Dark to Cataract to Hite

[neiloro]

It was wind-produced white water. Well brown. Pretty large waves though. They probably got more than 2 feet high at times. @neiloro was brave and took quite a bit of video and photos with his phone in the midst of it. Hopefully he'll post some of that.

Here's some low quality phone-shot video.

Whitecaps on the waves. Unfortunately there's no scale, but they are about 1.5-2 foot high.

And us, struggling against the wind, making almost no progress:

 

[Dave]

That video is giving me ptsd.

 

[neiloro]

Yeah, but Dark Canyon was worth it!
BTW, added a 2nd video to that post above.

 

[Nick]

I remember that second spot vividly. It got insane for a few times through there! I don't think anyone who sees those will think much of it, but that first one definitely brings out the PTSD. Important to keep in mind that that section of river is usually totally flat.

 

[Glasterpiece]

Exciting report. Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, but at what point did the river end and the lake begin? I was there last week and it appears that the lake is well into Narrow Canyon now.

 

[Nick]

Exciting report. Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, but at what point did the river end and the lake begin? I was there last week and it appears that the lake is well into Narrow Canyon now.

The river kept on going down to around White Canyon that day. We were going to float it to Farley with the GCI Rendezvous but the wind changed our plans so we took out at Hite. I saw a pic from yesterday that looked like the reservoir was probably down to below the bridge now. Getting closer to the raft take out every day.

 

[Mikjik86]

Nick, you have inspired me to plan a similar trip next Spring. I would like to figure out a route to add a day or two more of backpacking.

What a great report and fantastic pictures!

 

[Nick]

Nick, you have inspired me to plan a similar trip next Spring. I would like to figure out a route to add a day or two more of backpacking.

What a great report and fantastic pictures!

There are a lot of other route options in the area for a longer trip but you could easily add another 2-3 days just spending more time in Dark and exploring side canyons. Base camping near the bottom of the Sundance the first night and spending a whole day exploring up canyon would be cool. And then Young's is right there close as well. We were really bummed not to slow down and spend more time in the lower section as well. The only reason we moved out so fast was to get to the GCI Rendezvous.