Crystal

Meatgrinder is fast-paced, stout, and full of sieves and undercuts. Similar to The Narrows, meatgrinder is more of a rapid and less of the run and most people combine the two for an incredible lap on the Crystal. The general nature of meatgrinder, is steep, technical, fast-paced creeking. Keep in mind that meatgrinder becomes much more full on the more water that's in there and this is a high consequence run. This run is also notorious for the amount of wood that ends up in the run, so make sure you scout beforehand.

There are several different lines through meatgrinder, however, the most common route is to take the steep chute at the beginning of the steep section. Make sure to scout well and hit your lines because if you don't it is highly likely you could end up in a sieve or undercut. As mentioned above, the river changed drastically depending at what level you run it at, but it is most commonly run between 500 and 1100 CFS. Just keep In mind the river picks up really quick with more flow.

From Carbondale, take Hwy 133 towards Redstone. The put-in is mile marker 53. It is crucial to scout the run beforehand, both to see the lines but more importantly to scout for wood. There is a pullout a 1/4 mile from the put-in with a big red rock on the right side of the road where you can pull over and scout the river. For the takeout, most people combine the run with the narrows and use the narrows takeout (Milemarker 57). If you do not want to run the narrows, you can use the narrows put in at Penny Hotsprings (mile marker 55) as a takeout.

See Colorado Rivers and Creeks II, by Banks and Eckardt (The Bible), for info on this and most of the other kewl runs of Colorado.

Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone.

See also Avalanche Creek to BRB Campground (Class III),

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