On October 29, Sunday, Zoltan Mraz and myself did a training run on the
Upper Guadalupe River from Waring to FM 474, a distance of 19.1 miles.
The USGS Gauge at Comfort indicated a flowrate of 561 CFS. According to my
river charts this represents a level just above ideal water conditions for
floating, 400 CFS and just under water levels appoaching hazardous
conditions, 700 CFS.
Zoltan was in a Canadian made custom built Wild River Racing kayak and used
a double blade carbon graphite blade paddle and I was in a Wenonah
Advantage
C-1 fitted with a rudder and used a single blade carbon graphite paddle.
The weather prediction was a high of 81 degrees fahrenheit with a low of 68
degrees fahrenheit. The forecast was a 30 percent chance of rain but it
never occurred. The skys were clear to partly cloudy. Occasionally we
experienced some slight head wind, but nothing overly difficult.
The river was sightly muddy from recent rains but other wise clear of any
floating debris. The flowrate was moderately fast and we encountered a
number of tight "S" turns which challenged our skill combined with
approximately 30 Class One rapids in this river segment. Occassionally we
had to veer clear of a large rock or boulder in the river channel.
We paddle essentially non stop for the duration, stopping 3 times to empty
water from Zoltans Kayak as he did not have a spray cover. Total elapsed
paddling time was 3 hours 25 minutes.
For those who have never paddle this segment at this level I would highly
recommend it particularly since it has not been at this enjoyable of a
level
in almost two years. You should be advised to check the gauge at Comfort as
the flowrate was dropping. Please keep in mind that this was a training run
and not a recreational float trip.
An excellent campground to stay at in the immediated area, which allows
immediate access to the Guadalupe River would be Bergheim Campground,
830-336-2235 at the intersection of FM 3160 and Guadalupe River.
Gib Hafernick
210-822-8901
or
Gibguy@Compuserv.com
On October 29, Sunday, Zoltan Mraz and myself did a training run on the
Upper Guadalupe River from Waring to FM 474, a distance of 19.1 miles.
The USGS Gauge at Comfort indicated a flowrate of 561 CFS. According to my
river charts this represents a level just above ideal water conditions for
floating, 400 CFS and just under water levels appoaching hazardous
conditions, 700 CFS.
Zoltan was in a Canadian made custom built Wild River Racing kayak and used
a double blade carbon graphite blade paddle and I was in a Wenonah
Advantage
C-1 fitted with a rudder and used a single blade carbon graphite paddle.
The weather prediction was a high of 81 degrees fahrenheit with a low of 68
degrees fahrenheit. The forecast was a 30 percent chance of rain but it
never occurred. The skys were clear to partly cloudy. Occasionally we
experienced some slight head wind, but nothing overly difficult.
The river was sightly muddy from recent rains but other wise clear of any
floating debris. The flowrate was moderately fast and we encountered a
number of tight "S" turns which challenged our skill combined with
approximately 30 Class One rapids in this river segment. Occassionally we
had to veer clear of a large rock or boulder in the river channel.
We paddle essentially non stop for the duration, stopping 3 times to empty
water from Zoltans Kayak as he did not have a spray cover. Total elapsed
paddling time was 3 hours 25 minutes.
For those who have never paddle this segment at this level I would highly
recommend it particularly since it has not been at this enjoyable of a
level
in almost two years. You should be advised to check the gauge at Comfort as
the flowrate was dropping. Please keep in mind that this was a training run
and not a recreational float trip.
An excellent campground to stay at in the immediated area, which allows
immediate access to the Guadalupe River would be Bergheim Campground,
830-336-2235 at the intersection of FM 3160 and Guadalupe River.
Gib Hafernick
210-822-8901
or
Gibguy@Compuserv.com