# Class VI Wind!?!?



## jayrides (Aug 31, 2012)

Sounds intense. I've ad similar experiences on the Colorado more than once in Ruby canyon. We had to hunker down in the holes around Blackrock camps for hours. With fully loaded boats getting blown half a mile!


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## Schutzie (Feb 5, 2013)

Never had the extreme wind issue, but I've been in thunderstorms so close and so big that the hair on my arms was standing up; HUGE lightning bolt took out a tree on Gore Range about 30 yards from us.

On the river, there is no place to hide from lightning.

I think if I'd hit that kind of wind, and saw a "dust devil" (tornado) moving my way I'd be thinking time to land and cower.


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## upshitscreek (Oct 21, 2007)

I had a similar dust devil/water spout deal on a early season, solo trip down the Moab Daily stretch once. Strange day on the water, no doubt.

After a few miles, downstream progress wasn't possible so I pulled over to camp and wait it out. 

I got to watch a poor cataraft crew through my tent window try to pass my site when it let up abit. Another gust would come up and they would get blown back upstream and around then bend. 10 minutes later, they would be back only to get blown back upstream again. And again. And again.... for about two hours. 

Later that evening, I got out of my tent to walk around abit and I saw a dust devil come onto the river quickly changing into a 20+ tall waterspout. It crossed the river like it had a mind for my raft, hit it dead on, picked it up and _flipped my oar rig for 3-4 full rotations in the air _after pulling out the 5ft. long log buried in the sand that it was tied into. It landed upside down in the middle of the river land in and started blowing upstream around the bend. 

I ran up the beach, jumped in the early March cold river, swam out and grabbed the log that the rope was tied to and dragged it all back to shore. 

It never really let up, even the next morning, so I ferried to the other side by the road, hiked back to my truck and dragged all of my shit up a bank to GTFO of Dodge.

Despite the swim, I still felt lucky I just happened to be out of my tent and saw it happen. That would have been a really bad day if I had been asleep or just hunkered down in my tent. I would have never heard it with all the wind noise going on.


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## 2kanzam (Aug 1, 2012)

Schutzie said:


> I think if I'd hit that kind of wind, and saw a "dust devil" (tornado) moving my way I'd be thinking time to land and cower.


It's not uncommon for us to get really short dust devils here, so it wasn't that out of the ordinary to see ONE. What is uncommon is for there to be multiple whirlwinds/sustained winds. This just happened to be the first of many...If something THAT strong were to hit again, not only would we have stopped, but I prolly would have left my crap there. The other problem is that being on shore was just as dangerous with the falling trees. 

Unfortunately too, this section of river is as isolated as it gets in WV. Not technically a wilderness, but there is no way in or out of this canyon other than by boat. Otherwise would have packed up and hiked out like upshitscreek did. 

The nearest road was at that last rapid/dam breach and about 4-5 miles away.


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## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

Never been in a dust devil like that but last spring I took my SUP board and dog out at the Westwater takeout in Utah. The wind was blowing upstream hard for hours so I hopped on the board and let it blow me and the dog upstream to an island where we hung out until the wind died down and we went back to the takeout. All I had to do was stand up and we would literally sail upstream, hunker down and we'd slow but still not go downstream. Wind is a bitch.


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## LSB (Mar 23, 2004)

The funniest wind mishap I ever saw was in WestByGawd on the New. We had pulled over to wait out a squall and were eating lunch at the New River Hilton when a commercial boat comes by with all the custies in the water holding on to the chicken line and swimming the boat through FireCreek Pool. Gust comes up, grabs that light boat and flips it end over end all the way back to the putin. It left nothing but a circle of people with dopey looks on their faces and a trail of paddles.


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## Burl Haggard (May 8, 2014)

Westwater this spring .. Never again


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## amv48 (Mar 27, 2011)

Upper San Juan, at eight foot camp. Duckies pinned 15 feet up the canyon wall on the opposite side of the river. Tables flipped over. Plates and bowls floating far upstream. I was on duty for a chicken BBQ grill night. That night I learned three lessons.

1) tie your Paco pad down and don't use your dry bag as a paper weight 

2) cover the chicken and grill in aluminum foil

3). If you use your dry bag as a paper weight and don't cover the grill with foil, you end up swimming for you bag and pad then when no ones speaking at dinner and all you hear is the crunch of sand in people's teeth, not only do people hate you, but you also look like a powdered donut while your serving the meal


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## QuietHunter (Jun 8, 2010)

Burl Haggard said:


> Westwater this spring .. Never again


March 30th?
We were on that day. I knew the forecast, so we were rigged and ready when the Ranger showed up at 7:30 AM and were on the water by 7:45. Pushed through, had a great run. Wind started coming up with about 3 miles left. Initially it was swirling, so it was helpful for the most part - then it got tough with oars in for the last mile or so. Pushing into about a 35-40 mile an hour sustained wind. Got off, deflated and literally tossed all the gear in the truck as things just seemed to get worse and worse. While driving back to put-in and then to Colorado it looked like Utah dirt preferred to be in Colorado. Glad we made it off the water when we did.

Worst wind I have had was on Deso-Gray two years ago. Estimate around 70 mph. Motorized boats could not move forward. Those of us human powered were stuck on the shore hunkered down. Stories of boats being blown back through rapids, losing floors, and tossed into trees that day. Powell had boats capsizing in the same wind. We still refer to it as the "Epic Wind Day" and all who were on that trip nod knowingly. Videos and pictures do not do it justice.

Heavy wind is the one time I think a bucket boat would have a significant advantage. Start pouring water into your boat!


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## Burl Haggard (May 8, 2014)

Yeah. I believe we met at the put in while gearing up the night before. We didn't exactly get an early start and definitely paid for it. I'd say gusts hit 70 in the canyon. I'm just glad we made it through the rapids before it really started crankin'. We ended up huddling behind some rocks for a couple hours. Getting to the take out was the hardest physical effort on the oars I've experienced yet.


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## NickO (May 24, 2013)

At the Lodore take out we were de-rigging a commercial trip and a gust came downstream and picked up a 16ft raft that only had a frame strapped to it and flipped it on top of the adjacent raft. The stanchion slammed through the raft and put a huge hole in it. Pretty terrifying to think that there could have been someone de rigging that raft and caught that stanchion to the skull. Be careful on a windy ramp...would not be the most graceful way to go.


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## Gremlin (Jun 24, 2010)

2012 on the San Juan during the week before Memorial Day. When we left Sand Island the weather was beautiful but throughout the day we noticed the sky was turning "orange". We woke up the next day to orange skies and still no wind all day. We knew something big was coming and it began to blow by noon the next day. We weren't trying to do too many miles because we had another day before we were meeting people at Mexican Hat so we picked an early camp. It was impossible to set up tents so we found shelter under a small cliff and drank premade margaritas. Although it provided some relief, the winds would swirl into the alcove and sandblast us. We didn't bother with the stove since we knew we couldn't keep enough heat in it and the valves, and any food, would be full of sand. Somebody made peanut butter "sand"wiches for everyone. I went down to my boat to restock my day cooler and a gust so strong came that I was fighting to keep the cooler open while it was blowing directly in my face. I used the lid to block it and stuck my head inside my cooler. Even still, sand was blowing through the hinge into my face. Everyone slept on the ground under the cliff.

In the morning it was still blowing but we made it to Mexican Hat. The people meeting us said there were reports in the area of 60 mile per hour winds the previous day but the forecast was for them to become more gradual throughout the day. As we entered the goosenecks we still had powerful gusts that hit us from different directions depending how far we were around each turn. At one point it was at our backs and a GPS in the group said we were moving at 16 mph! Of course that speed carried us into the next cheesegrater wall and we fought to stay in the channel. We reached camp at five o'clock and noticed blue skies for the first time since launching. The rest of the trip was perfect weather and we only lost one mesh bag with some empties which we found two days later.


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## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

Hope the trip went well otherwise...cheatfest was a blast!

Shoot me a line next time y'all are floating and I'll do the same. Im in Austin, but will be home on Tuesday.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

March 30th. Yikes.

We were going to put in on labyrinth that day. Thankfully we decided to just drive to ruby and wait it out. The wind was so strong we didn't even rig the boat until late out of fear the whole thing would get blown up. It was unreal!


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## pinemnky13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Memorial day weekend 2012, we knew what we were getting into at the put in but we went anyway.
Commercial boatsbgave up a mile in they passed us going up river to the ranch road leaving an overnite trip behind. 3-1/2 hours later we made it to miners cabin and we stayed there. Had to wait until dark when the winds died down to set up camp. The rest of the trip had wind but nothing like put in day.
St.Patricks day 2013, 5 hours to get to cisco from big horn camp, brutal wind.
March 16th this year. Thank god for Hoss and his big rig, glad we were at take out when the pebbles started flying.
And on all those trips i swore to buy a motor, here Iam with oars still


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## gwsdemo (May 5, 2009)

Was just below you pinemnky! Memorial day weekend 2012 on moab daily. Hurricane force winds. 5 hours from Dewey to Hittle, oars never left the water. Hunkered down on river right with 4 lines on each boat holding them down, the less fortunate who couldn't make the banks were paddling down river only to to go back up in the hour we were watching (nothing we could do to help from shore). Felt like pins and needles on the skin with the blowing sand. All the kids were champs and made the best of the situation hunkered in the tall grass and under the one tree playing games and still realizing the worst day (weather wise) on the river will make for lasting family and friend memories to laugh about later in life. We still talk and laugh about the trip now! Weather calmed the rest of the weekend, still a bit windy, but a great time had by all. Isn't that what it's all about anyway, family memories???


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