Professor Paddle: Cispus Levels? vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Warehousing & Order Fulfillment vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Warehousing & Order Fulfillment vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Commercial Relocation vanlinelogistics.com Warehousing & Order Fulfillment
Professor Paddle Professor Paddle
  RegisterRegister  LoginLogin
Home Calendar Forum FSBO Gallery PPages Reviews Rivers Links
  Active TopicsActive Topics  Display List of Forum MembersMemberlist  Search The ForumSearch
Whitewater Forum
 Professor Paddle : General : Whitewater Forum
Message Icon Topic: Cispus Levels? Post Reply Post New Topic
Author Message
tiziak
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2008
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1226
  Quote tiziak Replybullet Topic: Cispus Levels?
    Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 5:50am
I know that theres a huge difference in levels on the Upper Upper Cispus depending on what time of year it is and whether the sourse is snow or rain.
 
Anybody have ideas on "fun-factor" of the UU Cispus this time of year when it's over 1000cfs? Pretty burly or not that bad?
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Daniel Patrinellis
360.434.4616
IP IP Logged Send Private Message
water wacko
Master Poster
Master Poster
Avatar
Team Jackson

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2137
  Quote water wacko Replybullet Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 8:57am
Like any higher elevation run, it depends on the freezing level and how much snow is on the ground. If there's snow that wasn't put there overnight, the level is likely to be much lower than off snowmelt. Freezing level is pretty low now.
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~Howard Thurman
IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
BIGWATER
McNasty
McNasty
Avatar

Joined: 04 Mar 2011
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 358
  Quote BIGWATER Replybullet Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 10:56am
i would imagin you cant even drive up there because of snow on the road  right now ... but thats just a guess... was 6 inches of snow at the Tilton put in last weekend and the UU Cispus is much higher elevation
IP IP Logged Send Private Message
Travisimo
Big Boofer
Big Boofer
Avatar

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 598
  Quote Travisimo Replybullet Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 11:08am
I'll say this, I've never been as scared as I was standing at the lip of Behemoth when the gauge broke many moons ago.  It was reading wrong.

We knew it was gonna be high, and we all thought the whole rest of the run cleaned up and was great.  Maybe even better.

Too bad you have to run Behemoth when you see it. 

Nobody got caught in the hole, but it looked worse than almost any hole I've ever seen...  I wish I could tell you how high it was, but the gauge was re-done after that and my memory of events from 8ish years ago is not so great.
H2O please
IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
Travisimo
Big Boofer
Big Boofer
Avatar

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 598
  Quote Travisimo Replybullet Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 11:23am
Oh wow, I had forgotten that Ben did a writeup of that trip!  Here are pictures...  To be honest it doesn't look as scary from below at Behemoth!
http://cascadeclassics.org/Kayaking/Cispus/UpperUpper/Winter03/High/UpperUpperCispus_Winter03.htm
I think a lot of the paddlers here would love it at high water.  I wish we had video of Behemoth though.  That punchbowl moves a LOT faster and the hole looks a LOT more retentive.

You can kind of see how filled in Island drop is as well...

As I said before though, the rest of the run seemed easier.  Hardly any of the usual pin spots are there.
H2O please
IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
WA-Boater
Big Boofer
Big Boofer
Avatar

Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 505
  Quote WA-Boater Replybullet Posted: 01 Mar 2012 at 10:07pm
The guage is hard to interpret in the winter. And unreliable. The PDX crew gets out there often, if they have been and can give you a "feel" for the cfs reading then you are probably good to go. A true 1000 in there is big. A cold winter 1000 is sometimes low. Partially freezing level, partially a bad gauge placement.
Also, Mike Nash, his brother Andy and I took a March trip out there last year. We hiked 6 miles in the snow just to get to Isalnd Drop then had to hike 2 miles from the take out downstream back to the van. Lame.
 
Darren

IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
Fish
Big Boofer
Big Boofer
Avatar

Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 713
  Quote Fish Replybullet Posted: 02 Mar 2012 at 9:16am
The last time we all went out there this winter i think we had around 750 cfs on the guage.  Snow level was around 3000 feet,  and we had what felt like 500 cfs in the summer.   A low/med flow.
 
So, i would guess that 1000 cfs  with a lower snow level,  would feel like 650-700+  a healthy medium.
 
This is totally a guess :)
IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
wallyworld
Paddler
Paddler
Avatar

Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 70
  Quote wallyworld Replybullet Posted: 02 Mar 2012 at 1:49pm
The road is usually plowed to the put-in. I think there's a snow park up there.
let's go get it
IP IP Logged Send Private Message Send Private Message
Post Reply Post New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum