Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
11th Annual Snake River Wooden Boat Show
The Boat Show is taking place next weekend, May 28th. I thought I'd give folks an update on what's happening here in the Hole. As ussual we will have high water at this time of year but the impending flood is still at bay due to cold temps in the mountains. River levels are very friendly right now and should stay that way until we get a warm spell which rarely happens before Memorial Day.
We do have a travel issue. The Snake River Canyon between Alpine and Hoback Junction is closed due to a huge mudslide that will be a problem for weeks to come. As a result the only route into Jackson Hole from the west is over Teton Pass. Trailer traffic is prohibited during commuting hours of 6-9 am and 3-6 pm. This includes small drift boat trailers as well as 16 wheelers so plan accordingly if coming from Idaho Falls or points west.
The snowpack in the mountains stands at about 190% of normal and a flood of unprecidented proportions is looming, probably sometime in mid June. The geniuses at the Bureau of Reclamation and Destruction have failed once again to create room in Jackson Lake to mitigate flood waters so it is in the hands of Mother Nature as to how this will all play out. We have moved our camp to higher ground this spring and hope to stay dry but we are still just rolling the dice and keeping fingers crossed. Things will become very interesting before too long.
Well that's the disaster report so now on to the show. We will again be offering a one on one rowing clinic on Friday, May 27. We are offering a 50% discount for show folks. This is a custom clinic for beginers who need the basics or for those interested in bringing their game up a notch or two. Please call to reserve an instructor as we will have three spaces available.
The kids at Jackson Hole High School will be bringing their Banks Dories to the show. Kevin, Kirby and I have been down to visit with them several times and the project is coming along very well. They should have three boats ready to splash into the pond at camp and two more in construction. Their excitment is evident in the recent flurry of posts to this site. I want to thank all of you who have responded to their questions. This is a wonderful resource and it keeps getting better.
The phone number here is 307 732 BOAT(2628). Please give me a call if you are coming so I can have a proper amount of food for the post show/float gathering at our camp. I can also help with lodging and camping info as well as local fishing info and goofing around in general.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Views: 203
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on
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Thanks for the heads up A.J.
Greg Hatten and I are planning to car pool over for the day. We will use this info to plan our trip. Wish us luck.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Do you want a third rider? We could meet along the way!
Rick Newman
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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on
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Hey Rick - just realized we never responded to this one - so sorry. Randy and I went to the show - left Eugene at 12 noon on Friday and drove all night... arrived at Wilson around 5 am Saturday morning. Caught 30 minutes of sleep and found some hot coffee and eggs - then spent the day at the show. Camped out on the Snake, shook the snow off our tent in the morning, and blasted off for Oregon - drove all day and most of the night - I got to bed around 3 am Monday morning. whew... next time, we'll take some time to smell the roses and the fish along the way!! GH
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Greg, no problem. I had a busy weekend anyway. Glad you guys got to go. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
Rick
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Randy, it's over 800 miles and about a 15 hour drive, it's either going to be a very illegal drive or a very long day!
Rick Newman
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Heh, It was two very long days, but we had a Great time.
Photos tomorrow and thank you everyone.
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Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on
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The snowpack in the mountains stands at about 190% of normal and a flood of unprecidented proportions is looming, probably sometime in mid June. The geniuses at the Bureau of Reclamation and Destruction have failed once again to create room in Jackson Lake to mitigate flood waters so it is in the hands of Mother Nature as to how this will all play out. (AJ wrote:)
The Bonneville Power Dudes who control the dams on the Columbia...they must be a little better at paying attention, to anticipating...because they have the Columbia flows as high as I have seen in years! The Indian dip-net platforms at The Dalles dam...they are under water right now, when they are normally about 10' above the surface.
It must be hard for The Workers to get into the valley from Idaho everyday.
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Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on
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Cool whether is in the forecast for most of this week. That will insure friendly river flows for boating. The Wyoming Road Guys are suggesting that they will have the mudslide under control by mid week. I'll believe it when I see it. Right now the only way into the Hole from the west is over Teton Pass. Two rollovers in Wilson this past weekend as vehicles and drivers not familiar with Newton's Law of Gravity when descending into the Hole find themselves with smoking brakes or non at all. Jackson Hole has often been reffered to and open air insane asylum and this weeks events are sure to confirm this. BE CAREFUL if you have to pull your boat over the pass. It's really no big deal for anyone with common driving/towing sense.
Like most states now, Wyoming has an invasive species awareness program. An inexpensive sticker/permit can be purchased at most places selling fishing licsences. Probably won't get popped by the fish police for a single use without one but if you plan on boating in Wyoming this summer you should get one. The reality of the situation demands that we all get better at rinsing out our boats with a mild bleach solution when trailering between drainages. If you guys keep your bugs out of the Snake we won't bring our bugs to your rivers is the way I see it and that will work best for all. When I bought my invasive species "licsence" in Oregon last year I told the nice girl at the shop that I had invasive species in my boat and I needed to liscence them. She said," oh thats so nice of you, we have those liscences"
I will keep you all posted as the next act in the circus reveals itself.
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thanks for the update A.J. Greg H. and I are planning on car pooling. Hope to see you Saturday.
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Permalink Reply by chris towles on
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well, looks like i'm gonna have to be quick in and out in the AM for the show. i am going to be guiding a few scenic trips this summer (in addition to my 3 other jobs..should be a really busy summer), and my boss booked the first trip for saturday at noon. i'll prob show up right at the beginning and hang out for an hour or so. looking forward to meeting some WBP folks at the show. i am in the middle of a chine batten replacement at the moment, so the sikaflex won't be river ready by sat, and i'll be floating in a clacka. i'm hoping to get the boat flipped back over and the outfitting roughly fitted back in so that i can at least display the boat at the show, it seems to always be in a constant state of not finished no matter how hard i try, but i'de like to at least show off the last years work as it has been plentiful. i'm wondering if it will be cool to leave my boat at the show, and come back later in the afternoon after my float and pick it up? it'll be cutting it close as i'll have to be at work that night, but if i don't leave it, i'll only have it for the first little bit.
as to the flows, AJ, i think you need to cut the guys at the Bu of rec a little slack. we had like 700" of snow this winter and our snowpack is above 200% of average. this is a record year, and there is going to be flooding because of that. not much they can do..jackson lake only offers so much control over the flow of the river. when things start to flow, those tributaries account for well over 50% of the volume of the river in our stretch...they have no control over the buffalo fork, pacific creek, gros ventre, flat creek, the hoback, falls creek, and the multitude of smaller bodies that dump out of the snake river range in the canyon. when the tribs start to crank, thats when we are gonna see it flood. they have been making room as fast as they can. the snake has been crankin for over a month now, and so has the south fork. i just got back from a week of boating in idaho and they are dumping the snake at 20k thru twin falls..the murtaugh was epic (and high as it really ever gets) all those resivoirs down that way are low, and so are the ones around here. palisades is at like 10% right now, jackson lake is 45% i believe. they are doing what they can to prepare, but on a year like this, there is not that much they can do to prevent floooding. there is a ton of water up in them thar hills. and as one who doesn't have that much of a dog in the fight financially as to what the river does, i'll say i am happy to see the high water. i'de love to see 30K+ in the canyon. could be some epic surf down there, and i'de love for lunch counter wave to stay in for weeks like it did a fews years back on that high snowpack year. bring it on i say, i'm ready to surf!
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Jackson Hole Road and Weather Report
Nothing has changed since my first post. Canyon still closed and Teton Pass is still the only way into the Hole from the west. Trailer restrictions are still in effect. See my first post for hours of trailer restictions.
Weather promises to be cool with chance of showers. River levels are at 13,000 cfs at my camp. Sounds big but is really a very fun and friendly level.
See you all on Saturday.
AJ
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just read in the paper today that they are hoping to have one lane open by friday in the canyon. that could get pushed back due to weather, but thats their plan currently. you can check wydot.gov for current conditions and closures.
as to the trailer closure, the article said they plan to life the restriction on trailers for weekends and holidays, so if you are coming over sat morning with a trailer, you should be in the clear. hopefully it will be a nice day on saturday, and we can dodge this precip that seems like it will never end.
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