Low water at this time of year, but that can still be a ton of fun. Looking across the state for class III runs, the Gunnison Gorge seemed like a good choice. Running slightly below 500cfs it's still fun, with deep eddies, some play here and there, tons of splats and possibilities for flat-water play. I thought the run would be fun and not too much for Lisa, since she just started this year. Along came Lorri Lau, and so we had a strong team of three :)
I arranged shuttle with Pleasure Park, just like last year. We got to the put-in, geared up, and the hike down went by quickly. Every year it gets shorter, not sure if it's a geological phenomenon or if it's just me.
The trail down is steep, and we tied rope onto the kayaks so that we could lower them and slide them -- carrying them for a mile gets kind of tiring.
The lower we got, the more impressive the canyon -- black rock everywhere, very pretty.
Down at the put-in we ran into the BLM rangers, setting up for their tamarisk burning trip. We talked about the impending releases of up to 2,300cfs, scheduled by the DNR to test the Gunnison power plant. We'll miss those levels, but that's good -- I wouldn't feel comfortable paddling that with Lisa, not knowing what the canyon is like. They'd sure make for a fast trip, though.
For the most part, the rapids were pretty minor -- a few waves, a few rocks, some imposing boulders in the middle of the run. Some rapids had a big hole or two, nothing sticky though. Plenty of deep pools to roll in after each rapid.
...and then we got to Rock Garden. First rapid of any consequence, hard to see from above. No big deal to a class IV paddler, but the fast currents, big rocks, and eddy fences could pose some challenge to beginning boaters. Lorri and Lisa scouted it from a big rock, and I acted as a probe, reading and running it, and then waiting for them near the crux move at the bottom.
Lorri styled it, and Lisa did very well as well. She caught the wrong eddy at the end, and mentally struggled with making the ferry just above a big boulder. But with a few demonstrations from me, she went for it and the 3-4 good strong strokes got her into our eddy, safe and sound. From there we ran right of the huge boulder, and we were out of the rapid, with just a nice wave to surf on.
I didn't take pictures of the rest of the rapids. The day was getting long, Lisa was getting tired, and after a few swims (5 total that day) she was getting cold as well. Cable was definitely the hardest rapid -- Lorri scouted it and thought it was good to go. I started running and reading it, and wished that I could tell Lisa to walk it. The current made a strong "S" through the rocks, a big pourover hole on the left, and the right had three 1-2 foot drops, small holes that aren't hard to punch but which require momentum. Lorri did well, coming through and saying that it wasn't at all like what it looked from her scout. Lisa punched through the top two holes, got spun around in the last one, and tried to point her bow downstream. It didn't work, she windowshaded, and had a rather nasty upside-down trajectory over the last pourover. She swam again, after hitting her shoulder and cheek, no lasting damage, but uncomfortable either way.
Lorri chased the paddle while I got Lisa to the shore, and then both Lorri and I chased the boat. It took a while as it was full of water, but we got it to shore. Lisa was a bit shook up from that swim, but braved the next few rapids and then it was four miles of flatwater to the take-out...
It rained on and off throughout the day. We took out around 7pm, having paddled for 7-8 hours in total. Lorri drove back to Salida that night, and Lisa and I went to camp out in the hills. She collapsed in bed while I cooked dinner (shrimp, garlic, ginger, shallots in coconut milk stew over farfalle), served it to her in bed with a glass (or plastic cup) of Chilean cabernet. All night long the wind howled, raindrops pounded the truck, but we woke up to a nice new day.
