High Water Mark

By Laura Paskus

April is the cruelest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot, “breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.”

I’m not sure I agree with the good man — he definitely didn’t spend enough time in the Rockies — but I’m sure ready to sniff some lilacs myself.

Springtime, in fact, offers whatever your happy little heart desires. You can still try and ski the high country if you’re stubborn, but you can also head to the deserts — which aren’t too soul-scorchingly hot yet — pull out bikes and skateboards, climb big rocks, go searching for crocuses or even try and fly a kite.

And of course, as you’ll see from the focus of this month’s column, the best thing about spring, whether you’re a fish, farmer, rafter or lollygagger, is runoff.

1. Wild for flowers, flows and eventually, dry trails
“I’m really excited to see our river and lake levels rise for once, instead of dip,” says Flagstaff, Arizona’s Brian Treacy, owner and lead guide at Four Seasons Guides. All that melting snow will mean not only a great wildflower season, he says, but also a longer kayaking season on the Verde River. It won’t be that much longer, he says, but: “We won’t all feel the need to go the same weekend.”

For his part, North Rim Ranch manager John Heyneman—a trail-running aficionado—is looking forward to the snow melting, the mud drying and the single-track trails around the area becoming passable again.

Verde River, below Tangle Creek: Feb-May forecast is for 180 percent of normal.

2. Sweet smell of rodeos and the Rio Grande
“The sweet smell in the air!” That’s what Wendy Walter at Mountain Massage in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, loves best about April. She’s ready to start spending more time outdoors hiking with her dogs and trail-riding with her horses.

Walter has a slew of favorite trails along the east side of the Sandia Mountains and is also training her buckskin to barrel race—spring marks the beginning of rodeo season, too.

Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge: March-July forecast is for 172 percent of normal.

3. Great old broad knows where she’s headed
“River running, pretty much anywhere in the West,” is what Ronni Egan, executive director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness is ready to do this spring. It even looks like there will be enough water this spring in the Dolores River, Colorado, she says—“a rare occasion, now that it’s been damned below Dolores.”

“I was just down in New Mexico and walking around on the sand sure felt good,” she adds.

That means trips to Utah are a definite must for April: “Cedar Mesa, Recapture Wash, pretty much anywhere low-altitude in southern Utah,” she says. “Oh, and Butler Wash!”

Looking to join the Great Old Broads for official adventures this spring? Check out www.greatoldbroads.org.

Dolores River at Dolores: April-July forecast is for 145 percent of normal.

4. April in Big Sky Country; enjoying life outside
“It was a long, good winter, and I got a lot of exercise in — I did a lot of cross country skiing – but it’s been a long winter,” says Margaret LeKander, owner of Kalispell, Montana’s, Wheaton’s Bicycles. She’s looking forward to the bicycling season starting up again, and “just getting outside and being outside and enjoying life outside.”

Yellowstone River near Livingston: April-Sept. forecast is for 111 percent of normal.

5. Waiting for summer to begin in Yellowstone
“April is a down month for me,” says Yellowstone, Wyoming, Outfitter Jett Hitt. “My season starts May 20 and doesn’t really start going until June 15.” Instead, he spends much of this month gearing up for the summer season — getting the horses together, the food ready for pack trips and moving on over to the summer residence. “It’s a busy month for me,” says Hitt, who not only leads horseback trips, but is also a classical conductor and a photographer.

Big Horn River near Kane: April-Sept. forecast is for 80 percent of normal.

6. Riding the runoff in Idaho’s miniature Grand Canyon
“This year is especially exciting because we have a snow pack that’s going to give us some water to run the river,” says Fran Tonsmeire, owner of the Lemhi-based Wilderness River Outfitters.

The Owyhee River is a guide favorite, she says. “It’s such remote country that you can go almost the entire trip without seeing another soul,” she says. “And the scenery is awesome: sheer-walled cliffs coming down to the river.”

She’s been guiding for 33 years, though nowadays she’s often trapped in the office. But whenever she can, she heads to the main stem of the Salmon in Idaho. “It’s kind of a mellow river, and I like to just get out there and be in the wilderness,” she says. “It has Class II whitewater, which is lots of fun, the camping is great, and the weather is usually pretty nice — it’s probably the warmest river trip in Idaho.”

Salmon River at Salmon: Jan.-Sept. forecast is for 102 percent of normal.

7. Westwater triumvirate: Eagles, canyons, rapids
“Our April starts kind of slow,” says Brenda Milligan, operations manager at Moab, Utah-based Sheri Griffith Expeditions, “but mostly what we look forward to is Westwater Canyon.” (That stretch of the Colorado River runs from west of Grand Junction, Colorado toward Moab.) Putting in near Loma, for a three-day trip, she says, starts the trip off in a mellow way and affords great views of bald eagles. “Once you get into Westwater Canyon, you can hike around a bit more — there’s a lot of cool stuff to see,” she says. “And the last day is a big rapid day, primarily Class II through IV rapids.” April days are usually fairly warm, though the nights can be cool: “It’s good the rapids are on the last day, so if you get cold, you do get to go back home.”

Another favorite is the San Juan River. The March-July forecast at Bluff is for 168 percent of normal.

 

*Forecast dates are as of March 1, 2008, and are from the National Weather Service’s Western Water Supply Forecast on-line at http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/westernwater/