# Salt River High Water????



## twoguns (Jun 4, 2011)

Salt River: Never been on the Salt.
Looks like it just blew out from rain.
Does it typically drop quickly after a rain blowout?
What levels should i be getting concerned with from a safety perspective?
Is there a flow-to-hazard rating on this river?
Going with an experienced crew, and i have a lot of experience with high water. However, on this trip, i only have the wife in the front of the boat. Interested more in a relaxed predictable trip rather than a hair raising trip.

Thanks for your input.


----------



## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

check here
https://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?SLCA3

I have buds who ran Salt in the 4000 cfs range and they reported it was a handful at Quartize


----------



## ColoradoClimber97 (Apr 20, 2017)

We ran it a couple of weeks ago in IK's when it was bouncing between 4-5K. Interestingly enough, I didn't swim any of the class 4, but was challenged in 3s and in the canyon sections with all the weird boils and eddy lines. We had one guy who ran the entire trip clean in a Tomcat (impressive!). To me it felt like everything was washed out and pretty straight forward at the levels we saw, and clearly I was not the best boater in the group. I would have been comfortable running it up to 6K in an IK, and maybe 10K in a raft and not consider it a hair trip. YMMV


----------



## Jdsampsonite (Dec 7, 2015)

Don Sullivan says its fun up to 7k and scary over 8k. He is the river ranger there.


----------



## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

I have some buds that went down in Feb and it was 10k- at put in. Big meaty big and bouncy. Ledges, black rock, quartzite and corkscrew were serious big supposedly. It should drop right off in the next couple of days. Projections are for 4.5 k the 16th. When is your put in? If you are competent (it sounds like you are) I would not hesitate below 5k. Very busy river, lots of fast water. I would be on a trip on the 16th but for an injury.


----------



## Ever_Cat (Jan 20, 2009)

Twoguns, you should watch the video recently posted by Jdsampsonite in the thread "Salt trip 2/28- 3/3/19 4000cfs". This is a great video showing many of the Salt rapids at around 4000 cfs. This is well worth watching if you are planning a Salt trip.


----------



## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

I totally agree you need to watch the video. Looked way easier at 4k than it is at 2k. Bigger waves for sure but most everything was covered up especially noticeable at black rocks and quartzite. Better yet watch it with your wife and get her take.


----------



## matt man (Dec 23, 2011)

4-5000 is a super fun level if you are a solid boater. It might feel kinda big, and definitely fast, but in the fun way, as opposed to the scared shitless way.


----------



## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

C'mon Mattman, Have you ever been scared shitless?


----------



## MountainmanPete (Jun 7, 2014)

My TL for our March 24th launch just told me about this video. They are estimating our launch flow at 8000 CFS. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEyTrBnUr8Y

and another: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gysaKYRNzM


----------



## Jdsampsonite (Dec 7, 2015)

I'm launching again tomorrow as well. I personally think the 8k is overestimated but anything is possible. They have been estimating high for awhile. Seems like a very minor storm coming in. Have to be ready in case it is though.


----------



## pwolfehagen (Sep 18, 2018)

Who launched last week? Did anyone jump on it when it was 14,000?


----------



## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

We put in at around 6,500 cfs and took out around 3,600 cfs. The run at those flows is very manageable if you can read and run big water class IV. If you're a class III boater this flow wouldn't be advisable. 

The coldness of the water is the biggest danger - dry gear is highly recommended, wet suits should be considered mandatory for anyone not wearing dry gear. 

Monster ledge holes are lurking in the river (some outside of named rapids) ready to eat your lunch if you can't read murky water. Ledges rapid was the biggest waves of the trip and featured 8-10 ft waves and a wave big hole. It wasn't hard (class III move) to miss the meat if you were paying attention. One oar boat successfully gutted it; a small paddle boat flipped after deciding to run the meat; and a second oar boat (inexperienced rower) was trying to miss the meat, had bad angles hitting big features, and flipped. We recovered the swimmers, flipped the paddle boat upright mid stream, towed the oar rig into the eddy river left below the rapid and re-flipped it there. I think the longest swim was about 30 seconds.

We didn't scout Quartzite, but a left side run was straightforward. 

We made over 6.5 mph on day one with speeds decreasing a bit each day as the flows lowered.


----------



## kb52 (Apr 19, 2008)

Took off on the 20th - 6 day trip. Pretty much agree with raftus. Bring paddle wear for first few days - you will get wet. Ledges was easy to sneak on R. Quartzite was straightforward. Corkscrew was worst rapid in my opinion. 3-4 K levels made campsite landings difficult. Maintain spacing when making landings. Bring loppers.


----------

