Self Support Kayak down the Grand Canyon

Nothing like a trip down the Grand Canyon in a kayak! Ten days and 225 miles on the river with a group of friends for great kayaking, hiking and camping! Mix in a well timed High Flow Experiment (HFE) release of 36,000cfs and now you get a premier big water trip!

Lees Ferry Put-in

Here is the release from Glen Canyon Dam:

The powerplant can release a maximum of 21,000cfs, so they ramp up to that and then begin opening one overflow tube per hour until they get to 36,000cfs. The entire ramp up process happens in about six hours. We were on night 5 about 90 miles into the trip when the high water hit us. When we got to camp in the evening, the river was running 6k-9k cfs, when we woke in the morning, the river was flowing at the full capacity they were releasing and then some.

High flow taking over the Crystal Camp. Whitewater for breakfast!

What better place to have high water hit us than Crystal? We were impressed with the amount the river rose on the shoreline that night. We heard a rumor it would rise 4ft, try more like 8-10ft (I think Cruise said 20). The water took over camp, there was some 5am boat and tent moving that had to take place.

This was the possible release plan:

And this is what actually happened:

Here is a short video from Lava. The first clip is Cruise gutting it down the middle. He is so small out there!

Featured image photo by Matt Gerhardt.