# Low Water Yampa



## cjising (Mar 24, 2008)

I've got a permit for mid-April for Yampa and am curious what to expect. We have a good group of boaters but are unsure what to expect in terms of water level at that time of year. thoughts?


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

Ran the Yampa in April a few years ago. put in on 6,000 cfs, first 3 days were clear and 80. Then had 13k for warmsprings and snow all but the last day of the trip. 

so, April not necessarily low. The weather swings can be huge, and will obviously affect the flow significantly.


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## BCJ (Mar 3, 2008)

Ran the Yampa at 3-4K in a 14' dory and never hit a rock. Was actually quite a nice level. We had some 16' and even larger rafts too. Personally I like the Yampa canyon better, and seems to me it's likely to have a bit more water and be "cleaner" runs than Lodore at very low flows. Warm Springs is forgiving at 3-4K, just dodge a couple of boulders. Lodore rapids at low water aren't a reason to go there. I'd go for the scenary wherever I went that time of year.


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

buckcoff said:


> Ran the Yampa at 3-4K in a 14' dory and never hit a rock. Was actually quite a nice level. We had some 16' and even larger rafts too.


If flows are near 1-2k do you have to row constantly to make progress at these water levels or do you move along with some current? Any major sand bars and scraping when you were there at 3-4k? 1k will make a lot of difference if we are in there below 2k cfs.


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## BCJ (Mar 3, 2008)

Can't answer that question Nicho, about sand bars and scraping or constant progress at 1-2K. I've done 5 Yampa trips, one at the 3-4K level and the rest in the 12-16K range. Seems to me the Yampa is somewhat like the San Juan in that it has some gradient, and I thought this even at the 3-4K level it seemed to move along OK. But, really, it's not that long and if you do Lodore and don't get past Jones Hole you've got some really long mileage either way. I've done Lodore only at modest (low?) levels, e.g., 1600-2200. (Last September we did Lodore at 1800 and our last night was at Jones Hole and it was REALLY long trying to get from there to Jensen in one day, but we did it.) To me it's more a matter of which canyon have you seen? Which one do you prefer? To me the Yampa is more unique, overall, insofar as geography and geology and so forth. But Lodore is a pretty canyon too, to be sure. Ultimately, I think the gradient is similar on both but you have better odds of having more water on the Yampa if there is early runoff, whereas, the flow in Lodore is dam-controlled, so on that stretch the flows could be limited even if there is early runoff. The Yampa is, after all, the last free-flowing (mostly) tributary of the Colorado River system. 

What I've noticed over the years on most upper Colorado Plateau stretches, is that there is sort of a "double peak," i.e., there is some early spring runoff from low elevation snow that melts in either April or March when spring temperatures hit, then a lull (sometimes the water drops, with late spring snow storms and low temps) and then the BIG runoff hits in late May/early June as summer hits and the high-country snow melts off. You might want to do some reseach on the USGS water level site and see what the historic flows on each stretch have been for whatever period of time you are going. Again, if I were a betting man, the Yampa could have more water than Lodore if it warms up. Buena suerte!


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## BCJ (Mar 3, 2008)

PS Nicho, at 3-4 we did NOT have problems with sand bars and scraping. There were some shallow areas, but no pushing, good flows, no problem. Just a low water trip. Very nice indeed. Just enjoy whichever you choose!


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

Thanks a lot for the info I appreciate it.


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## ric (Apr 12, 2004)

*Yampa low water!*

I've run the Yampa at all levels 700cfs to 20000cfs, 1500 you should be ok, 
only need to look at ws, yes there are sand bars but read the water!!!
Slow, yes but all the better take more time, you don't want to hurry a yampa run anyway, lots of rarely hiked places there, spiral cave, pr pools, ob knob,
remember NO gamaside, footprints are not a good thing!


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## wabisabimike (Apr 28, 2010)

If late summer has the same levels as early spring, then I wouldn't do Gates. My school did it one year and we have a bunch of 16's. We had to get out and push probably about five times. Luckily we didn't get any rafts stuck on Hippo rock in Hell's Half Mile. We ended up getting only a single tear... 

I've also done the yampa in april five or six times. There is a good chance that the melt might come earlier this year since this winter has been so warm, so you might end up like us one year and start at 3K cfs and end at 13K cfs lol.

If you do the yampa in low water, watch out for the bottom of Warm Springs. We had to get out and push two out of the four boats we had on a trip a year or two's past.


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## David L (Feb 13, 2004)

Another voice here for doing an April Yampa trip. Unique scenery and lots of good hiking that isn't in the guidebook. Go explore. Lowest flow for me was probably about 1500-2000; I recall we had enough current to keep moving slowly. Don't worry about sandbars, except in Island Park. You'll see them, and they're easy to go around.

Weather is the bigger deal than the water flow. You could have anything. I did two Yampa trips one year in early May. One was nice weather, the other we had snow.


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