"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I have a trip planned on the San Juan River in SE Utah, and the drainage
basin in SW Colorado is at 164% of normal snowpack! We are concerned that
high water will make the trip more difficult than we expected. This trip is
in open canoes with some paddlers without much whitewater experience.


Hey Richard:
I've run the Juan about 50 times in an open boat at all different levels.
The San Juan has a lot of personalities, and at higher water its actually a
lot easier to run, in general. The problem will be trying to slow yourself
down to get the most out of your trip. The top section is ususally pretty
wide, shallow and meandering, but at high water it just cranks along with
few rapids. The ones that DO open up are avoidable along the shore, even for
novices. You will have to be careful near River House, as the river will
probably be flowing through the trees at the foot of the ruins, and if you
want to see them you'll have to play with fire a bit. Be careful of
strainers. The ledge hole at Mexican Hat Rock gets huge, but can be avoided
with your eyes closed. Then, when you get just above the bridge at the San
Juan Inn, the river splits briefly into two channels and the rapids there
get a big large. Hug the inside corner and take the right channel: its got
lots of 12inch waves, but no giant holes like the left channel.

Once you are below the San Juan Inn, the current will crank you downriver in
a hearbeat. I once ran a trip of novices in canoes from River House to
John's Canyon in a morning....and we mostly laid on our gunnels and napped.
4-ft and 8-ft get a bit tricky, but again, you can sneak them along the
shore. Ross is washed out, but there are some weird eddys upstream of it,
and in the canyon just downstream.

The big one, Government, is the worst at high water. The run is along the
outside wall, then cut to the inside to avoid the ledge hole at bottom
right. However, the right side is subject to frequent changes from rockfall,
so don't take my word for it...scout river left and portage (or line) to be
safe.

The runout to the take-out is amazingly easy at high water, with no gravel
bars or mud bars to eat you up. Unfortunately, there is barely anywhere to
camp at Moonlight; only the dirtpile at the mouth, as the interior flats are
way underwater. You can also camp at the ledges at Grand Gulch without
passing your gear up 10 feet over your head, which is novel.

Be extra cautious of sandwaves: at high water, they are less common, but
much bigger. Train your friends on how to see them rising and to avoid them
quickly. At high water, if you dump a boat, it will be gone in a
heartbeat. Don't even try to self-rescue: swimmers will be 5 miles
downstream in no time. Swim to shore, get the boat later. Keep boats close
together, and always watch downstream; like as far as you can see
downstream. Don't pass up campsites; they are few and far between at high
water.

Good luck, and enjoy. Post a TR.

--riverman