The Lower Taylor is a full notch easier in difficulty than it's big brother upstream, but it isn't a completely flat booze cruise either, as there are hundreds and hundreds of sleepers waiting to snag you up as you cruise along. The rapids are quite easy and are almost all found in the upper half, and regardless of everything else, this is a gorgeous canyon and yet another section of the Taylor that is well worth a trip down at some point.
The run starts at Five Mile River Access, which is at the very southern and downstream edge of the small park in the canyon that the Wilder second home property, and Harmel's Resort, both occupy. Right after the river access the canyon walls rise back up and narrow quickly, and after you sweep under the bridge just downstream of Five Mile, the rapids start up quickly.
The first couple of "drops" blend together and I generally call these "Customs". These are fairly easy and straightforward, although you may be surprised at the power of hole in the first drop. If you are overmatched here then you should probably climb out to the highway and abandon the mission, because the river doesn't get much easier. Below this there is another set of drops that I always think to name but never do. There is a move in here that I call "First Left", and it's pretty obvious. This second set of rapids is quite junky. Below this is the biggest single drop of the run, called "Richard Nixon" because it can be quite shifty and try to swindle you. The line down the right is easier, but can be junky, and the left is cleaner but harder to pull off as it involves making a move off of a pillow that is formed by a massive rock- failure to do so will see you wrapped around the rock. |
There is a really brief calm section here, but soon enough the next patch of rapids appears and they come in fairly quick succession. The first is the "The Boof", where there is a perfect pourover in the middle of the flow for your boofaholics. Next is the "Narrows", where a fast section of water leads to a right hand turn, all the while battling through small laterals. Right around the corner from this is "Left or Right", where a large rock in the middle of the river dictates where you go. This rock tends to be a log magnet some years, leading to a mid-river obstacle that you have to go to either side of. The river mellows a bit just below this, sweeping around a large left-hand corner and slowing slightly. There is a fantastic eddy with a fallen log for sitting on just below a halfway-downed tree in this section.
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Below the Safety Eddy, the river swings back to the right and into a long straightaway. This whole section is one long class II rapid, with plenty of manuevering, shallows, sleepers, holes and boulders to avoid. The whole mess is inconsistent and not very defined, but it isn't flatwater either and is a good learning ground for those who are looking to get better at whitewater. We generally call the upper part of this "Scouts Honor", in honor of the trail built by Boy Scout Gary Dolezal at the Gunnison Montain Park across the road. There is a short break and then it gets into what we call "Mountain Park", because of the same park. It should be noted that in this section exists two excellent splat rocks, one of which might be one of the best I have ever laid rubber on.
The indistinct rapids continue around the corner, but in a more separate format. Shortly after a left hand corner is "Acid Drop", the remains of an old irrigation structure. It only affects river left. Beware of the big hole just below this! If you go over it will splash the hell out of you. "Mike and Annie's Rapid" is next, and then you are into a long section called the "Private Property Section". This is basically one long class II rapid with some easy manuevers. There used to be large trees over hanging the river here but they may have moved? There is one more rapid called "Big Eddy" (because of the large obvious eddy on river left), before it slackens and gets flat. This next section sucks. It wraps around a left hand corner, and it gets wide and shallow. It's one of the widest parts of the river, and it is really manky. This is the "Mank Section".
The final hurrah is a last mini-canyon just before Almont. The trees rise up and the river narrows dramatically one more time as a ridge of rock comes down to river level. The first series of waves has a very large and surprisingly strong hole in it that is called "Devil's Hole", or "Post Office Hole" if you want to be boring about it. There is a small rapid ("Devil's Rapid") just below, and then it swings around a right hand corner and into Almont.
You can either take out at Three Rivers Resort, or continue down, run one more class II rapid, and then ferry across the East/now Gunnison River and use the undeveloped access there. As this is a fairly easy stretch, it can be run to quite absurd levels. This is a fun run, and if you can get past the drawback of the Mank Section, then the rest of the run has nice charm and is quite beautiful.
You can either take out at Three Rivers Resort, or continue down, run one more class II rapid, and then ferry across the East/now Gunnison River and use the undeveloped access there. As this is a fairly easy stretch, it can be run to quite absurd levels. This is a fun run, and if you can get past the drawback of the Mank Section, then the rest of the run has nice charm and is quite beautiful.
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.