Colorado
18. Colorado/Green Confluence to Hite Marina (Cataract Canyon)
November 27, 2024
| Reporter | Jacob Cruser |
| Gauge Reading | 6000 cfs at Colorado in Cataract Canyon |
| Flow | Low Flow |
10/29-11/1, 2024. @ 6,000 cfs
Three packrafters hiked in from The Needles District, using a cross-country route that follows remnants of an old hand-built mining road. The access road to get to the cross-country route is high clearance itself. 4WD is required or you are liable to get a ticket from the NPS, AWD doesn't cut it (I got a written warning for using a Subaru). The route starts near the Needles Welcome Center, and reaches the Colorado about 5 miles upstream of the confluence with the Green River, near 'The Loops'.
Day 0: Set shuttle and camped at Hamburger Rock near the Needles District
Day 1: We hiked and paddled to Spanish Bottom.
Day 2: Side hike up to Doll's House, then paddled to XY camps.
Day 3: Paddled the whitewater, and camped at Clearwater Canyon
Day 4: Paddled 23 miles to the North Wash take out, kind rafters with a motor let us hang on and towed us for much of this last day. We ran shuttle and camped near Hamburger Rock again.
If I did it again, I'd add one more day to the trip. It can be done much faster, but I think one more day would have allowed for the ability to be on 'river-time'. While our pace was still nice and plenty enjoyable, it did require the use of a clock and the need to make miles was felt on a couple of the days. I thought flows were good for packrafting and kayakers looking for a class III/IV trip. There were a handful of fun rapids below Big Drop Three, and we had current all the way to the take out due to the lowering of Lake Powell, though the current slowed significantly after we passed the warm springs not far upstream of the Hite Bridge.
Gypsum Rapid felt IV-, and there was a small wavetrain between the two warm spring above the Hite Bridge that hadn't been there the week before. This rapid surprised the group motoring out, who had two rafts lashed together and ran the rapid that way.
Have a plan for water, the silt in the river means it's best to let it settle overnight before filtering if you don't bring enough for the whole trip (not such a problem for rafters).
Here is a video from our trip to get a feel for the rapids at 6,000 cfs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfCOT18OSqc