Advice for Rowing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River at Low Water

Advice for Rowing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River at Low Water | Ep. 208

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Күн бұрын

We often get asked by private boaters about what it's like rowing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River at low water. Check out the blog post I wrote about some low water considerations and advice for the Middle Fork at www.nwrafting.com/middle-fork....
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Пікірлер: 42

@renofornow 3 жыл бұрын

Zach, that was the best description of the MFS at low-is water I've ever heard. The FS should make every boater watch this as part of their pre-launch talk. So much good, useful info. We launched at 2.1 in July 2017 and watching this vid took me right back there. My palms got sweaty anticipating the rapids to come. We took our time on the top, doing something like 6 mile days, and were grateful that we did. Best quick advise I heard for this run at low water was from a veteran of the MFS. He said, "all you need is good shoes and a good attitude. Bingo! Thanks again for these videos. Soooo much good stuff here. I send folks to your site all the time. SYOTR.

@wwrafter 3 жыл бұрын

couple of other items: 1. at the top of the "one boat" rapids, get a zero angle an put your bow on a rock. When it's clear, pivot off and go. 2. Before entering any of the boney rapids, look upstream to make sure there's not a sweep boat coming down.

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome additions - thank you!

@berrycrawford5579 3 жыл бұрын

This channel is a great resource. Thanks for doing it.

@matthowarth4498 3 жыл бұрын

Good video. The best advice I have after 30+ low water Middle Fork's is, if you fall out of the boat on the upper section at low water, just stand up, dust your self off, and get back in the boat.

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

My favorite advice!

@lancewest6347 2 жыл бұрын

I have learned so much from this channel. I'm really not sure what I would have done without it. Big thanks from me!

@GearGarageTV 2 жыл бұрын

That’s really nice to hear

@fajawiebe 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making and posting this Zack; watching it was a requirement for our group and it was so helpful. We launched at 1.99 and only had a reasonable number of snafus. We also leapfrogged with one of your crews around Tappan and Cove Creek. One your guides gave us the line for Cove Creek, that was quite nice of her. So a big thank you to you and your company.

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

I’m glad to hear it helped. I’m making another video at 1.65 feet that I should be uploading soon.

@jeddavenport 3 жыл бұрын

Great Video. We went in September 2020 at 1.6 ft. It was definitely challenging but still doable.

@gregcoughlin4615 3 жыл бұрын

Much appreciated Zack! We put in next week, this is super helpful. Great timing for our crew :)

@thecannabisfarm6679 3 жыл бұрын

Great! I get to try your advice next week. Greatly appreciated!

@gregfindley2690 3 жыл бұрын

Good stuff Zach! Thanks for making this video!

@nikbergill6850 3 жыл бұрын

Well-made with great advice! Thanks for putting this all together

@karllundin5608 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! Thank you!

@steveadams1604 3 жыл бұрын

This is great Zach!! We're putting in on July 5th. It's terrific to see ahead what conditions we can expect on all of these upper rapids. Thanks!

@seanfraser7738 3 жыл бұрын

Great video as always Zach. I led a 4 boat trip with Barry Kruse in 2019 August 22. 2.1 looks like flood stage compared to our 1.63, but we took our time, deflated our tubes, and had a great time. Thanks for the video!

@zacharywinters9413 3 жыл бұрын

Man good video for this year the Southwest is dry as a bone for River running ,I even saw the Dolores was running at like two CFS

@returningtoearthtv8836 3 жыл бұрын

Interesting comments from Zach at 12:45. I feel oars are like Feathers or Fins and maybe sometimes become like Mace or Bludgeon. Though I strive for Fin and Feather.

@delriv5238 3 жыл бұрын

Great stuff

@agrankin3309 3 жыл бұрын

Great advice for low-water conditions generally. One thing I sometimes struggle with is my downstream oar. I try to focus on keeping my strokes shallow but sometimes in the heat of the moment I go deep and, well, trouble ensues. In fact I almost popped my downstream oar this weekend running the Rio Chama at 500 cfs. I thought I was in the clear pulling off a wall rapid and hit a rock downstream. Do you try to minimize downstream oar use in low water/rocky situations? Would love to see an episode on different oar strokes for different conditions and managing blades for different moves? Thanks for the channel.

@GearGarageTV 2 жыл бұрын

Yes I am always very careful to avoid using my downstream oar

@andrewwatkins6109 3 жыл бұрын

Great vid

@SaxonHolbrook 3 жыл бұрын

We have a late August permit and are expecting seriously low water levels. < 1.5' ?? We're most certainly looking at flying in to Indian Cr and everyone is trying to reduce gear/weight. How low can one go? Flotilla includes a 14' NRS Otter, 14' Hyside Cat, 12' Sotar, and a Pack Raft.... Thanks in advance

@sahalemccabe5774 3 жыл бұрын

What a great resource! I’m launching on July 13 for my first trip and I’m a little nervous. What length boat is he running? Think I’ve decided for my longer, but narrower boat over the shorter, but wider one.

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

That's an 18' rafts. Bigger boats sit higher in the water making it easier to float over shallow rocks.

@sahalemccabe5774 3 жыл бұрын

@@GearGarageTV Thanks!

@598victor 3 жыл бұрын

We launch in two weeks. I’m going to send this to all my crew. This is going to help a bunch. Thanks. Is 14 mile days pushing it?

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

It depends on your crew, boat sizes, loads, experience and a bunch of other factors. It might be hard to make 14 miles on the first day but some other days you may be able to do 20+ miles. It is generally harder to make miles the first 2 days.

@598victor 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks.

@tracyschultze1429 3 жыл бұрын

Astral’s are my sticky foot friend

@brianfrykman7454 Жыл бұрын

This is great video and analysis but the monkey in the room is….why do you have such a huge raft with so much crap on board? It’s not the Colorado. Brilliant analysis of finding the line and working the line under less than ideal circumstances

@scott7476 3 жыл бұрын

Would you still say you can run the middle of velvet at 2.19 ft? Lol

@GearGarageTV 3 жыл бұрын

Yes

@Snowoff 11 ай бұрын

What the heck is that on the right at 18:45?

@GearGarageTV 11 ай бұрын

On the riverbank? I didn't see anything.

@Snowoff 11 ай бұрын

@@GearGarageTV no the turbulence in the river. Looked like a nasty hole or whirlpool.

@de231 2 жыл бұрын

Rubber rapids high water

@GearGarageTV 2 жыл бұрын

Did that this morning

@robertsinclair 2 жыл бұрын

Voiceover is only on one ear :(

@555justinbenjamin 2 жыл бұрын

I'm late finding this video but have a question for everyone. Few years back I ran it at 2ft with a bunch of rogue river boaters who struggled with lower water. I ran my 16 ft maravia as sweep and we worked out a bump signal to bump folks when they were hung up on rocks. How do folks feel about the safety of bumping each other off rocks?