Events:
ASCI Whitewater Showdown is Friday night - more info is at www.youghpaddlingclub.com
WEATHER - Looks like a few lingering showers through Thursday but not enough precipitation to materially affect river levels. Cool on Friday with a warming trend and sunny weather throughout the 3-day weekend. Highs starting in the upper 60’s and finishing in the upper 70’s.
TERMINOLOGY - I often describe something as low, med-low, etc so here is my interpretation.
LOW - Above minimum but normally only by a couple inches, play features may be missing - e.g. Lehigh at 500 cfs, Shenandoah Staircase at 1500 cfs, the Lower Yough at 1.4 ft, Cheat at 1.4 ft
MED-LOW a little room to spare but not quite at the sweet spot e.g Lehigh at 650, Staircase at 2000, the LY at 1.9 ft,Cheat at 1.8 ft
MEDIUM - the level at which the river / rapids are normally described e.g. Lehigh at 750 - 900, Staircase at 2800, LY 2-2.4 ft.,Cheat at 2.5 ft
MED+ - A little extra push, a little faster, a little more power, a couple holes may start getting testy, e.g. Lehigh at 1200, LY at 3 ft., Cheat at 3.2 ft
MED-HIGH - Noticeable extra push at least a partial step up in difficulty multiple features & holes to be avoided (say from a 3 to 3+, maybe 4-) Lehigh at 1800-2000, LY at 4 ft, Cheat at 4 ft
HIGH - Really big and pushy, certainly a level of difficulty higher than normally rated. e.g. Lehigh at 4000+, LY at 5ft+, Cheat at 6 ft+
RELEASES
SAVAGE - Not really a release since the reservoir is full and the water is flowing over the spillway, but currently 502 cfs and it should be a little above the 250 cfs minimum (~300) for Saturday; Sunday is slightly better than 50-50.
N. BR. POTOMAC - There is no release SCHEDULED for this weekend but a) the reservoir is nearly full (about 8 inches from the spillway whereas they like to have 24 inches for flood control purposes) b) there is substantial inflow (1,664 when last measured). ACE has a couple of choices a) dump a lot of water before the weekend b) allow most of the flood control space to be used up (not likely) c) have significant outflow this weekend - but don’t call it a boating release (most likely) My estimate is 800-1000 for the weekend.
UPPER YOUGH - FRIDAY - Will be beefy w/o the release, borderline scary during the release bubble (see below)
ASCI will be open all weekend with summer hours for the first time this year
NATURAL FLOW -
STONEYCREEK CANYON - Ferndale ~4.7, 4.4, and 4.1 Sat, Sun, Mon, - painted gage on rte 601 - 3.0, 2.7, 2.4 (med+, med, med-low)
CASSELMAN - Med, tapering to low by Mon
WILLS - Low on Sat, iffy for Sunday.
LOWER YOUGH - Currently 8.28 ft / 9250 cfs of which 6,340 is coming from the dam. ACE anticipates cutting the flow from the dam back to 2200 cfs on Saturday and the flows from Casselman and Laurel Hill creek will diminish but still provide 1000 or so cfs. Expect low to mid 4’s on Sat tapering to upper 3’s on Monday
TOP YOUGH - Runnable all weekend tapering from med+ on Sat to low on Monday
UPPER YOUGH - Natural flow part tapering from Med+ on Sat to Med-low on Monday
BIG SANDY - Med (~ 6ft) on Sat, tapering to med-low, then low by Monday
TYGART - GORGE - tapering from Med+ on Sat to med-low on Monday
CHEAT - ~ 4ft Sat am, 3.5 ft Sun., and 3.2 ft on Monday
MIDDLE FORK - med-low on Sat, probably low but runnable on Sunday
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