West rafting ideas?

[Clif]

Just got back from a little drive to the west. First thought.. this is a looong way to drive to do a river. Then starting seeing rivers crossing Montana on I 90. Hmmm

Does the air become a factor on some of these river trips? I am a bit out of shape... getting better by the week thanks, but noticed as we stayed in a ski resort in CO near 8000 feet, my breathing is different. Is this a factor floating any of the rivers out there. Became an issue for my wife, and I felt a serious difference at the top of the Rocky Mt Nat park.. but that was 11 to 12k. Felt much better when we got back down? to 8 or 9k Was wondering if this is noticed on the Green or Yampa river for instance. Got me thinking about the possibles of me getting out there for a trip.

Rafts were mega plentiful in the yellowstone area. Tons being shuttled and many more at houses.

[okieboater]

Air is a problem for us flatlanders in many parts of CO.

I just got back from a week of camping at around 9,000 ft high.

For me it takes a few days to get semi feeling good. I take my time doing chores around camp.

I was camping way above the ARK at Cascade Camp ground.

Beautiful camping.

Doing IK runs on the ARK at a much lower altitude especially a couple runs down river from Salida.

Doing runs above BV for sure if I paddle really hard I feel the lack of Oxygen. But it still works.

Like I said above, if at all possible get there a few days early and just hang out to semi acclimate. If you wake up with headaches, you might have the beginnings of altitude sickness. Only real cure I know is to go down lower and camp or hang out for a while.

If you like to raft, the ARK has tons of good short runs to get used to the area down around and below Salida. The upper part of the ARK has the classic Browns Canyon run which is the standard class 3 maybe a bit of 4 for CO paddling. It is a classic run and belongs on all boater's bucket list.

I have not noticed the altitude much on Yampa or Lodore Runs of the Green and Green thru Split Mt over the years. Neither have my DO cakes had a problem. At Cascade tho, my cakes take special handling to rise up and stay there.

[surfMT]

I know this is a week later, but I cannot resist posting because the rivers in MT, especially off of I-90 are my old stomping grounds! I miss home.

As far as MT goes, once you get into the northwest of state, you're talking about world-class whitewater. The Clark Fork, Blackfoot, Gallitin (Sp?), Flathead, the Wild Mile (Swan), all have awesome, accessible runs. Then of course, right next door in Idaho, you have the Locksaw. And I could go on and on about random little creek, but those are the big ones.

I will give one example, the Alberton Gorge on the Clark Fork river. Past Missoula, right off of I-90. About 12 mile run in total with 15 or 16 major rapids. A bunch of raft companies work it with ROW being the biggest. In the summer it is craziness. Anything that floats is on it even though it's class II through IV. But if you get on early morning, it's great. But the best time, and this goes for a good amount of the rivers if you're looking for big water, is to be there during spring run-off. Empty rivers because of the temps, but the best time of year to charge some big water.

[gma06001-]

Yampa Canyon and Lodore arent much over 5,000 ft in elevation if they are at all. I know at the Jensen Bridge near Vernal the Green River is more like 4,600 feet. Those rivers only avg 12-15 ft per mile in the canyon sections so you'll definitely be fine!

Mitch Allen