Advice for Rowing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River at Low Water | Ep. 208

[@renofornow]

Zach, that was the best description of the MFS at low-is water I've ever heard. The FS should make every boater watch this as part of their pre-launch talk. So much good, useful info. We launched at 2.1 in July 2017 and watching this vid took me right back there. My palms got sweaty anticipating the rapids to come. We took our time on the top, doing something like 6 mile days, and were grateful that we did. Best quick advise I heard for this run at low water was from a veteran of the MFS. He said, "all you need is good shoes and a good attitude. Bingo! Thanks again for these videos. Soooo much good stuff here. I send folks to your site all the time. SYOTR.

[@lancewest6347]

I have learned so much from this channel. I'm really not sure what I would have done without it. Big thanks from me!

[@GearGarageTV]

That’s really nice to hear

[@michaeldaole674]

Thanks so much. Great footage and commentary. I appreciate the time you put into this bro.

[@berrycrawford5579]

This channel is a great resource. Thanks for doing it.

[@fajawiebe]

Thanks for making and posting this Zack; watching it was a requirement for our group and it was so helpful. We launched at 1.99 and only had a reasonable number of snafus. We also leapfrogged with one of your crews around Tappan and Cove Creek. One your guides gave us the line for Cove Creek, that was quite nice of her. So a big thank you to you and your company.

[@GearGarageTV]

I’m glad to hear it helped. I’m making another video at 1.65 feet that I should be uploading soon.

[@matthowarth4498]

Good video. The best advice I have after 30+ low water Middle Fork's is, if you fall out of the boat on the upper section at low water, just stand up, dust your self off, and get back in the boat.

[@GearGarageTV]

My favorite advice!

[@gregcoughlin4615]

Much appreciated Zack! We put in next week, this is super helpful. Great timing for our crew :)

[@jeddavenport]

Great Video. We went in September 2020 at 1.6 ft. It was definitely challenging but still doable.

[@gregfindley2690]

Good stuff Zach! Thanks for making this video!

[@nikbergill6850]

Well-made with great advice! Thanks for putting this all together

[@returningtoearthtv8836]

Interesting comments from Zach at 12:45. I feel oars are like Feathers or Fins and maybe sometimes become like Mace or Bludgeon. Though I strive for Fin and Feather.

[@thecannabisfarm6679]

Great! I get to try your advice next week. Greatly appreciated!

[@steveadams1604]

This is great Zach!! We're putting in on July 5th. It's terrific to see ahead what conditions we can expect on all of these upper rapids. Thanks!

[@klundin]

Great video! Thank you!

[@seanfraser7738]

Great video as always Zach. I led a 4 boat trip with Barry Kruse in 2019 August 22. 2.1 looks like flood stage compared to our 1.63, but we took our time, deflated our tubes, and had a great time. Thanks for the video!

[@wwrafter]

couple of other items: 1. at the top of the "one boat" rapids, get a zero angle an put your bow on a rock. When it's clear, pivot off and go. 2. Before entering any of the boney rapids, look upstream to make sure there's not a sweep boat coming down.

[@GearGarageTV]

Awesome additions - thank you!

[@agrankin3309]

Great advice for low-water conditions generally. One thing I sometimes struggle with is my downstream oar. I try to focus on keeping my strokes shallow but sometimes in the heat of the moment I go deep and, well, trouble ensues. In fact I almost popped my downstream oar this weekend running the Rio Chama at 500 cfs. I thought I was in the clear pulling off a wall rapid and hit a rock downstream. Do you try to minimize downstream oar use in low water/rocky situations? Would love to see an episode on different oar strokes for different conditions and managing blades for different moves? Thanks for the channel.

[@GearGarageTV]

Yes I am always very careful to avoid using my downstream oar

[@Xxambush_WX]

Hey Zach, I’m going the middle fork on July 13th 2024 have a 14ft Sotar and a family of 4 and a dog,I’m estimating the flow to be around 1,5 ft, so what I was wondering is it isn’t going to be an issue with the rocks and the amount of weight on the boat.

[@GearGarageTV]

Yes it may be an issue with rock and the weight in your boat

[@zacharywinters9413]

Man good video for this year the Southwest is dry as a bone for River running ,I even saw the Dolores was running at like two CFS

[@SaxonHolbrook]

We have a late August permit and are expecting seriously low water levels. < 1.5' ?? We're most certainly looking at flying in to Indian Cr and everyone is trying to reduce gear/weight. How low can one go? Flotilla includes a 14' NRS Otter, 14' Hyside Cat, 12' Sotar, and a Pack Raft.... Thanks in advance

[@delriv5238]

Great stuff

[@598victor]

We launch in two weeks. I’m going to send this to all my crew. This is going to help a bunch. Thanks. Is 14 mile days pushing it?

[@GearGarageTV]

It depends on your crew, boat sizes, loads, experience and a bunch of other factors. It might be hard to make 14 miles on the first day but some other days you may be able to do 20+ miles. It is generally harder to make miles the first 2 days.

[@598victor]

Thanks.

[@Snowoff]

What the heck is that on the right at 18:45?

[@GearGarageTV]

On the riverbank? I didn't see anything.

[@Snowoff]

@@GearGarageTV no the turbulence in the river. Looked like a nasty hole or whirlpool.

[@sahalemccabe5774]

What a great resource! I’m launching on July 13 for my first trip and I’m a little nervous. What length boat is he running? Think I’ve decided for my longer, but narrower boat over the shorter, but wider one.

[@GearGarageTV]

That's an 18' rafts. Bigger boats sit higher in the water making it easier to float over shallow rocks.

[@sahalemccabe5774]

@@GearGarageTV Thanks!

[@andrewwatkins6109]

Great vid

[@tracyschultze1429]

Astral’s are my sticky foot friend

[@brianfrykman7454]

This is great video and analysis but the monkey in the room is….why do you have such a huge raft with so much crap on board? It’s not the Colorado. Brilliant analysis of finding the line and working the line under less than ideal circumstances

[@scott7476]

Would you still say you can run the middle of velvet at 2.19 ft? Lol

[@GearGarageTV]

Yes

[@de231]

Rubber rapids high water

[@GearGarageTV]

Did that this morning

[@robertsinclair]

Voiceover is only on one ear :(

[@555justinbenjamin]

I'm late finding this video but have a question for everyone. Few years back I ran it at 2ft with a bunch of rogue river boaters who struggled with lower water. I ran my 16 ft maravia as sweep and we worked out a bump signal to bump folks when they were hung up on rocks. How do folks feel about the safety of bumping each other off rocks?