Hey All! Planning to float the Escalante (prob just Egypt to Forty Mile Ridge TH) next weekend through 5/22, hopefully doing a number of technical canyons along the way. The current 16 cfs sounds horribly low on the Escalante USGS gauge, but after dragging my rig for 50 miles in the Dirty Devil, why worry?
So far just two of us in Alpackas, maybe one more in an IK. Anyone thinking that they will be in the neighborhood during that time frame? Anyone like to team up for some canyons? Send me a line – mx_schultz at yahoo dot com…
Max
Calvin Richardson
Mat did not return my calls so I am asking if anyone else is interested in raftpacking from highway 12 to Cyote Gultch in the next few weeks down the Escalante River?   Â
phil
That Escalante gauge is one of the weirdest I have seen data from, but is all corrected. How does 1.25 ft = 1.5 cfs and also 2.7 ft =110 cfs. I must not be getting the math correct somewhere; I am use to dealing with 1000+ cfs with gauges.
Also of note, the TR attached is from Fence canyon to Coyote, and it took them four days with multiple portages per day. That is about 40 miles I guess.
Jealous of those who own packrafts, might be on my short list of items soon.
Phillip
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, j b wrote:
Pete’s advice is to always check the Widstoe #3 snotel station, which just now was reading 118%. And of course there’s always this trip report, which resulted in a passable float with alpackas when the Escalante gauge was reading 1.6 cfs (that’s 1.6, not 16, and note the authors speculated that 3 cfs would have been luxurious):
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/escalante.html
> From what I can gather, it seems somewhat unlikely that any spring conditions would be too adverse for an alpacka. Maybe not whitewater, but enough. But yes, please please give us a report.
Jeff
> ________________________________ > From: scott patterson Subject: Re: [from Canyons Group] Escalante Float
Not to be a pessimist, but to run the Escalante it is much better to do it in a year with an above normal snowpack, preferably much above normal. Snowpack is currently slightly below normal.
I would check the river from Egypt before dragging your boat down.
PS, the Escalante gauge doesn’t mean much if you want to run the river. Most of the water feeding the river that far down comes from side canyons.
Let us know how it goes.
— On Thu, 5/6/10, max wrote:
> From: max To: Yahoo Canyons Group
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 10:44 AM
> Hey All! > Planning to float the Escalante (prob just Egypt to Forty Mile Ridge TH) next weekend through 5/22, hopefully doing a number of technical canyons along the way. The current 16 cfs sounds horribly low on the Escalante USGS gauge, but after dragging my rig for 50 miles in the Dirty Devil, why worry?
So far just two of us in Alpackas, maybe one more in an IK. Anyone thinking that they will be in the neighborhood during that time frame? Anyone like to team up for some canyons? Send me a line – mx_schultz at yahoo dot com…
Max
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j b
Pete’s advice is to always check the Widstoe #3 snotel station, which just now was reading 118%. And of course there’s always this trip report, which resulted in a passable float with alpackas when the Escalante gauge was reading 1.6 cfs (that’s 1.6, not 16, and note the authors speculated that 3 cfs would have been luxurious):
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/escalante.html
From what I can gather, it seems somewhat unlikely that any spring conditions would be too adverse for an alpacka. Maybe not whitewater, but enough. But yes, please please give us a report.
Jeff
________________________________ From: scott patterson kesscokim@yahoo.com> To: Yahoo Canyons Group Sent: Thu, May 6, 2010 5:53:19 PM Subject: Re: [from Canyons Group] Escalante Float
Not to be a pessimist, but to run the Escalante it is much better to do it in a year with an above normal snowpack, preferably much above normal. Snowpack is currently slightly below normal.
I would check the river from Egypt before dragging your boat down.
PS, the Escalante gauge doesn’t mean much if you want to run the river. Most of the water feeding the river that far down comes from side canyons.
Let us know how it goes.
— On Thu, 5/6/10, max mx_schultz@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: max mx_schultz@yahoo.com> Subject: [from Canyons Group] Escalante Float To: Yahoo Canyons Group Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 10:44 AM
Hey All! Planning to float the Escalante (prob just Egypt to Forty Mile Ridge TH) next weekend through 5/22, hopefully doing a number of technical canyons along the way. The current 16 cfs sounds horribly low on the Escalante USGS gauge, but after dragging my rig for 50 miles in the Dirty Devil, why worry?
So far just two of us in Alpackas, maybe one more in an IK. Anyone thinking that they will be in the neighborhood during that time frame? Anyone like to team up for some canyons? Send me a line – mx_schultz at yahoo dot com…
Max
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When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
Subject: BIZ~ New Abbreviation List – working?
To change your delivery options, go to the Canyons Egroup page on yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/
This will require logging into Yahoo. Click on the "Edit My Membership" link, and change your delivery option. Press "Save Changes".
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When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
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scott patterson
Not to be a pessimist, but to run the Escalante it is much better to do it in a year with an above normal snowpack, preferably much above normal.  Snowpack is currently slightly below normal.  I would check the river from Egypt before dragging your boat down.  PS, the Escalante gauge doesn’t mean much if you want to run the river.  Most of the water feeding the river that far down comes from side canyons.  Let us know how it goes.
— On Thu, 5/6/10, max mx_schultz@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: max mx_schultz@yahoo.com> Subject: [from Canyons Group] Escalante Float To: Yahoo Canyons Group Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 10:44 AM
Hey All! Planning to float the Escalante (prob just Egypt to Forty Mile Ridge TH) next weekend through 5/22, hopefully doing a number of technical canyons along the way. The current 16 cfs sounds horribly low on the Escalante USGS gauge, but after dragging my rig for 50 miles in the Dirty Devil, why worry?
So far just two of us in Alpackas, maybe one more in an IK. Anyone thinking that they will be in the neighborhood during that time frame? Anyone like to team up for some canyons? Send me a line – mx_schultz at yahoo dot com…
Max
—
When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
Subject: BIZ~ New Abbreviation List – working?
To change your delivery options, go to the Canyons Egroup page on yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/
This will require logging into Yahoo. Click on the "Edit My Membership" link, and change your delivery option. Press "Save Changes".
WEB ONLY OPTION will not deliver email; you must visit the web site to view messages. Groups Links
roadtripry
> but after dragging my rig for 50 miles in the Dirty Devil, why worry? >
OK, maybe I missed it on the group, but got a trip report for that? How long did it take you? Did it start out float-able, then drop, or was it a battle from the start?
Sounds like an attempt a group of us made a few years ago, but we turned back after a mile or so of struggle….. I guess we were lightweights.
I can’t imagine a 50 mile low water fight?!?!
I have heard a few stories of people starting the DD, the river dropping a couple of days in due to weather or irrigation, and people abandoning boats to walk out. They then returned to retrieve them later by horse. That would be a bummer.
-Ryan