Date: 2009-06-06 1:00pm
Run: South Platte – Union Chutes
Flow: 1530 cfs
Class: III
Temperature: High 70s
Buddies: Just me, and some other noobs
Description: Just a quick trip down to stinky Union Chutes. According to Mountain Buzz, the river is “Crankin” at 1530, so I decided to head down and see how the Hawaii 5-0 wave looked. Overall, it was pretty fun. The initial drop in (the dam) was a decent-sized wall wave all the way across, with about a 3 foot foam pile. It looked good for surfing, but unfortunately, the flow was high enough to wash out the eddies on both sides, so there was no easy way to get back into it. The “Hollywood” hold was pretty tame, I tried getting into it, but it was a little too steep and bouncy for surfing. “Hawaii 5-0″ was probably the best feature today. The big wave forms pretty well at this flow, but it’s not as retentive as it could be. Last year (or a few years ago?) at 2000+ it was awesome. It was fun today, but not as good as the flood of a few years ago. The remaing drops were ok. The last drop (“Sorority Chick?”) before the long flatwater section was actually a good surfing wave, I was able to pull off a few spins.
Carnage: Accidentally got nasty water in my mouth
