San Juan River + Wooden Boats in April?

Hi WBP,

Anybody out there float the San Juan in early April... Are the flows big enough for wooden boats?  

Seems like the snow pack is pretty good this year... Will it start melting by April 7?  

Thanks for any insight.  I've never been on this river.  Heard its pretty.
-Kelly

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on February 19, 2010 at 10:42am
I assume you're talking about the big desert multiday runs down towards Mexican Hat, not the fishable sections upriver...

looks like mean level for April 7 is about 1300cfs over the last 10 years. too low, I'd say...Government rapid has some rocks that will be exposed and hard to miss, but other than that, just dodging sand bars..

you know how to access historical data on the USGS site?
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?09379500

That said, the folks down there are saying that they've had a lot more snow at lower elevations this year than years past...may make for earlier runoff?

and have you looked at the regs for that section? you might need to have an application on file in order to pick up an early season/cancelation launch...don't remember...
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on February 19, 2010 at 7:56pm
Thank Jeff,
Yeah, Sand Island to Clay Cliffs is what the permit is for. Sounds like Rafts are the way to go. noooo.
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 19, 2010 at 11:57pm
The only stickler is Goverment Rapid, which is below Mexican Hat. At under 1000 it is way funky for a wood boat, although it can be done--two of my buddies got Briggs boats through on 950-1000 last June, but they were holding their breath and wincing. The melt-off has been very random lately. The statistics are misleading, as they do not take into account recent dams and pumping, but here are the 80 year averages:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/dvstat/?referred_module=sw&si...

The snowpack is quite good at the moment, and the melt has been coming early, so I'd say you are probably okay. Be very careful at Government though. If you look at YouTube you can find a lot of videos of folks running and wrecking there and get an idea of the issues.

Snowpack: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/snow/snowpack_maps/colo...
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on February 20, 2010 at 10:32am
Just checked out the youtube posts... interesting what rafters call "fine runs". Seems the average number of rock hits was about 2.5. Maybe I'll just strap some pacos to the chine and run it with a bucket over my head. It does seems doable though. I'm psyched. I'm going for it. It will be a fun challenge or at least a way to hone my repair skills.

Thanks for the links. You SW dwellers are so lucky. Its so beautiful there its down right painful.
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on May 7, 2010 at 4:05pm
ooh lala!

Are the slots still available? I'll check my work schedule and get back to you asap!
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on May 7, 2010 at 4:47pm
Dang, can't go. I'm leaving for Alaska on day 3 of your trip. Thanks for the opportunity though! Would love to hear how it goes.
Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on May 3, 2010 at 9:03am
did you go, Kelly? pics?
you've been awfully silent since you finished the build...
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on May 7, 2010 at 4:02pm
Hi Jeff,
I didn't go. The water levels dropped out... bummer. Maybe next year.

Yes, you're right about my silence on the web. Boating season has begun and fortunately it has been keeping me on the waters and away from my desk. Just got back from an Owyhee river trip. Pretty fun... we had lower than usual water levels so we had to leave the wooden boats home. hmm... did I choose the wrong year to build a dory?!

Here is a shot from my last trip.

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