Colo River - Ideal Height for Packrafting?

[bushtucker]

Hi all,

Hope you're enjoying summer.

Planning a Colo River packrafting adventure from Canoe Creek to either Bob Turner's Track or a bit beyond to the next camp site. Wondering what you think are ideal water heights for packrafting?

Thanks,

Daniel

[Bron]

]At least 1metre - any level much higher than that would be dependant on your daring.
Current level is about 0.7m? At that level the water is too low to kayak but great for some water fun -see picture.
[attachment=0]P1080324_1.JPG[/attachment

Best options are - wear wetsuits and wait until Autumn/Winter when then river level is generally higher or watch the weather and pick a time after a few days of sustained wet weather when the level has risen.

regards
Bron

[davidf]

You dont need a wetsuit, even in winter, know how to light a fire if it get really cold. I think 1.5 to 2 metres is best and safest. Apart from the bum scraping at low levels, if the flow rate is up getting pinged is a potential danger. the higher levels give you a safer swim if it goes, invariably, tits up. make sure the chances of flash flood are low.

It is a fantastic and accessible place and a different paddle on different levels. Given a chance I do it as often as I can with levels being a secondary factor.

Learn the maps and ways out.

I have been down there at .65m and 14+m, the gauge only goes to 14. my only level cosideration is to low from bob turners down.

btw if you want a buddy as long as i am free i am happy to tag along, its awesome

[bushtucker]

Hi David and Bron,

Thank you for the feedback and responses. From what I've heard about 1.5m is good for first-timers and in winter I've heard it can get very cold, so a wetsuit would be important.

David -- from the videos I've seen on YouTube, at 2m the river is pretty intense, so at 14m, wow, that would be full flood, bursting banks and dangerous beyond anyone's abilities. We're in the early planning stages at the moment so no dates set.

Thanks again for your responses.

Best,

Daniel

[Bron]

Wow - Ive never seen it at 14m, when was that? The highest Ive seen it is 12m which is 6m over the Upper Colo Rd.
I agree you need a slightly higher level below Bob Turners as there are more sandbanks and less rocks below this point. Its not much fun dragging gear over endless sandbanks.

regards
Bron

[davidf]

14m was a bit of a beginners blunder. and yes we were lucky. Bron it was 4 or 5 years ago. we got out before it went over the top but it got pretty mental.

I would recomend you have safety gear. also knowing waning high water has a lower flow rate that a rising river. This means 2 metres as a river is dropping can be kinder than 1.5 on the rise. Lots of NSW rivers rise and fall quite quickly. keep this in mind. Again know ways out.

I have done the section in 1, 2, and 3 days. my preference is 3. You can scout rapids without time stress, camp at great spots at your will, run sections more than once and explore side creeks. There is a lot to see and do down there, have fun.

Dave

[andrewa]

Sometimes rivers running at high flow are better and easier to raft, but it depends on the river. Most of my exposure to flooded rivers has been in NZ backcountry when fly fishing, and the rivers can come up 4-5' after heavy rain. At high levels, a lot of the rapids flatten out, but, if you've seen the river at low level, it is scary to think about the increased water flow and speed - like, why would you get into a flooded river in a packraft??!!

One year we had planned to packraft the Karamea R in NZ from the Ugly R down to Karamea, but it rained heavily over a few days, and the river turned brown and rose a lot. We just couldn't bring ourselves to raft what had previously been a pleasant clear river, with plenty of stopping points in pools along the way - the spate had made it into a brown superhighway, which, in hindsight would probably have been pretty easy going. But, other rivers can develop nasty stoppers etc with higher water levels, hence my comment of "it depends on the river".

A

[tom_brennan]

Keep in mind that the base level can fluctuate. For example, at the moment it is stable at 0.70m (http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDN60233/IDN6 ... .tbl.shtml). But at other times it has been stable at < 0.30m. So 1.5m at the moment would be 80cm up, but at previous times it would have been 1.2m up. So you need to be keeping an eye on the base river level to see how much it’s risen. The base level seems to change after every big flood - presumably the gauge is in a pool that can change height depending on the flow of sand?

[WalkGirl84]

We have rafted it in winter. It was fresh, I'll admit. And water levels were lower than I would have liked. The bottoming out isn't devastating but does add a lot of time to the trip because walking the colo river is painful with the quicksand. We did hit a snag and puncture the raft towards the end of day 1 but we were able to patch overnight to keep going for day 2. Though the water levels below the big bend made it very difficult so we ended up walking from the bend down to colo meroo and just pulling the packs in the raft.
In the end it was still an awesome trip and we had a blast anyway. The cold was bare able with no permanent damage from where we had to swim and walk in the water. I'm always up for another paddle down the colo also haha!

[ozdave]

Hi Daniel,

I did it last year from Bob Turners to the bridge at 1.2m - the rapids were *so* much fun - https://vimeo.com/151837607

However after the 3 rapids it was a bit of a slow float to the bridge. It was a 38 degree day so we were kind of wilting and due to a broken paddle and cheapo rafts, paddling made no difference, we had to go with the flow. I think 6ish hours of gentle drifting with the current from memory. I even made a cup or tea on my jetboil without stopping!

I'm also keen to go again but aiming for over 1.5m this time to speed things up a bit!

BTW, the reason I popped on here today was to ask whether the Bom river height can really be trusted - http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDN60233/IDN6 ... .tbl.shtml We've hadheaps of rain over the last week or two and it's hardly fluctuated as I've checked it occasionally. It does change by a cm or two so it's not completely broken but I'm a bit sus that it's still at 0.7 more than a (rainy) month after the OP. Anyone know if it's accurate or if other gauges can be used to croos check?

Thanks

Dave

[tom_brennan]

The rain has been fairly coastal, and not particularly widespread. Given how dry it was previously, it's probably not that much of a surprise that the river levels haven't risen yet.

[ozdave]

Ok thanks Tom. Coming week or so should be interesting....

[rcaffin]

the Bom river height can really be trusted
The BoM hts are reasonable. What may be causing confusion is that the Colo catchment is NOT coastal. Heavy rain around Rhylestone is what makes the river go up. Coastal rain - nah.

The idea height for running the river - depends on your thrill coefficient.
Low water: easy.
Somewhat raised: harder.
Up 10 m: not all that difficult as the rocks are now well under water. Runs a bit fast though. If you have lots of experience and know the river ... Yes, I have seen it done at +10 m.

Cheers

[DarrenM]

Ideal....Subjective depending on experience. Up to 2 metres is fine IMO to run a packraft anywhere on the river. I wouldn't be keen above that in the upper sections if you are just after a paddle and not much experience.

You can run it higher of course if you know your gear and the have the ability etc. Sure, high volume flattens some rapids but it doesn't necessarily make them easier to run, or any less dangerous. It can get pretty full on in the gorge.

I know people have just made it out within an hour or so before it went mental as it comes up higher and harder than people expect on occasion. Extremely lucky.

I also have friends that have been choppered out because they grossly underestimated the time it can take in low water. Start small, watch the gauges in the lead up to rain events and become familiar with where rain is actually falling on the radar, how long and how much in the catchment.

I've paddled the lower reaches from Upper Colo bridge down at around 7.5 metres and it moves fast, its wide and lots of trees and debri in the water. I would not like to be in the gorge anywhere above this. The flat pools might be easy but the rapids require experience.

https://vimeo.com/17476713

[bushtucker]

Hi all,

The conditions were finally looking good last Saturday (25 March 2017) and we did the Bob Turners Track to Upper Colo River Bridge. The river gauge was reading 1.8 metres when we started, which made for some fun rapids with the final rapid being quite intense considering the rocks and fast flow. Taking the right line was important. Map available here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=e ... Sx2fAVSyrQ

Thanks for all of your responses and feedback. As always, it was much appreciated.

Daniel

[davidf]

Good work.

At about a metre you can in a day paddle/ portage well above king rapid upstream and back. Saves a car shuffle. 2 days a wollemgambe return trip. Look out for the 50cm bass and yellow frogs.

[bushtucker]

Thanks David.
Also further to my note above, the full trek report, including photos, is now available here: https://getout-adventures.com/2017/03/2 ... river-nsw/