# Gates of Lodore @ 850-900CFS?



## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

All the normal lines go as per Rivermaps...you just have to do a bit more rock dodging and keeping in the main channel. The area that sucks the most is the flatwater stretch through rainbow park... lots of sand bars to get stuck on at that flow. Most of them are after the big bend after Island Park camp. 

The big rapids all slow down and you have lots of time to react...makes it pretty leisurely. Its always a beautiful place to be...but this isn't my favorite level as far as river running goes. Still looking forward to a trip in July I got invited on though.


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## brownel (Jun 20, 2009)

Bayutah, I have a launch for 8/6. Where did you see that they they plan to release at a minimum of 850 cfs all summer? I was looking at the Flaming Gorge Operation Plan (May 2020 through April 2021), and from what I can tell for moderately dry conditions (pg 9) there will be phased flow:

End of Spring Peak (Ends when summer base flow begins) - 850 cfs releases
Summer Base Flows (Ends on 9/30) - Releases no more than ~1800 cfs (+/- 40% period).
Autumn Base Flows (Ends 11/30) - approximately ~850 cfs

I'm not sure when "summer base flow" begins, but I'm hoping for the ~1800 cfs (+/- 40% period) releases in early August. This is my first time running this section and the first I've seen of the plan, so I may be off base. Maybe they won't hit summer base flow before then? Anyone have more info?


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## BAYUTAH (Aug 7, 2019)

Found the summer plan as follows:

https://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/crsp/cs/fgd.html

Current gauge readings seems to support. However, I don't know if its for the entire summer or just June:

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/uv?site_no=09234500


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## tjligon25 (Mar 19, 2015)

From what I have read they are performing the pikeminnow base flow study which calls for summer base flow of 1800 to 2600ish at the Jensen gauge. This calls for a release of 850 from dam until the yampa is less than a 1000 which then would call for an increase of flows from the dam so the Jensen gauge maintains that base flow.
That's how I read the dam release update most recently posted in their website.
There's a link to the study and if you scroll to the bottom it discusses the base flow study.


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## LuckyLadyBug (Feb 16, 2019)

Be ready to z-drag. I ran it at 750 in 2012 and we pulled out the z-drag 3 times. We also had a flip at Hells half mile, a boat got stuck on the giant rock that is usually the pour-over and another boat tried to bump it, flipped right over. Smaller, lighter boats will obviously be easier.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Leave the cast iron cookware at home. Along with those beautiful hand carved wooden oars you spent all winter sanding and shellacking. 

Having run it a few times at low levels it seems like 1,000 was noticeably better than 850. Hope for 1,000, but it's still a fine trip at 850. There have been summers where it was running 850 for most of the season and everyone did fine.

Enjoy!

-AH


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