# Eyes on Escalante?



## David Spiegel (Sep 26, 2007)

The barometer gauge keeps pushing the minimum. Anyone looked at it recently?


----------



## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

Yo Justin....probably gonna head up and hit Cross with you guys....but I was wondering the same thing about Esca.....I'm guessing the following weekend if temps stay 60/70's...above 40/50 at night. But would be interested to hear some other predictions....


----------



## Justin S. (Oct 9, 2006)

Man Jeb, if nobody has any feed back I'm just gonna have to make the drive. I missed it last year, I'm not missing it this year. Otherwise, finally! You're finally gonna come paddle with me. Sweeeet!


----------



## foreverhard (Apr 14, 2009)

Hi de ho, Justin.
I just joined the Buzz. Jason & I are keeping our eye on Escalante as well. We have a week+ trip planned for May 1-? that hopefully will include Escalante. We would definitely love for you and Patrick and Luke and Jason (based on who I met last Saturday in Gore and whoever else is cool that I haven't met yet) to be there for that if it's on. This weekend (4/18-19) we're partying instead of paddling cause it's the spring splash at the resort (I'm single and need all the help/excuses I can get even though I don't ski anywhere near epcot center, co).
Laters - Mike
P.S. I dare you (or Jason or Patrick or Luke), however, to try to convince me otherwise about this weekend because it's fairly easy to change my mind at any point based on blowing off the chance to step in bullshit for running the shit.
P.P.S. And yeah I know that I'm not as hardcore as my new username might suggest; it's a highschool nickname that I now treat as a dare to myself.


----------



## Justin S. (Oct 9, 2006)

Mike, 
Seriously just met us at Cross. Its up over 2K so is it gets closer to 3K you'll get to see what I was talking about. Cross is awesome at higher flows than we originally ran it. You'll love it, just don't swim.


----------



## yetigonecrazy (May 23, 2005)

its not going to run. its going to be cold and rainy all this week and its not going to get warm enough to go. just go to cross with everyone else, believe me, when esca runs, YOU WILL KNOW because there will be massive posts over and over as soon as it does!


----------



## jmack (Jun 3, 2004)

Esca will not run until there are a couple days in the 70s and SUNNY in Delta. Without sun, the snowpack up there will not melt fast enough. Cool and rainy equals no Escalante. Also, look for more like 250 on the barometer, not 150. My guess is a 2 week season starting late next week.


----------



## ski_kayak365 (Dec 7, 2003)

The difference in the gauge from Delta to Jct is 120cfs. If its not 700-1000 difference MINIMUM, Esca is not running. That simple.


----------



## El Flaco (Nov 5, 2003)

Dude - it's painfully obvious that Mars is in the Twelfth House and the Blood Moon has not yet caused the Wolf-Mother to seek her brood among the Four Pillars of Destiny. 

Everybody knows that Esca doesn't run until the Sun and Uranus have joined forces and the sum of the CFS of the Gunnison, the Colorado and the Arkansas is a prime number. Duh.


----------



## latenightjoneser (Feb 6, 2004)

C and D hole are in. If you guys are coming through Steamboat, you might as well stop. Yampa hit 650 last night. Lots of tricks going down.


----------



## CO_Patrick (Feb 22, 2008)

*Mike, Justin is right. You need to go hit Cross Mountain again with us. It's going to be a good time. *


----------



## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Hey Joneser, what are things looking like for the rest of the Steamboat area runs? You think Fish, Mad, Willow, Elk, etc. will be coming in soon?


----------



## D. Hippie (Feb 18, 2008)

At what flow is it time to leave the playboat at home and bring the creeker for Cross? Hope to see you all up there this weekend.


----------



## doublet (May 21, 2004)

Sorry to interrupt the Cross Mountain discussion thread with something relevant but I just posted a couple of visuals from Escalante (Front Range buddy was in GJ on business and sent them to me.) Looks like it's about 6" below the rock.


----------



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

any ideas of when its a go.


----------



## Justin S. (Oct 9, 2006)

doublet said:


> Sorry to interrupt the Cross Mountain discussion thread with something relevant but I just posted a couple of visuals from Escalante (Front Range buddy was in GJ on business and sent them to me.) Looks like it's about 6" below the rock.


See that's what I'm talking about. THANK YOU! Hell that's high enough to run laps on the lower gorge. Couple more days, it "could" be a go. I think I'll have to head that way saturday afternoon. 

Yakin- depends on what you're the most comfortable in. Over 3k it gets big in there. There is some awesome play in it as well so it's more of a personal choice, IMO.


----------



## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

Justin S. said:


> See that's what I'm talking about. THANK YOU! Hell that's high enough to run laps on the lower gorge. Couple more days, it "could" be a go. I think I'll have to head that way saturday afternoon.


Sounds like a bad idea to me with a big storm rolling in - going to shut it down. I'll place my bets on the following week.


----------



## ACC (Oct 30, 2003)

I'd second KSC. Shut down coming through this weekend and then game on by late next week. Sunday through Friday next week looks to be at or above 70 degrees in Delta with 40-50 degree nights.


----------



## D. Hippie (Feb 18, 2008)

Yakin- depends on what you're the most comfortable in. Over 3k it gets big in there. There is some awesome play in it as well so it's more of a personal choice, IMO.[/quote]

Thanks Justin, never run it before just wonderin' which boat to bring. Definitely prefer the playboat if it's a good option.


----------



## crackeryaker (Oct 15, 2003)

thanks for the pics tyson...jmack thanks for the predictions, think i'll just plan on that:wink:


----------



## bwest (Mar 13, 2008)

any escalante visuals this week?


----------



## bigboater (Dec 10, 2003)

I got a bud rolling down 50 today. I convinced him to head up and take a look see. Should have a second hand visual by this afternoon.


----------



## doublet (May 21, 2004)

Second hand report from yesterday is that the fin rock is covered nicely. I might have some pics later in the day.

It was hotter than hell out there yesterday and we've got a cold front coming so I'm not sure any visuals will tell us much about this coming weekend. The hot weather may have just been a big tease.


----------



## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

My two cents...

Escalante is running now, should be good today through sat. Cooler weather rolls in sat and sat night. Sunday flows likely down, but how far down? Not sure. I'd guess med/low to med fri/sat, and low on sunday. Likely too low into next week as we get extended cool weather. Just my guess based on all the data I look at.

What I use to predict flows for trip planning...

Roubideau barometer guage showing large daily bumps in flow from hot weather and nights above freezing. Keep an eye on the roubideau to get an idea of how weather trends are impacting the plateau. Roubideau is the next door drainage to the south of escalante and drains similar aspect and elevation. Yes there are diversions, but they can only take water out. If the roubideau is going up by leaps and bounds, expect escalante to do the same. If the roubideau is nose diving, expect escalante to do the same.

Roubideau barometer
Detail Graph

I also check the colorado basin river forecast center predictions for gunnison at delta and grand junction. They seem to be pretty good at predicting trends for a few days out. Looking at gunny flows gives a broad perspective on how the weather is predicted to impact the general area. Current predictions call for a flows to sustain fri and sat, and then start tailing off sun. Kinda hard to read the date and flow scale, mouse over the flow trend and it will show date and stage where your mouse is.

Gunny @ Delta
GUNNISON - DELTA (DELC2)

Gunny @ junction
GUNNISON - GRAND JUNCTION, NR (GJNC2) 

I use the NOAA weather forecast for delta, co and escalante forks, co to see what the weather is looking like.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 38.75°N and Longitude 108.06°W (Elev. 4999 ft)

Another interesting site is Colorado Weather Map - Snow-Forecast.com The feature I really like about this site is it gives contour intervals for the freezing elevation in the atmosphere. The uncompaghre plateau is about 10,000ft. If the freezing contour over the plateau is 10,000ft or higher, its not predicted to freeze on the plateau. If the freezing contour over the plateau is below 10,000ft, its predicted to freeze on the plateau, which will clamp down on flows. You can scroll through the forecast days and check precip estimates and freezing line contours predicted for the next couple of days.

All of this info gets a lot more precise with visual reports to calibrate what the actual flows are. Used in conjunction with visuals, you can use these tools effectively to plan a trip out to escalante. 

Hopefully this info is helpful to some. I'm gonna be out there fri/sat... let the boating season commence!

Also please post visual reports with date and estimated flow so that I can continue to refine the roubideau barometer predictor. What I came up with before was...

Robideau Level (cfs) = Estimated Escalante Level (57' Chevy Fin)
0 - 149 = TOO LOW (fin very exposed)
150 - 249 = LOW (fin exposed)
250 - 349 = MEDIUM (fin barely covered)
350 - 599 = HIGH (fin completely covered)
600+ = CRANKIN

Last year did not see too much improvement on the correlation because escalante was flooding for weeks and there were not many reports in the low to med level to refine the correlation.

As with any weather prediction, take this with a grain of salt. Its what I personally use to plan my trips, usefulness to others may vary.


----------



## bigboater (Dec 10, 2003)

I say we just steal a guage from some useless river in Kansas or something, and relocate it.


----------



## bluesky (Sep 11, 2005)

I'd be willing to camp out above the inner gorge for the next month and report in thrice daily via satellite relay, if someone wants to donate a satellite internet setup. $15 an hour, comprehensive health and dental, and maybe a couple of paid days off would be nice too. Oh, and whiskey, a nice big bottle of _good _whiskey. No handguns, though. :wink:


----------



## yourrealdad (May 25, 2004)

I am in GJ today heading to Escalante Fri if anyone wants to join me. I am on bike so I figure to get there before or around twelve. I will be hitting that chocolate sat too.

970-217-2166
Kevin


----------



## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

Anyone plan on being out there Sunday? Have some people to run with Sat, but would like to do Sun. as well even if it's low.


----------



## jmack (Jun 3, 2004)

Kevin-

I am going up for the whole weekend. My guess on flows is medium Saturday and low-medium Sunday. Will probably have folks from Durango both days too. Also, get in touch with ACC. See you there.


----------



## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

I'm planning a weekend of it....can't get up there until early Sat. afternoon and expect to get a run in. Then again on Sunday....don't care if the flow is a little lower. I believe a few of my bro's are planning about the same.


----------



## Yamahamod (Apr 3, 2009)

I was up there today it was nice.


----------



## ACC (Oct 30, 2003)

Yamahamod said:


> I was up there today it was nice.


More details please. Specifically: was the falls runnable -- and, if so, in a scrapey sort of way or as a legitimate line with water?


----------



## Yamahamod (Apr 3, 2009)

ACC said:


> More details please. Specifically: was the falls runnable -- and, if so, in a scrapey sort of way or as a legitimate line with water?


Yup there was 2 other groups up there and most everyone ran it. Compared to the picture in ( WhiteWater of the Southern Rockies ) it was flowing just alittle bit less than that. Worth the drive for a begenning of the year creek run. 82 degrees today in the canyon.


----------



## ACC (Oct 30, 2003)

Cool. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to dipping into the mud this weekend.


----------



## Roy (Oct 30, 2003)

The Roubideau barometer popped big-time last night, and is now in excess of 500 cfs and rising. Excellente is ON for the weekend!


----------



## Claytonious (Jan 17, 2008)

I want to go. Somebody call me.

303 815 7697


----------



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

austin, david from laramie and i are driving down partially tonight and will be their in the morning if plans work out when's everybody plans for meeting up? and how far to the put in from grand junction?
fucking snowing in casper all ready, wtf.


----------



## Nathan (Aug 7, 2004)

Anyone from Fort Fun heading out tonight or tomorrow morning? I'm happy to drive or pitch gas money.


----------

