Upper Colorado at this level

Several times, people have requested making a "sticky" about Upper Colorado flows. Many of you say to do a search, but I have to say, I've been doing quite a few searches over the last few days....and more of what I find than anything are people asking "What is it like at this flow?"...and NOT actually saying what the flow is. I've been taking cut-and-paste notes of my own as I come across threads, but, for instance, no search with the words "Upper Colorado" and 2000 seems to show me what the flow is like at 2000 cfs. Would be great if we had one thread that had general landmarks of what happens at several different water levels. Or at the very least, as people are asking questions or responding they mention what water level it "currently" is. (Then again, you have to know to search for 473 cfs, rather than generic rounding, it appears.)

Thank you to all who have already provided answers for us to search through, but occasionally there's a reason some of us can't exactly find the answers, even with some research. And if I've missed a thread that is exactly this, by all means, point it out to uneducated folks like myself!

Before the internet...

I don't mean to be rude…

But, before the internet, most of us river runners (rafters, kayakers, and canoeists) used to run rivers without having detailed info on where to run each rapid at varying flows.

I don't want to feel or be made to think that I am that old. But, really…? Common river running sense should prevail here. Read and run what you can from the boat. If you can't read the upcoming rapid from your boat, get out and scout from shore. It's that simple. I would encourage the kayakers to do so, as well. It'll help to make you and them better river runners in the long run. And besides, exploring new runs with limited info is one of the never-ending joys of running rivers, whether it be a class II run or a class V run.

"…is the flow pretty swift": It is running two thousand and seven hundred cubic feet per second at the gauge at the top of Gore Canyon (about 6 or 7 miles upstream of Pumphouse). The average gradient on Pumphouse to State Bridge is seventeen feet per mile. I would call that the low side of medium for that section. I doubt that at that flow and gradient that anything is gonna sneak up on you.

*Actually, after reading my above comments, I may have come of as rude. The general character of the run is class II with two class III rapids: the first one is called Eye of the Needle. Go left or right. It is between Pumphouse and Radium. The second class III-ish rapid is after Radium. It is called Yarmony. I think you can go left. If your kayakers have never run whitewater before and don't know how to roll, they might swim in one of these two rapids… or they might swim on any eddy-line or other wave/hole feature on the run. But, at 2700 cfs, picking up the pieces shouldn't be to difficult.

If we're getting down to this level of detail, let's get it straight, the rapid's proper name should be "Needle's Eye." Notice the capitalization and punctuation?

I've heard it called "Eye of the Needle" and "Needle's Eye" interchangeably for about the last 20 years, and I can't recall even noticing the difference, much less being confused as to what rapid was being discussed.

I think the real issue can be summed up in this handy-dandy perspective enhancing cartoon: