# Stoker rock desolation canyon



## chuckd (Nov 25, 2014)

First wreck on the new rock in steer ridge!! 4 hours 2 z drags 7 holes in the raft and a snapped frame!! It was no joke! That rock slide was sketchy and not fun to work with!








Got it off patch it and floated out!


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## Entropy (Oct 4, 2021)

Wow, what water level was that at? That rock looks pretty sharp.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Stoker... as in Jeff Stoker? Looks like his boat and his ass crack 😁 . Glad ya'll got it fixed up.


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## funrivers (May 14, 2008)

8,000 cfs that day. Remember to wear shoes!


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## RFM137 (Oct 9, 2011)

Looks like part of the frame separated from the boat, ouch. That rock looks very sharp. Glad they all made it out.


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## Entropy (Oct 4, 2021)

Do you recommend scouting? We are putting in on Monday and flows should be around 8k based on projections.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

WTF are the people on that rock doing barefoot? That rock looks like it could put a nasty slice in someone's foot to add an extra dimension of "adventure" to the whole thing. Good thing they weren't running around on the bank having to rescue another boat...


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## Michael P (Mar 18, 2009)

Looks Nasty, I presume only ego injuries and the raft damage?
Could you tell me the location of this new rock. I presume we are talking about Desolation Canyon on the Green river.
I am heading there for a June 14th launch and I am not familiar with the Steer Ridge location.


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## Dangerfield (May 28, 2021)

chuckd said:


> First wreck on the new rock in steer ridge!! 4 hours 2 z drags 7 holes in the raft and a snapped frame!! It was no joke! That rock slide was sketchy and not fun to work with!
> Got it off patch it and floated out!


You mean it's actually "the" Jeff Stocker on the rock?


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## Riverwild (Jun 19, 2015)

That's unfortunate. The rock is easily avoidable. We went thru back at the end of April and didn't even notice the change. We did a side hike and we could see the giant rock fall that tumbled into the river. Some of our group went left of the rock, some of our group went right. I would probably say right was easier. That was at about 5k cfs.


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## 2tomcat2 (May 27, 2012)

Steer Ridge rapid often captures wood (strainers) and certainly as levels drop, expose rocks and plenty of them
I scout this one, have for 20+ years, and will continue to do so, if the river gods grant me that pleasure


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## chuckd (Nov 25, 2014)

Entropy said:


> Do you recommend scouting? We are putting in on Monday and flows should be around 8k based on projections.


Yes I would recommend scouting! that rock is in the middle of the fall line I suspect it getting harder as the water goes down!
Saw some people scouting on the right


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

Was the rockfall on the left side or right side of the river?


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## jsheglund (Feb 20, 2021)

caverdan said:


> Was the rockfall on the left side or right side of the river?


left


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

jsheglund said:


> left


Thanks, we ran it on the 19 of May, but that rock was under water. I'll get another look at it in September. Looks sharp.....🤔


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## jsheglund (Feb 20, 2021)

caverdan said:


> Thanks, we ran it on the 19 of May, but that rock was under water. I'll get another look at it in September. Looks sharp.....🤔


yeah I saw it April 25th and it was easily avoided at approx 4K cfs. definitely looks sharp on top!

I posted a little wider angle photo in this thread a bit back. New rapid on Deso


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## Granite (Dec 2, 2012)

Nice little bit of work from the Deso Rangers getting folks off that rock.


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## Bill Bones (Nov 26, 2020)

Had a look at this on 6/6. Flows would have been somewhere between 8-9k cfs. At this level it was much sneakier than I would have guessed, looking like a standing wave and only occasionally showing its shape. We ran right and so did all the boats we saw. Not difficult to avoid once you have an idea of the general location of the rock.

As a point of interest, the rockfall in question originated from about 1,200 ft. above the river. The slab that fell looks to have shattered up high and gone to both sides of a small spur high above the rapid. There is still a lot of pulverized material on the slope that looks poised to come down sooner or later.


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## Entropy (Oct 4, 2021)

We ran it on June 8th, and yeah, it was sneaky AF at that water level (probably about 8k). We scouted and could just see the highest sharp bit occasionally peeking out of the water from above. Here you can barely see it:










Then here it peaks out a bit:










And after passing through, it's obvious from the back.










It's easy to avoid - the trick is knowing it's there when it's mostly obscured from the upstream view. 

-Andy


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## gdaut (Jul 30, 2019)

Damn; glad everything worked out. What day was the incident? We were there on Jun 4 or 5 and did not see anything. But, we had the benefit of the high water release from FGD and about 15K CFS.


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## KeWa (Jun 19, 2019)

Entropy said:


> We ran it on June 8th, and yeah, it was sneaky AF at that water level (probably about 8k). We scouted and could just see the highest sharp bit occasionally peeking out of the water from above. Here you can barely see it:
> 
> View attachment 78156
> 
> ...


Good pictures! We ran it on 7th and this is exactly what we saw too. It pillows over rock at 7-8K, watch for slack water behind pillow. the Two Horns on the rock are very sharp. Easy run on traditional left, left of new horned rock, wide open on right at this stage, that will change as water drops.


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## cord4530 (Jul 26, 2019)

Great pictures! Our group came through Steer Ridge on June 6th. That day flow at Ouray was 10k cfs, and flow at Green River was 12k cfs. You could see water pillowing against the rock, but couldn't actually see the rock until you were past it. The ranger had warned us about it, so we were all looking. A raft going over that would have torn it seam-to-seam. 
-Dan


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## Lone Star (May 16, 2021)

my group had a magical first timer boatman on the oars and he hit it, stalled, and continued. one ammo can went for a swim and was recovered. he is now sad that we can't name the rock after him since his minimal carnage was outdone by 100000X

seeing the rock now and what it has caused we will call him The Magician for somehow going over it without any rubber carnage. old school AVON ftw.


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## jmo177 (Apr 17, 2009)

Anyone see black cats on the river recently. Sounds like they are working there way down south.


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## Lone Star (May 16, 2021)

we welcome all cougars


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## jmo177 (Apr 17, 2009)

I’m talking about the black cat mafia. They’ve been known to sharpen rocks in the middle of the river.


Lone Star said:


> we welcome all cougars


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## Michael P (Mar 18, 2009)

Our group ran it June 17th at about 9000 cfs. It was not too visible from upriver, we all ran right of the wave train. The backside was exposed like a double shark fin. It's a boat ripper.
We also had a bear into our camp at Lower Three Canyon Camp (Mile 49.5), It took quite a bit of persuasion to get it to leave.
Dave in his underwear faced him or her down with rocks, and it took a few. Bear Spray may be a good idea.


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## Bill Bones (Nov 26, 2020)

Got this from the Sand Wash ranger today: 

"I will be participating in raft recovery operations downstream at mile 56.5 to remove an abandoned raft wrapped on the new rock in the center of the main channel of Steer Ridge Rapid."

Bram Stoker claims another


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## Dangerfield (May 28, 2021)

Unbelievable! I don't get it - have folks been down so many times their "auto-pilot" is not updated? Don't have GPS? Don't have an up to date river map? Need glasses? Too enebriated? Looking at other more important "things"? Sleeping? Stonned? OR all the above?

As far as I can tell there are rocks in rivers.

The "rock" should be drilled and Stocker's flag inserted on a pole as a warning.

Those that can't navigate the Green thru Deso/Grays should NEVER think about rafting the Middle Fork - too many rocks.


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## Entropy (Oct 4, 2021)

Dangerfield said:


> Unbelievable! I don't get it - have folks been down so many times their "auto-pilot" is not updated? Don't have GPS? Don't have an up to date river map? Need glasses? Too enebriated? Looking at other more important "things"? Sleeping? Stonned? OR all the above?
> 
> As far as I can tell there are rocks in rivers.
> 
> ...


This is a new rock that came down a couple of months ago and is just about impossible to see from upriver at some water levels. The rock fell into the wave-train that’s commonly run on that rapid and appears to be the logical line to follow. It hasn’t had a chance to be added to any river maps or guide books yet. I would not have known about it for my Deso trip a few weeks ago if it hadn’t been for posts here at Mountain Buzz.

So it’s not surprising at all that people don’t know about it or haven’t heard about it yet and would run into it. It’s shape is such that wrapping or ripping your raft is relatively easy compared to rocks that have been worn smooth.


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## Dangerfield (May 28, 2021)

I was just being sarcastic - if it's causing too much trouble and expense put a bouy on it or a sign on the shore to warn of impending disaster. I am being sarcastic once again.


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## redrocks25 (May 21, 2020)

At 15k it would most likely be submerged. We passed it at 10k and you could see the static wave from upstream and the shark fin from downstream. Easiest way to avoid is start left of center and just follow the tongue down skewing to the right (the entire right side of the river is generally impassable so you’re really only dealing with the left half of the river). There are a couple boulders in the rapid left of center river, or right side of the left side, it they’re easy enough to go to the left of these. Don’t start this rapid from the eddy on river left as it will make it difficult to get right of Stoker rock (great name, first I’ve seen it called this).


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

My buddy just got off, said the rangers there were working at getting a green AIRE off that rock that had been there for about a week..


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## Bill Bones (Nov 26, 2020)

~3.5k


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## Dangerfield (May 28, 2021)

Ah yes, makes sense now. Black Cat Mafia strikes again.


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## goldenrafter (Jun 23, 2016)

Great pictures.


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## SomeYeahoo (Jul 27, 2020)

For what it's worth, that rock is now 4 feet out of the water. You couldn't get your raft on top of it if you wanted to. Pretty wicked looking little rock though.


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