The Yampa river in early May runs heavy, cloudy and quiet
 The water was running between 5000 and 6000 cfm's when we launched from the pump station outside of Craig. The official name for the put in site is "South Beach" and it is part of the Colorado State Parks. So you will need to purchase a pass for $5.00 per day, if you don't already have one. We entered the river at 9:00am on Saturday the 6th of May. The river was running to its capacity along the banks and spilling over in some of the lower areas. We passed by several nesting geese, a flock of pelicans and the occasional herd of grazing cattle, along with a host of big game. Traveling along at an average of 4.5 mph for the first 32 miles to camp. There are several excellent campsites along this stretch of river that ends at Duffy Mountain. Most of the river is on BLM property but double check your maps before setting camp. We anchored in at Duffy at about 4:00pm. The camp was an excellent point for some much needed R&R. 
Day number two started at 8:00am after a perfect night of weather and campfire fun. We floated the Yampa, through 12 miles of irrigated pastures loaded with Antelope and Mule Deer. The river is full of unique sandstone formations, cliff walls and farming ingenuity. Some of the waterfowl on this section had their young ones hatched and were very wary of the rafts. The 14 miles from camp to the mouth of Juniper canyon was all class I water just like the previous 32 miles were, but that soon changed. We rounded the third corner of the canyon to hear the roar of falling water. There is a "rock check dam" in the canyon that is a bit much for our inflatables when loaded with camp gear, so we unloaded and portaged about 50ft around it. The bottom section of the dam still holds some good class III rapids that got the blood going. The final stretch of water we navigated was a 4 mile easy glide to the Maybell bridge take out site. What a great float to discover Colorado open country. If you go make sure to call the Irwins of Yampa River Shuttle at (970)276-1599. They can shuttle your vehicle from put in to take out for around $60.00. This will not only save you gas but the headache of finding a ride home. The Yampa was a lot more scenic than I ever thought after spending a few Novembers in the country hunting Deer and Elk. The river is amazing how much it changes from that time of year. We left the river, only seeing three other boats along the entire float. The boats were with the Division of Wildlife and must have been doing some shocking on the river for research. No traffic, public land all around, great weather and fast water made this Yampa float an expedition for a true Colorado outdoor experience. |
