# Large strainer on Dolores river



## mrbaum (Feb 20, 2015)

Hey guys just giving a little TR,
On the right side of the wall rapid on the upper Dolores there was a huge ponderosa in the rapid , making a for a dangerous strainer. So if you have swimmers in snaggle or the island get em quick, hope the pulse this week pushes it out.


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## kayakingphotog (May 25, 2007)

Thanks for the warning mrbaum. When they crank it to 4K next week a lot of wood will suddenly appear. When I ran it at 5500 cfs in 2005 I will always remember the moment when a 50' ponderosa rolled into the river right in front of our group. We played dodge ball with it for over two miles all while it crashed and broke into smaller obstacles. Caused some consternation for the rafters as they danced with the leviathan (my term). 

Be careful folks and have fun!


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

Does upper Dolores mean above McPhee Dam/Reservoir?


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## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

It means the Snaggletooth section below the dam.


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## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

I bet I saw that same tree way upstream a couple of weeks ago but it has moved a long ways. Be aware, as the water comes up this week there is bound to be a bunch of wood in the rio. Be safe out there. JT


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## grumper13 (Jan 14, 2008)

The locals generally think of the section above McPhee as the "upper" and below as the "lower" - but lots of folks from out of the area have different reference points, such as the confluence (with the San Miguel) or Slickrock - so, it's good to clarify by placenames, like the "Wall" and "Snaggle(tooth)"(which the poster did). 

Thanks for the info!


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## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

Grumper, You getting all those oars in Dolores? I'd really like that 87" cataract for my spare. You were there first so its all good. Putting on monday the 8th for the whole thing and would love a 3rd boat if you know anyone thats up for it. JT


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## grumper13 (Jan 14, 2008)

Ugh - I'm just coming back from out of town on the 8th and will just be doing day/overnight runs for a bit. My big window is going to be from about 5/25-6/5. I have gotten 7 days, so far, and should double that. And yeah, that oar is going gonna be my spare, so I can retire my Carlisle spare. I will check with a few locals to see who might be able to launch on the 8th with you. The problem is, most of them work regular jobs...
The whole enchilada - yeah!


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

Thanks wildh2onriver and grumper13 for the clarification, and mrbaum for the original post. I had always heard the Upper Dolores as being above McPhee and was a bit confused. After looking at the guide book apparently The Wall rapid is also known as Cannonball and comes about half a mile after Snaggletooth (mile 27.5 in _The Dolores River Guide_).

mrbaum do you think this is worth scouting?

We are launching on Wednesday running from Bradfield to Bedrock taking out either Sat afternoon or Sunday morning. If there is significant wood I'll post updates here, although things probably won't settle until after we're off the river.


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## Liquido (Feb 27, 2012)

mrbaum said:


> Hey guys just giving a little TR,
> On the right side of the wall rapid on the upper Dolores there was a huge ponderosa in the rapid , making a for a dangerous strainer. So if you have swimmers in snaggle or the island get em quick, hope the pulse this week pushes it out.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


We ran Snaggle on Saturday and didn't see the ponderosa...so it's either gone or we somehow missed seeing it (yikes!).


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Hey James, when ya taking off? We are launching at Bradfield the 8th with 3 boats, then 2 boats from Gypsum down to Dewey, take out the 17th at Dewey. Will see ya down there!


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## Sherpa9543 (Jul 22, 2014)

raftus- snaggle is definitely worth scouting. 


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

Sherpa9543 - we're scouting Snaggletooth for sure! I was more wondering if we should scout "the Wall" rapid where the tree was seen. Or maybe since it's only 1/2 a mile downstream from Snagletooth you're suggesting we should scout the entire stretch from Snaggletooth past Island rapid to the Wall? 

I don't usually scout class III+/IV rapids (like The Wall aka Cannonball), but a nasty piece of wood that's either somewhat hard to avoid or is likely to entrap swimmers would easily justify a scout for me. 

I've only ran Snaggletooth once (in '08 I think) and I don't remember what the eddy situation/potential for a swimmer to get washed downstream between Island Rapid and The Wall looks like (especially with more water in the channel than when I was there last).

I'm not a stranger to running rivers at high flows with wood moving around, but I appreciate all of the good beta I can get beforehand.


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## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

Matman
We should see you for sure at launch. We're coming from Durango and will be trying to get out early, pick up a nice spot on the pumphouse section and hang. Hit it the next morning and drop off a couple of riders at pumphouse and ?? I'll be in a 16' hyside cat and my bud in a Jacks cat also a 16'. Both are blue. We might also have another yellow raft with us. Dont hesitate to invade camp/s as were are a max of three at this point and like to meet new folks. JT


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## mrbaum (Feb 20, 2015)

raftus- well that's the beauty of that section of the Dolores, while scouting snaggle you can just walk down the road an extra 1/2 mile and look at the wall to see if the tree is there, ain't no better relief then scouting a rapid and seeing a clear safe line to run 


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## chickenshack jack (May 6, 2017)

The ponderosa that's upstream of the wall is river right of center, and it's so big that it'd be hard to miss seeing it, even from a distance. It's huge. 

I didn't have any trouble missing it in a heavy 14' raft when we were there Wednesday afternoon, but a group we talked to on Thursday morning had a kayaker actually run under it (!)...so conditions probably changed significantly after we were there as the flow continued to ramp up.


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## Gremlin (Jun 24, 2010)

Good info! Thanks for sharing.


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