[Loaner]

Not me, just thought that would get some attention, lol.

Anyway, husband and self are going to checkout Zion and the Virgin River for spring break-March 12. Class II-III+ boaters. Got some good info on virginriver.org, but looking for first hand beta/experience. Would also be up for locals showing us some runs, if available. I'm wondering if the January flood changed things dramatically from what I'm reading.

Also, any good camping recommendations? We'd like to camp on the river and I really hate paying to smell an outhouse. It looks like a lot of BLM land around.

Did you Laramie huckers ever find a class IV-V spring break destination? We'll be avoiding these particular sections of the Virgin, like Satan's Staircase. Just curious.

Thanks mon.

 

[barry]

there are several different sections of the virgin....my take on it is that (unless you have verfied adequate water level's for paddling) it is not that good of a "destination" for paddling...thus, do a rain dance and hope for a few days of rain before you get there to pump up the levels and then bring your climbing gear and mountain bike incase you get skunked. Class III-IV boating can be had in the "Virgin Gorge" put in at the first bridge crossing the river (inside the gorge) on I-15 south of St. George. You need at least 1,000cfs to paddle this without alot of scraping. A great Class V section (Timpaweep Canyon) exists between the town of Virgin and the LaVerkin bridge..you need 400cfs here and if it's over 900cfs..go somewhere else unless you have huevo's grande. Inside the park you have two runs; 1) the narrows and 2) what the locals call the "staircase" run which includes the rapid you refer to...it is all roadside boating rangeing from II-IV+. Look at www.virginriver.org for maps and more info.