This update on the Gila was provided by Norm Gaume, March 30, 2023:
Dear boaters,
Our group of five boaters in a canoe, three IKs, and a packraft used Robert Southwick's spot-on trip report to help us stay safe as we ran the river. Our run was at approximately 400 cfs. Robert's was at 600 to 1000. See below for my annotations (in italics) to Robert's March 13 report.
The river has changed, although it remains the gorgeous, unique river canyon that it has been over the 40 years that I have traveled down it. I've never seen the river as obstructed by strainers and logs/root balls. Forested cobble bars have been stripped of vegetation, including large trees. Expanded cut banks have undermined mature trees that are now in the river. The riverside trees and benches have piles/walls of flood debris far above the water surface, in places.
We started Sunday afternoon, March 26 and camped below the Alum Canyon logjam strainer Robert reported. Branches have been cut to barely allow lining on the right.
Monday morning we were the first party to encounter the party of five Texans that suffered a fatality at the second portage Robert describes, above the hot spring. Two of the four survivors were standing next to narrow strainer passage, against a bedrock bank on river right. In retrospect, they were in shock. Both were wearing clothing inappropriate to the cold, breezy morning and crappy, cheap water ski vests, with loose straps. My recollection is they had a sea kayak, an IK, a plastic sit-on-top, and a SOAR inflatable. The other two survivors were on river left, without their boats. Both were in blue jeans. A tied-up Coleman canoe was in the current. The canoe had gone under the strainer. It was mostly empty and the remaining contents were in disarray.
The survivors on river right initially responded saying they were okay, not mentioning the fatality. Answers to our questions then revealed the canoe had gone into the river wide large tree with a big root ball on river left, a large and a partially submerged trunk with branches, cut to allow an IK passage, in an eddy at the river right bedrock bank.
A large man, who said, "we got him out," pointing to the root ball and then to a partially clothed body, without a pfd, on the left bank. It was not immediately clear to me, from my IK on river right, that it was a body. The flow had stripped the pfd and upper body clothing. The corpse was not in the CPR position.
The survivors on river right asked that we take them to river left. We couldn't do that safely and pointed to a visible eddiy about a hundred yards downstream on river left. They insisted they didn't need help and that they had "pushed the SOS button" and help was on the way. There was nothing we could do, so we continued downriver. We eddied out to demonstrate and walked back up to tell the survivors on river left of the safe landing there.
I recall an ACA river fatality analysis from years ago. Almost all river paddling fatalities have one or more of these five causes: alcohol, no pfd, hypothermia, equipment/skills totally inadequate, and "Class V things."
If you run the river, please proceed carefully. Be able and ready to stop. Remember to lean onto an obstacle you broach on so you don't flip! Keep that upstream tube or gunnel or edge high! I had to multiple times. Please stop and scout if you have any question regarding your assured clear passage. Please be careful. The Gila is much more difficult than a Class II/III river.
Norm
Thanks to Robert Southwick for this recent NM Gila River Run trip report!
Not sure how to post the following for the club but people running the Gila from Grape Vine down might find it helpful.
The Gila has changed.
We put on the river at about 600 cfs and took off five days later at about 1000 cfs.
The river was fast moving with few eddies.
Shortly after Alum Canyon there is a short but mandatory portage. We scouted and lined on river right inside corner. Branches have been cut.
There is another root ball/strainer complex just below this one that we ran on river left after scouting.
There may be a portage about mile 14 down from the Grape Vine put-in a little way above where there was a hot springs on river left. That spring is totally covered up now. This is a tree all the way across the channel with a small sneak route on the right at our flows. Location of the March 27 fatality.
At about mile 20 ¼ or 0.8 miles below Sapillo Creek there is an area with lots of strainers which should be scouted on river right. We scouted and ran through narrow passages on a bend to the left
A short distance below this on a long straightaway there is a tree across the channel which we snuck by on river right but it should be scouted. Yes
Where Cow Canyon comes in on river right there is a rapid we called Fence or Cable Rapid as there used to be a fence there but now only a cable exists. There is an aluminum canoe standing vertically in the trees on the river right. The run used to be on river right down a steep drop next to the cliff but that has become very shallow and rocky. You should scout this one on the river left. Our boats made it through the right side but got hung up several times. At 400 cfs, this rapid has five channels. The entrance to the old river right run is highly obstructed by boulders. We ran down the leftmost channel and then lined downstream drop into the main river channel after cutting out some wood. We were unable to get from river left to the river right channel to scout it.
Somewhere below the water fall that falls into the river on a right turn there is a tree across the channel that needs to be scouted. At our flows we were able to run it by ducking under some of the branches on the left side. We had to cut out some branches to make it possible for us. We were able to line.
A short distance below this there was another tree across the river which we were able to get by on river left but this should be scouted as well. This is now a mandatory portage. The portage is short. About 40 feet.
Below Turkey Creek and just above the Brock Canyon takeout the is a large root ball in the channel which we ran on the right side of the root ball. This is a nasty place with the water coming off the root ball forcing you into heavy brush on the right, a good place for a flip if you aren’t careful. This is a nasty place! Two of our group portaged. We sawed out some wood out of the current below the drop so that three could run it.
We took out at Brock Canyon, but you need a high clearance vehicle because of several washouts on the road. The road was maintained March 29 by a bulldozer. It is still very rough and requires an hour to get to the pavement.
The takeout below Mogollon Creek had a gate locked preventing access to the river so if you plan on using that takeout you need to check with the forest service. The word is the Wild Upper Gila Box below Brock Canyon to the Mogollon Box takeout is obstructed. The Mogollon Box takeout is now officially open.
Robert Southwick"
Always assess the weather and flows and allow plenty of time to safely paddle.
