[montuckyhuck]

Definitely still raftable. I haven't checked the guage but its good to go all summer. It is very deep through alpine canyon.

 

[rbrain]

Ya it's raftable all year. Above 10K is when things are fun and pushy. 5 to 10K flows (which they are at right now) still has most of the rapids in. Lunch counter will be the biggest. Below 5K is a mellow version and Kahuna starts to get bigger.

Last year at 25K+ was great.

 

[Butsee1]

Looking at Canoeing it in a few weeks. I've been up there once before at 6,800 a few years ago and had a blast. Are there any new issues to look out for in an open canoe with float bags? I'm hoping the flow will still be above 6k but it's not looking too promising...

 

[johnovice]

If you've done it a few years ago in an open canoe at 6800, I think the only significant change if the flow drops is that Kahuna will be in bigger. You can get a good look at it from the Kahuna/Lunch Counter highway turnout/parking area -- just walk down a little path. There will be a sneak on river right if it looks a bit too big. Taco Hole is gone due to last year's slide right below taco hole. Below the rapids created by the new slide (no problem) I think the river right wave train along the rock wall is a bit more powerful than in the past -- pushes you a bit more to the cliff on river left at the bottom of the wave train ("haircut" -- though I have recently heard it referred to as "headcut" so just be ready for that).

 

[Butsee1]

John - Thank you for the information and head's up. Looking back at my calendar it looks like '03 was the last time I was up there. Doesn't seem like that long ago, part of getting old I suppose. Three of us ran it in open canoes then. Two of us ran it pretty clean, one guy dumped on the first wave at Kahuna and had to swim through Lunch Counter. Other than that it was uneventful. This year I'll probably be solo so I wanted to make sure it was close to the same as it was then. Clean banks, minimal strainers, no new 'gotchas' created by the slide, etc.