Black Bridge to Beasley Photos

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Last Leg Recap-Black Bridge to Beasley

Our final paddle portion of the river guide project was perfect in every way.  We simply couldn't have asked for a better day in all aspects.  Once in awhile, everything "clicks" and all the pieces of a puzzle fall together as if by magic.  Yesterday was such a day and it was truly a wonderful end to the field work for this project.

Joshua showed up right on time.  We had the gear loaded and were rolling almost within minutes.  Luckily, we had the right protective material to keep his gleaming Mercedes safe from the slings and arrow of cam buckle rigging.  The paddles fit perfectly in his trunk.  There was a great, safe parking spot for his vehicle a short walk away from the Black Bridge RAP.

We put on at 10:45 and enjoyed a great float down through the heart of Camp Verde.  For most of the stretch between the Black Bridge and the White Bridge, you see very few signs of Camp Verde.  However, there's a half mile stretch where the houses hug up close to the river's edge.  Basically, this stretch is one long lake-like area.  In the Old Days, Capt. Harry King used to give boat rides on this lake.  We saw his giant old pontoon boat beach far up on the river right shoreline. It's now a historical artifact and will probably never be used again anywhere.

My first trip on this stretch was 30 years ago this month--March 1981.  I remember coming to the end of the lake and facing one of the most hideous diversion dams I'd ever seen, then or now.  The amount of jagged rebar, gaping car bodies and rag-tag concrete chunks was simply incredible.  Well, I had avoided this stretch for 30 straight years and I truly feared encountering the Diamond S Diversion dam again yesterday.  Guess what?  Time heals all wounds and the diversion dam was completely and totally different that my mind's memory of it.  First off, the diversion structure (if you can call it that) was huge--much, much larger.  Meanwhile, the river channel had been dramatically altered and nothing there bore any resemblance to what I had remembered.  The width of the diversion is now probably 200 or more yards.  Where the river once flowed is high and dry.  All those car bodies, rebar, and concrete chunks sit like a mini-stonehedge sticking helter-skelter from amid a tangle of vegetation well away from the water on river right.  The entire river now heads off into the Diamond S ditch channel.  The diversion berm is so heavily vegetated I only recognized it from a few remnant concrete chunks sticking out.  We were almost smack dab into the ditch channel when I realized the situation and made a quick U-turn.  We found a small overflow channel across the face of the diversion beam and parked the canoe there while we scouted the abundant obstacles that now comprise the Diamond S diversion.  It was a very difficult scouting hike as there is a true jungle of willows and cottonwoods that have pretty much taken control of the area.  Meanwhile, the high flow floods have deposited vast quantities of debris within this jungle.  So, we gingerly and carefully picked our way across debris piles and threaded a path through the riparian jungle to scout that tiny trickle of flowing water.  Although we could only see perhaps 150 yards, what we saw was clear of strainers and the current did not appears to be overly swift.  I told Josh we would portage far enough to get into the top of this channel below the rough and tumble concrete debris and then "take our chances."  I reasoned that we would be able to stop before being swept into a pin or a strainer situation.  After the portage, we were both a tad bit hesitant to begin paddling.  Luckily, our next obstacle was visible far enough in advance that we were able to beach the canoe before getting pinned.  Previous floods had washed some debris from the diversion down into a mish-mash of rocks arranged in such a way as to be impossible to navigate with a long canoe.  I used my paddle for a brace while wading across the channel to then go downstream and assess what lay below.  I could see some other small channels joining our little flow and reasoned that we were probably within perhaps a half a mile of the White Bridge and "should" be in a strainer-free area.  Meanwhile, I stationed Josh in the middle of our channel while I towed the boat back upstream and then began a "thread the needle" portage/line of our obstacles.  Once we had the canoe safely on river right, we towed it across the rock bar and put back int with the stern rubbing the trunk of a willow tree.  It was one of the tightest re-entry maneuvers of this whole project.  Numerous low hanging branches and punjabi sticks made our run to wider, deeper water pretty exciting.  We both wore out helmets for that portion of the run.  After paddling awhile farther, the White Bridge came into view and we stopped about a quarter mile upstream for a welcome break.

Here, we again tested our our HAM radio and felt very comfortable using it on the river.  It definitely added another level of safety to our trip and we were VERY happy to have it.  Our neighbor and HAM mentor N7NUU monitored the Mingus repeater all day while we were on the river in case something should have happened to us.  THANKS, Gary!

After leaving our break area, we traveled without incident down through the various little channels and chutes below the White Bridge.  We did stop to scout the mini-diversion not far below the White Bridge.  The run there is very straightforward and not problematic.  Choosing the correct channels in this stretch is not a problem if you can understand how to read water and have at least some degree of control over your boat's alignment when you are in the proximity of various trees and brush.  We GPS'd perhaps 20 waypoints during the trip and took photos and made digital voice comments.  There's nothing particularly dangerous on the stretch between the White Bridge and Beasley Flats.  We finished our paddle at 3:15 so we were on the water for 4.5 hours.  The total distance between Black Bridge and Beasley is about 13.5 miles but may calculate out to 13 even as our GPS records all our walking around while we are scouting and so forth.

Now for some subjective comments on this stretch of river.  As noted, we first ran it 30 years ago.  While, we decided never to run the Black Bridge to White Bridge stretch again after that first run, we made the White Bridge to Beasley Flats run the bread and butter of our river program for the next 20 years.  I have no idea how many times I've run that stretch.  It's way over 100 and could be near 200.  I doubt that it is over 200 but it could be.  Let's put it this way--it was a LOT of runs scattered over many, many years including many hundreds of people.  I'm guessing we organized efforts that took perhaps as many as 800 people down this stretch of river.  We took perhaps about 200 on those famous train trips above Clarkdale.  We've traveled the White Bridge to Beasley Flats stretch in all kinds of conditions, seasons and circumstances.  Once we even had to delay on of our trips while police conducted a manhunt along the river's bank.  When the suspect was collared, then we could proceed.  I mention all this background to make a point about what I observed yesterday.

The river in this stretch has made a miraculous turnaround.  It is completely healed from all of the natural and man made havoc and devastation of the 1980's and 1990's.  It's incredible.  I had absolutely no idea that the recovery of this stretch of Verde River could be so stunning and pervasive.  To put this into perspective, you have to realize that at one point, there was absolutely NO riparian vegetation anywhere along the entire floodway for this ten mile stretch of river.  It was completely denuded of ALL vegetation.  Every speck of vegetation had been scoured out and it was nothing but bare gravel.  To see this stretch in its current condition was an awe-inspiring inspiration glimpse of the power of Nature to recover and heal those seemingly mortal wounds.  Meanwhile, the stream channel itself has changed significantly and there are far more riffles than ever before.  Some of the riffled probably ought to be ranked Class One rapids for novice canoers.  They are bouncy and fun and delightful and resemble nothing like the 1990's. There are a few areas where riverside houses are visually very obvious but those areas are now few.  The proliferation of the riparian recovery has screen out much of the former visual flotsam that was once painfully obvious on this stretch of river.  It is now an absolutely delightful stretch of river in every way, shape and form.  It's actually rather hard for me, personally, to believe that this could happen in such a relatively short period of time.  I know that riparian species grow by leaps and bounds every season but still, it's hard to grasp.  My last exposure to this stretch was in late Year 2000 so it's been 11 years since I saw this stretch.  What an incredible turnaround and what a gift this truly is to our community.  Amazing.  Without doubt, this is the headliner day stretch of the Verde that's suitable for everyone.  It shows what a desert river is all about and if people could somehow understand what the river once was, I feel certain that they, too, would be as profoundly amazed about it as I am.

God Bless The Verde River!  Carry on.

Cheers, jp

Click here for the interactive track map from this trip shown at the top of this blog post. 
Below is a screen shot of the waypoint map.  Click here for the full version of this map.

The Last Leg

Today is the day we finish up our on-rover portion of this project.  It's amazing our last trip was so long ago on February 16.  Back then we figured we'd be finished by the end of February and here we are at the end of March.  What happened?  well, it was a recurrent rendition of the same stories: bad weather, wind, high water, and schedules impossible to reconcile.  Today the planets are all aligned again and we have near perfect weather, suitable water (286 cfs) and Josh, Susun and I can end the way we began.  Although there were times I thought about deviating from we three, I wanted this project to be complete from start-to-finish with Josh and Susun.  It's going to be a great memory for Josh as his river resume grows over the years.  It will be made even more special because the project was notified March 25 that it has been allocated $10,000 in grant funding from fed money passed through something called the RAC Committee via the Forest Service.  Temps today will be the high 70's and will probably feel much hotter on the water--probably will feel like mid 80's to 90 out there.  We will take and drink plenty of water.  In hindsight it's a good thing the last leg will be run on a day like this.  The blackhawks are back and we're almost certain to see one of them soaring above our paddle today.  The cottonwoods are leafing out and the river is gradually putting on its trademark mantle of green.  The water isn't as bone chilling cold as its been on our other three trips.  We won't have to worry about hypothermia today!  We will be making our first trip as a new HAM radio operator; KF7OTE.  This allows us to carry a hand held 2-meter transceiver.  It's another level of "peace of mind."  There are cell phone dead spots on the river.  Now, not to worry.  If we have a problem inone of those spots, we simply call for help via the Mingus HAM repeater.  Cool!

Our Flight Plan today calls for a departure from Camp Verde's Black Bridge before 11 am.  Josh will drive to our home to load gear.  We will travel to Camp Verde and then downriver to Beasley Flats.  We'll call Suzi's Shuttle Service with enough time so she can arrive at Beasley when we do.  We all home to be home by 4 pm but no later than 5.  The toughest part of today's trip is the Diamond S Diversion dam.  It's always been problematic since I first saw it 30 years ago this month.  Old car bodies, broken concrete, jagged re-bar, all the usual suspects.  Now, you have to factor in a jungle of willow trees, too.  Once we're past Diamond S, it's pretty smooth sailing.  There;s some strainers on what everyone calls "the day stretch" but, heck, 200 some people survived there during last weekend's canoe race so we suppose we shall be safe as well.  It promises to be a superb finish to a great project.  Cheers, jp

PS--Back in mid-February the river was running about 200 cfs so we have some what we call "Bonus Water" today.  It will seem positively fluffy compared to the boney water we worked earlier this year.

Newton Lane to Black Bridge

We paddled the Newton Lane to Black Bridge on February 15, 2011.  Air temperature was in the mid-60's and water temperature was 48 degrees.  Skies were clear with no wind.

John P. and Josh W. put in the water at 11:20 am and arrived at the take out at 2 pm.  The GPS track log says the trip was 5.85 miles.  Our moving average speed was 3.0 miles per hours and our overall average speed was 2.2 miles per hour.  The GPS indicates we were moving for one hour and 56 minutes and stopped for 44 minutes.

Not far below Newton Lane, we encountered the formidable Verde Ditch Diversion Dam.  We hadn't been to this spot since March 2007.  The diversion's appearance and character had changed.  At first we thought the ditch company was already diverting water as 100% of the river entered the ditch itself with an obvious current flow downstream in the ditch.  Perhaps less than one percent of the river flow was trickling through what is normally considered to be the diversion structure.

We were very concerned and put our shuttle driver on "hold" via cell phone.  We then called Chip N. to confirm his information that the ditch wasn't going to divert the river until February 18 at the earliest.  Chip reassured us about the date.  We walked downstream and realized that some flow was going back into the river via a breach in the river left sidewall of the crude ditch structure.  We assessed this flow and determined it would be sufficient to continue the day's paddle.

The portage was rather difficult but didn't take too long.  The first part of the portage is over rough and jagged concrete remnants.  Here, paddlers must raise their boat and carefully watch their footing amid the jumble of broken concrete pieces.  The second half of the portage is easier because paddlers can drag their canoes without risk of any hull damage.  After taking numerous photos, we put back in the river and proceeded on.

Water returned in greater quantity not far below the first ditch seepage.  About a mile downstream, the remainder of the river flow rejoined the river.  (See commentary.)

The area below the diversion dam is narrow and requires careful navigation.  There are numerous areas of partial channel blockage between the dam and I-17.  We portaged and lined the canoe around these obstacles.  There are also numerous areas of very narrow channels that require some tricky maneuvering.

We ran one substantial riffle where the current was plowing into a strainer on river left.  We scouted from the boat and wore our helmets for that run.  The tree caught John square in the head.  Luckily, the helmet prevented any injury and we did not flip.  More comments about specific obstacles will appear on the GPS waypoint map.

The area where car bodies have been used to stabilize the bank was not an obstacle.  The river has carved a wider channel there and there is no longer any danger of plowing into the jagged metal of the car bodies.

After the river is diverted into the ditch, this becomes a difficult stretch to paddle.  The river is basically dewatered for about  a mile.

The stretch below I-17 is quite nice.  There are two rough shod areas of the river left stream bank.  One is a mass of broken concrete and the other is some telephone pole jacks and rubble.  except for those two spots, the stretch between I-17 and Black Bridge is very natural looking and includes numerous pleasant riffles and chutes.  (See commentary.)

The area directly beneath the interstate bridge presents some challenging twists and turns around the various abutments.  Those new to this area would be wise to scout the abutments for the best run.

There is a nice riffle directly beneath the Black Bridge.  It provides a fine finish to this stretch.
The Black Bridge RAP is now one of the nicer public areas along the river.  It is well maintained and visually attractive.  There is a bedrock ledge riffle directly below the access point.  This would be a good area for people to learn how to paddle a canoe in a variety of water conditions.


Cheers, jp
Here is an album of the photos from the trip.  Click here in case it won't load. (Another map is below.)


Click here for the interactive track map for this trip shown at the top of this blog post.
Below is a screen shot of the waypoint map.  Click here for the full version of this map. 

River conditions

The February 15th water levels are basically at base flow for this time of year.  There has been little change in the past week.  The Clarkdale gage registers 79 cfs and the Cornville gage shows 43.  Record low for Clarkdale on this date was 72 in 1972 and 30 for Oak Creek in 1990.

High temperature is forecast for 68 degrees.  The normal high for this date (at Montezuma Castle) is 65 degrees.  The record high was 79 in 1991.

Water temperature is expected to continue to be in the mid to upper 40-degree range.  It will be partly cloudy with possible light upstream winds.

Trip #3- Newton Lane to either I-17 or Black Bridge

Here is the Flight Plan for today's trip.

Crew:

J. Parsons

J. Wheeler

Shuttle:

B. Wheeler

Primary Goal:  Newton Lane to Camp Verde Black Bridge.

Fall back Goal: Newton Lane to I-17.

Estimated travel time to Black Bridge: 3 hours.

Highest possible time to Black Bridge: 4 hours

Primary challenge of this stretch:  The Verde Ditch Diversion Dam.  It is the largest dam on the Verde River (except for Horseshoe & Bartlett)

It will be a difficult and long portage.

Secondary challenges:  Strong likelihood of channel blockage(s) due to vegetation

Third Challenge:  Car-body bank stabilization areas.

Distances:  The estimated river distance to I-17 is 3 miles.  The estimated distance from I-17 to Black Bridge is 2 miles.

(Estimation made by using the "line" function on Google Maps.  That's a very rough estimating tool.)

Our average paddling speed on the last trip was 3 mph.  Our overall speed (including portages) was 2.2 mph.

I have inflated the estimated travel times for today's trip because of the uncertainty about portages, channel blockages and other potential portages for car-body hazards.

If the portages go quickly and are fewer than expected, our ETA could be considerably earlier than estimated.

Meeting Time:  10:30 am

Meeting Place: Wendy's Parking Lot (south side)  Wendy's is located at I-17 and Hwy 260 on the NW sector of the interchange.

We will scout the "road" to the lower bench.  If it doesn't look good, we will park up on top and carry the gear down to the river.

ETD: 11:15 to 11:30 am

ETA: 2:30-3:30 pm (Black Bridge)

If it is nearing 2:30 pm and we haven't yet crossed I-17, we will pull out at I-17.

We will rig gear in Nissan at take out and return to Wendy's hopefully no later than 4 pm but probably well before that time.

Many Cheers & Happy Trails!  jp

Bignotti-Newton Lane Waypoints

Here are the GPS waypoints that we recorded on this trip.  You can click here for the interactive map.  Each waypoint is named and has a brief description.  We will add some photos to the waypoints soon.