Front Range/Summit Rafting?

[Squatch]

Since the Kayak forum gets very little views, I'm gonna ask this here.

My family is coming Boulder in two weeks, and I was wondering what the whitewater rafting situation is within 2 hours of boulder. No one in our family has any rafting experience, but are all decent to very strong swimmers and are all athletic. I'm not sure how the class distinctions go for rivers and what would be appropriate for a rafting trip. I'm looking for something that would be challenging but not beyond the collective ability.

Any ideas/suggestions?

[Alpine Dreams]

If you wanna stay within 2 hours of Boulder, Clear Creek is your best option. Drive a little further and Browns Canyon on the Arkansas would be perfect. You really don't need any experience to go rafting with a good outfitter. Have fun!!!

[summit]

havent done clear creek

browns canyon == FUN

[nick > jesus]

clear creek, is sweet, if this had been two week earlier i would have been able to get you half off, but now that my sister quit her job at clear creek rafting, but don't get me started on he motives for that
avoid raft-masters though, i hear that do a rather half assed job of trainer their guides, at least compared to clear creek rating co.

[Squatch]

Cool. Idaho springs seemed kinda lame, but Browns Canyon looks like a lot of fun. 2 hours was a general guideline, but I can definitely see stretching that a bit to get the goods. The only real guideline is that it has to be a day trip.

[Danno]

Browns Canyon or the Royal Gorge would be my picks.

[Froman]

Definately Browns - and I think you can get there from boulder in exactly two hours...

[FrankZappa]

Better hurry before they turn the fawcett off... or wait for some more monsoon.
Monitor Colo flows here: http://www.dwr.state.co.us/Hydrology/flow_search.asp
at Nathrop, 744 cfs, as of 7/17/06

and Salida, 631 cfs

[Squatch]

i know it's not the season, but unfortunately i don't have a choice. i assume it will still be fun, just not AS fun.

[Danno]

Definately Browns - and I think you can get there from boulder in exactly two hours...

Driving at 90 miles an hour, maybe!

[iskibc]

Buy some tubes and take 'em down Boulder Creek. It's free, you still get the rush of riding whitewater, and you can bring beers along for the ride. Good times.

[Tippster]

Although Idaho Springs might be "lame," the rafting on Clear Creek is fun as hell when the water's right (you're not hanging out in the town anyway, you'll be busy on the water.) It's also better (IMHO) for beginners than the Ark, which can be intimidating to newbs.

Another good spot is the Upper Colorado (NOT Gore Canyon, but keep that in mind for when you're experienced!) around State Bridge and the Eagle River around Minturn, but I don't know who runs those now, and they're beyond your 2 hour limit anyway.

[FiveLarge]

Better hurry before they turn the fawcett off... or wait for some more monsoon.
Monitor Colo flows here: http://www.dwr.state.co.us/Hydrology/flow_search.asp
at Nathrop, 744 cfs, as of 7/17/06

and Salida, 631 cfs

Should be a minimum of 700cfs or so out of Twin Lakes, through mid-August, so shouldn't be a problem.

[FrankZappa]

Should be a minimum of 700cfs or so out of Twin Lakes, through mid-August, so shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, but thats only on an informal "verbal" agreement between multiple intities... don't forget southern Colo (esp. Sangres - which is half of the headwaters of the Ark) had severe drought this year = Basically Zero runoff. Plus, everybody's PO'd at Chaffee County for filing that Recreation water right last year so the "verbal" might fly out the window. Then take a look at the res. levels down on the Ark. I don't know if Pueblo res. will hold for another month - esp. w/ these temps. First in time, First in right - & rec. is at the bottom of the list. Food for thought.

[spindrift]

I've heard super positive stuff about the folks at Buffalo Joe's ( http://www.buffalojoe.com/ ) in Buena Vista. From what I've been told, I'd use them for a raft trip or raft support for a kayak trip without hesitation.

Oh yeah, I hear the "I heart BJs" shirts are way cool...

[FiveLarge]

Yeah, but thats only on an informal "verbal" agreement between multiple intities... don't forget southern Colo (esp. Sangres - which is half of the headwaters of the Ark) had severe drought this year = Basically Zero runoff. Plus, everybody's PO'd at Chaffee County for filing that Recreation water right last year so the "verbal" might fly out the window. Then take a look at the res. levels down on the Ark. I don't know if Pueblo res. will hold for another month - esp. w/ these temps. First in time, First in right - & rec. is at the bottom of the list. Food for thought.

werd...sounds like you know more of the behind the scenes stuff than I do, so I'll defer.

Squatch...maybe, keep an eye on the flows for the Ark: www.mountainbuzz.com/flows.php

Pick a rafting company (I've done Noah's on Brown's, River Runner's, I think, on Royal Gorge, good experiences with both), and call them, and see if they have any "updated" info as to projected releases from twin lakes. Both runs are busy on summer weekends, so maybe try to hit it during the week. Either way, Brown's would probably be a great first outing for your fam.

If that fails, these options are a bit more than 2 hours, but if other ideas dry up, keep an eye on these on the flows page...Upper C was mentioned...Pumphouse run has commercial outfitters on it. It's up Hwy 9 past Green Mountain Res, but not all the way to Kremmling. Class III at most, really. Flows are ok right now, Green Mountain had to shut off most of what it was sending out with Roberts Tunnel boosting back up from Dillon. Likely trend to continue as long as it stays dry on the FR. Green Mountain releases typically pick up later summer...

Failsafe would be something on the Colorado near Glenwood Springs. Shoshone is a real enjoyable, but real short class III run. I think some of the outfitters there do something where they run it at least twice. More mellow option goes from Grizzly Creek to Two Rivers Park in Glenwood. Mostly II type stuff, with a couple of III type waves. It almost always has water because the powerplant has senior water rights...

You can keep an eye on the flows page for all of these...

[Squatch]

Thanks for the good info.

Right now Browns Canyon sounds like the leading choice, and is within our drivable range, barely. I'm hoping the flow rates don't pose a problem. A more specific date when we'd do this is August 6th-10th...maybe cutting it a little close for the Arkansas.

Can anyone recommend a good guiding outfit? The Buffalo Joe's website looks pretty good, and is definitely the kind of thing my family would be interested in, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Edit: Right now the three I'm looking at are Noah's Ark, Buffalo Joe's, and River Runners. I'm curious if peeps have had experience with any of these three and how they compare. Price-wise, they are all pretty much the same.

[FiveLarge]

Can anyone recommend a good guiding outfit?

Check my post above.

[Squatch]

yeah, edited to not suck so much.

anyways, it sounds like we should be good with any of the three recommended. I know it sounds deer valley-ish, but I think the best bet would be the one with the most accomodations...My family is not quite the rad-TGR-mountain crowd.