# Cataract Canyon at High Water - video and analysis



## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Something for the rafters and other interested folks for when there are ice dams on our favorite runs. What follows was written by Earl Perry, who guided Western rivers in his younger days. Perry also mentions Rich Phillips who is a GCPBA board member and posts on the Buzz as "richp" with updates and info on Grand Canyon issues.

The text below was originally posted to the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Assoc. email list in the last day or so. The topic of the thread originally started as discussing PFDs and bouyancy but then turned to high-water on Cataract. Perry provided a movie clip and then gave a detailed analysis of a high-water Big Drops run and provides interesting commentary. There's a way to log onto the GCPBA-dot-org site and read all the posts if you are interested but don't ask me how. 

Watch the video of an unsuccessful run through the Big Drops and then check out the analysis by someone that's been running big water longer than most of us have been alive. 

--AH


*PFDs on Cat at High Water:*

In Cataract above 60K, I require doubled lifejackets with crotchstraps on those who can wear them; either wet- or dry-suits (and if drysuits, puffed up by the wearer before launching for the day); and helmets. 

I'm trying for positive bouyancy in the 50-lb range, on every participant. 

There was a very odd death in there back in '95 - Stan Hollister, veteran boatman, who had (on purpose) swum Cat on more than 100K. He was swimming Cat at about 65000, saw friends at Lake Cataract at lunch, and was found below Big Drop 3 a little later, drowned. No signs of impact. Big flotation and a wetsuit. Nobody knows how it happened. 

The speculation is that either a hell of a big eddy fence just took him down and kept him down; or that the flotation was not enough to keep him in the wave above, and he got carried down into the extreme turbulence of the subsurface rocks in Capsize or Little Niagara; or that those pourovers on the left at Big Drop Three that form at high water were just too violent for him. See [video link above referenced]

At high water in Cataract, I don't want anyone in the water. And if I have to have people in, or if I have to be in the water, I want the people WAY UP on the surface. Under those conditions there is no swimming; you make it based on bouyancy. 

*Perry's Discussion on run shown in the video:*

He hit the Marker Hole to start with, which is not necessarily a wrong entry - it's pretty close to lining you up for the Window, which can be an elegant run. The number of attractive runs at that stage is limited, even with a more precise entry than he made. But I'd stress that there's a strong element of the random when the water is that high. Waves and holes break or don't break with a non- timeable period, and they are large enough that if they do break you can get a true endo from a big raft - which is what happened to President Yeamans and his sons. 

Most of us are very used to what I'd call entry boating - you get the line right at the top of the rapid and you can sit on the oars. I saw Rich Phillips do this in Horn last spring, quite literally. Oars immobile and clear of the water from above the entry clear to the left cliff at the bottom. Not a single stroke. In fact there are only a handful of rapids where you have to get the entry right, get the maneuvers right for hundreds of yards or even miles while taking on water, and then make a critical move down below. Warm Springs at high water. Ladle. The upper Middle Fork down to Velvet with the water over 6'. But that is true of much of Cataract when the water is up, with the further complication that even when your entry is exactly what you planned, a wave break can drive you 50 feet to one side or another. Look at what happens to this oarsman at the top as he gets out of his involuntary surf - that river motors him close to 100 feet toward the left bank. 

One other thing I'd note is about midway through: huge boat, swamped, 4 people, very strong boatman (look at him bend the oars, stroke after stroke), and the eddy fence spins them through a 180 in an instant. I can tell you that even with 20 hp, you will not get a spin as quick as that. No one on the oars could do it - the oars would be ripped from your hands, or bent. Watch his. That spin is one of the more subtle indications in the clip of just how powerful the river was that day. I know of a motor J-rig that went over about where he first surfs, and was jetted into the left eddy between BD2 and BD3. When they finally got it Z-dragged aright and got the motor going again, the boatman drove it out to the eddy fence (he knew plenty about those pourovers waiting below on the left) with a plan to surf clear over to the right bank. It sucked the whole stern under and whipped him through a 360 or two, leaving him to tell me later, "I was wondering whether I would be the first professional boatman to tip over twice in the same rapid on the same day."

I mention this because even a motor may not necessarily get you from that left bank area to the safety of the right side down at BD3. The line of tailwaves between the two rapids is eerily compressed, and again, breaks randomly. They are large enough to produce water tipovers - no rocks, no holes, just a wave that sudden bursts and can blow over a boat as big as a J. This boatman had a near-impossible task. 

That said, sometimes there's a funny dish effect in there, right at the top of Satan's Gut. Sometimes, for a moment. You can be driving or rowing hard right, certain you won't make it, and at the last moment, you hit what looks and acts like a sort of broad half-pipe, and get whirled like a teacup ride in a fair over to the right side. A moment later it's gone. You can't count on it and you can't time it; with luck and reflexes you may be able to use it. If it's there when you are. No such luck for this guy, whose boat's awash and whose paddlers have been cancelling him most of the way. He gives some sort of warning which my ears cannot pick out. When there's obviously no hope, he stands up and tries to push into it: his last chance at the right move. It nearly works; he actually gets through the first one. Then he takes one of the great hammerings.

All in all, as I said above, I'm with you on the flotation and the helmets. But I think Brady's right - this guy does as well as a man could, but he's had it from the start. I wonder if he has gone back when the water is up; I've known people - including some with 'successful' runs -- who never will again. If I'd had his run, I don't know if I would.

*Follow-up comment by Edward Stephens:*

I have made a lot of runs in the BDs in my row boat and my snout at levels above 45,000 no flips yet. I have also been in the same predicament that those guys were in (note I had self bailer and two passengers) and I had seen the video many times (that helped ). I pulled for my life and made it. Maybe it was the half pipe or the rivers gods I don't know. Cat at high water is the scariest stretch of river I have ever run period. Well Selway at 5.8 and rising is right up there. One thing is for sure Cat above 45,000 scares the living shit out of people and me. But that's what makes it fun. As for rogue waves I have seen it also in between bd2 & bd3. The third wave in the train seems to get people.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

looks like some epic surf


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

I miss bail buckets.

This discussion reminds me of when we chased a flipped raft for 5 miles after Velvet at well over 6.

I think the discussion of high-float versus low profile modern pfd's is an interesting debate. Honestly, I'm not sure what I think. After re-circing in holes for several cycles, I'm a little concerned that a high-float would have made it harder (if not impossible) to go deep and catch that greenwater going downstream. But obviously, they are more helpful in preventing flush drownings. Interesting topic.

COUNT


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## JBL (Jun 7, 2006)

That is scary. Just plain scary. I know some like it big but that's too damn big IMO. Too many things can go wrong and a fun high-water trip can quickly turn into a hellish nightmare. I ran the Main Salmon in '06 when it was running 92,000 cfs at Whitebird and it was fun but I was so gripped most of the time (except when in camp with a stiff drink in my hand) that it wasn't really that much fun. We made it with no flips or issues but for me boating isn't about 'just making it'. However, I'm glad I did it and can always say that I did.

That said, hats off to those of you who like high-water runs. Good luck, be safe and shoot some vid because I always like to see folks running the shit!


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

*Teach me*

All I can say is HOLY SH!T. Not for me, or my dogs!

So, some questions from someone who always asks too many.

Wouldn't you want the paddlers idle during this? 

Isn't that a bit big of water for a bucket?

Is it sometimes that a smaller (slightly) boat gets through better? I guess unless it flips. That things seemed like a monster in places, just augering in, but that might have been due to all the water in the boat.

L


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## upshitscreek (Oct 21, 2007)

kind of like watching a bug hit a windshield in super slowmo...


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## JBL (Jun 7, 2006)

I know some big water aficionados who love the 18' bucket boat because once full of water it will plow through most anything. Much of the big, hard shit that has been run to date was first done in bucket boats. Self-bailers are relatively new to the scene. If I had folks on the front of my rig with paddles, I'd want them digging with all they've got.


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## doublet (May 21, 2004)

One of my great paddling memories is a one day Cat trip I did with the UT crew. We caught an early AM jet boat ride to brown betty. We snapped our skirts on above rapid #1 at about 10:15 AM with the flow around 65K.

Because the lake was so low there was moving water all the way to the marina and we paddled the 50ish miles to the takeout in around 5 hours.

The Big Drops looked like they'd be REALLY gnarly for a raft, but they were actually pretty chill in a playboat....although the one person from our group who decided to try and surf the red wall got completely bitch slapped...

Good times...


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## Caspian (Oct 14, 2003)

The NPS has some other media of Cat on its website too. That one is from a video that they sell. From what I understand, the Park restricted the river to outfitters only during that peak, causing a ruckus among the lowly and unskilled private boaters. If you look carefully, the raft tacos at one point and then sits awfully high when it washes out - sans frame.


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## farp (Nov 4, 2003)

A few years ago, some friends and I took out three 14' hysides on the Lower New River when it was flowing at about 20 feet, and I was thrilled to be wearing a high-float PFD with a crotch strap. 

We decided that a human would need as much luck as pysical ability to survive a swim in the humungous eddy lines, gigantic whirlpools, and bottomless seams that formed at that level.

Not one person had an out-of-boat experience, and we were all very happy about that. 

I'll never do it again.


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## ActionJackson (Apr 6, 2005)

Golly. I don't know much about rafting or the "BDs" in Cataract, but I'm guessing that raft captain knew he was screwed long before the flip. Game effort though.


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## gapers (Feb 14, 2004)

Holy McBurly Balls


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## ecjohnson (Nov 6, 2007)

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube from 1997 and 2005. One boat flips in the waves between Little Niagra and Satan's Gut. Our shuttle driver in Novemeber was telling us about running it in '83 and endo-flipping baby J's in the North Seas. It could be an epic season down there this spring!


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## sj (Aug 13, 2004)

Been lucky enough to catch cat at 45 and 60. it's big. I was also lucky to be a grand guide in 83 and 84. Everything in the Grand is cheat-able when it gets super big not so on the bd's at 60. The clip tells you all you need to know.

One of the things that gets over looked here is the few other rapids in Cat at HW. #7 at 60 is bigger than Hermit at it's biggest(high teens low 20s) and at 45 is about the same. Huge wave train cheat-able but why. Mile long starts to wash at 60 but at 45 has a bit of a punch. Weird breaking waves in a play boat I was enjoying the waves just floating no momentum. When a wave behind me broke mostly down stream sending me over the top much like getting caught to high on an ocean wave as it breaks. sj


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## benpetri (Jul 2, 2004)

JBL said:


> That is scary. Just plain scary. I know some like it big but that's too damn big IMO. Too many things can go wrong and a fun high-water trip can quickly turn into a hellish nightmare. I ran the Main Salmon in '06 when it was running 92,000 cfs at Whitebird and it was fun but I was so gripped most of the time (except when in camp with a stiff drink in my hand) that it wasn't really that much fun. We made it with no flips or issues but for me boating isn't about 'just making it'. However, I'm glad I did it and can always say that I did.


That's what big water is all about! Scare the shit out of yourself during the day, party like a rockstar at night, wake up hungover, dehydrated and puking the next day so that you're good to go again. Big water is so awesome, I can't wait for this year!


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## bcrimmins (Jun 9, 2006)

*1983 @ 128,000 CFS*

It was my first year as a guide, 128,000 in Cat. We ran the canyon w/ park service helicopters overhead. The 33 foot moter rigs w/ j-tubes, looked smaller than your boat. Not to brag, but that was a crazy year. Warm Springs @ 50,000, Westwatert @60, and the Deloras around 25, I think. 
Alot of boaters don't know the haunting dull roar of flood stage. I still remember scouting rapids that year, and having to yell to person next to you on the route and game plan.
If the snow keeps comming we may see some epic shit this year.


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## peak (Apr 7, 2006)

so whos got any predictions? what did Cat peak at last year? this year? i bet it won't top 30k...


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## ecjohnson (Nov 6, 2007)

peak said:


> so whos got any predictions? what did Cat peak at last year? this year? i bet it won't top 30k...


In 2005 it hit 72,000 I think. At least down here in the San Juans, we're above our 2005 snowpack for this time of year. The northern mountains are still getting hammered. I'm not making predictions, but I think it has potential to be an epic season.


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## ritatheraft (May 22, 2007)

what does warm springs do at 50K?


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## ecjohnson (Nov 6, 2007)

What happens in Westwater at 60? is Marble Canyon almost full? Here's to hopin that the Dolores runs!!



bcrimmins said:


> Westwatert @60, and the Deloras around 25, I think.


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## benpetri (Jul 2, 2004)

peak said:


> so whos got any predictions? what did Cat peak at last year? this year? i bet it won't top 30k...


I can tell you in 2006 that Cat had unexpected high water in mid-October. I'm not sure how big it got during runoff, but freakish October rainstorms brought it up to somewhere around a peak of about 40-50K. It was hard to really know what the flow was because the guages are all so far upstream. I remember though that the colorado was around 25K, the Green at about 10K, the SAN RAFEAL was at 6K and the dolores was about 7K. Every single side drainage in eastern utah had flashed and the river was mud and full of wood.

I can't tell you how much high water in October rocks! I was rowing for only my second time (I am usually a kayaker) and I had a 13' boat. Flows had already receded a bit by the time we got to the big drops, so it wasn't as high as the videos, but still a respectable level. Afternoon sun glare conspired against my river reading skills in BD2, and because of it, I didn't see the hole comming until I was already on top of it. I don't what is in that second half of BD2 but somewhere in there is a huge hole. I hit iw with all I had, but no bueno. Highsided in watery chaos for a half-minute before it finally flipped that tiny ass raft. Even while on the highside, I was underwater. You ever have the sinking feeling, when you know you are sooo going dowwwnnn? That was high carnage day. 3 separate trips ran the big drops simultaniously and all of them had carnage.

Keep sacrificing to those snow gods! I want another shot at that thing! again!


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## richp (Feb 27, 2005)

Hi,

Did a Sand Wash to Hite trip, and ran Cat after that October rain event two falls ago. Rained every day for a week on Deso-Gray, then snow, sleet and icy rain all afternoon above the Confluence. Pretty sloppy and cold. Then the sun came out and we ran the rapids in shorts and T-shirts. Go figure....

By the time we got to Cat, it was only about 15k, IIRC, maybe a tad more. Challenging, but not terrifying. Everything above the BDs was good, fun read and run, including BD1. BD2 we scouted; it was the big mid-river rock with a chute directly below it. On the left side of the line was a half a river wide ledge hole and on the right was the Little Niagra washing machine. And your recollection is right, at those levels at BD2 there is a lower mid-river hole that definitely requires attention. 

There were massive rafts of driftwood in the river left eddy when we scouted BD3. The run was right of center, with a massive thrashing boat-eater on the left and the strangest hole/wave I've ever seen on the right. It was a huge wave with an upstream face that was absolutely vertical, and absolutely stable in that form. No way anything was going to go in that and not go sky-high and over. Hit it right, and it was no big deal. Miss the entry, and it would have been grim.

I'm old and gray and mostly chicken, but at those levels it was pure fun.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips
VP, GPCBA
gcpba.org


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## Awoody (Nov 15, 2006)

*Snow*

The Colorado and Yampa are going to be chipping in pretty well if the snow keeps up, the upper Green snowpack isn't so hot. Should be fun to see though. Basin Snow Water Content Map (SNOTEL)


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## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

NOAA is forcasting up to 45K on the 25th so far with a week or so to go before the historic peak flow forcast. I am guessing what with the trending graph that 55K or somewhere give or take will be the number this year.

We have a launch the 29th. Over 50K and the NPS sets safety. This I believe is a good thing. Anyway, figuring we outta pool our efforts if you also have cat high water plans.

We are strongly debating the triple rig configuration...any pro/con thoughts on the safety for that (see vidoes in link for what it looks like).

I personally be in a Kayak and have done this in the Jefe at 25K without incedent, actually punching the big drops believe it or not. I said last year that I would be taking my playboat next trip...does anyone have any thoughts on a playboat at 55K? I am not a glutton for punishment by the way.

NPS HIGH WATER VIDEOS LINK:
http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/rivervideos.htm


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## Ponderosa (Jan 25, 2008)

rg5hole said:


> We are strongly debating the triple rig configuration...any pro/con thoughts on the safety for that (see vidoes in link for what it looks like).
> 
> NPS HIGH WATER VIDEOS LINK:
> http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/rivervideos.htm


It is very safe, as long as you have your rafts lashed together extremely tight. You don't want the lead boat to "pancake" back onto the second boat. Holiday (the company in the video) ties in the dry bags to the frames in between the boats to help prevent this. Also, coordinating the rowing can be tricky if you aren't comfortable with it. If you want specific questions answered, call Holiday Expeditions Green River office and talk to Tim Gaylord.

BH


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## asleep.at.the.oars (May 6, 2006)

I work on and off for Holiday, and, unless there's somebody that guided in the mid-90's lurking around, Tim is probably the best resource for running triple rigs. It's been a drought for so long that there aren't many guides any more that have spent much time on triples. The water is just not high enough to justify it very often. 

I agree that coordinating between the front and back oar takes some getting used to, you might want to think about doing a trial run down Westwater or something to get used to the mechanics of it before committing to Cat. We always have the lead oar call the shots and the rear oar match - starting yourself in a circle due to different ideas of where to go is no bueno!


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## timmypayne (Feb 18, 2005)

*5 stages of grief*

Try to spot the 5 stages of grief in the video Andy H posts, and for the record that's a 20 foot Rogue Inflatable the guy's muscling around.
Denial: Rowing along although he's way too far left
Anger: yelling commands at the bow paddlers while spinning
Bargaining: pushing into the first hole in Satan's gut
Depression: this is only a second but seems like an eternity staring into the big hole in Satan's gut
Acceptance: My favorite, when you drop the oars and hold on to the cooler straps.
It's all the luck of the popcorn exploding surge in there, a valiant effort on video.


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## sward (Dec 14, 2003)

Funny post tim.

I ran Cat with SJ at 45K in 2000 as a 2nd year boater. I was in a Riot Hammer with dreams of surfing some big waves like Corran with a flat bottom boat. Didn't happen.

I couldn't work up hte nuts to point my boat upstream. I think the scariest point (beside the raft flip), was thinking how cool we were while looking over at my bro while we were paddling 20' apart, dropping down the face of a 15' standing wave; As we dropped down a log about the diameter of a vw bug appeared totally level heading downstream in the same direction. The wave opened up we saw about 30' of the log (no ends) and then it just disappeared, never too be seen again by us. both of our smiles turned to looks of wanting back into the womb.

If you go take a low volume playboat.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Maybe I'm just remembering wrong, but I swear I saw a video in the late 90's that the BLM people had made of when it got over 100k CFS. I remember that even the big rig rafts like J and S rigs were having a hard time getting through stuff, and remember the big ole zodiak power rafts were having to pull almost everyone out afterwards. Anyone else remember it? It had a "You will die if you mess up" kind of warning before it. I'd love to see that footage again, as takes those videos currently on the site down a notch, or at least it was from how I remember it. Irregardless, it looks like alot of fun, but really scary too. I would need some serious practice before I went down the river at the high, if I was at the oars. I had a hard enough time when it was running 5000 cfs, not to mention 10 times that much. WHooo hooo, Rig to flip or GTFO.

Josh


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## gekker (May 13, 2008)

timmypayne said:


> Try to spot the 5 stages of grief in the video Andy H posts, and for the record that's a 20 foot Rogue Inflatable the guy's muscling around.
> Denial: Rowing along although he's way too far left
> Anger: yelling commands at the bow paddlers while spinning
> Bargaining: pushing into the first hole in Satan's gut
> ...


Tim's been busting my balls about this run for years. I've never rowed it again at that level, it was around 63500CFS if memory serves me correctly. The highest I've seen the canyon since was around 55000CFS. We have a friday the 13th in June again this year, perhaps it is time to hit it again. All I can say is next time, I'm taking a self bailer. FYI, all the peeps had double PFDs, except for me. I assumed I'd need greater mobility for rowing.

Cat is great at high water, everyone should give it a go, just be prepared to go deep.


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## Beardance42 (May 12, 2008)

I did it as a passenger in early June '93, flow was about 45K IIRC. 

We turned over 4 out of 5 boats (the one I was riding on was a baby J, 22' I believe, it stayed rightside up.) All but one went over before the BD's. 

My wife and I put our first rig together the next year, but never went back to Cataract. She swam it - I did not. 

I have a deep boater's respect for river rats who seek out water like that and run it successfully...but once was enough for me.


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