Rafting in Alberta

Rafting in #Alberta is at it’s peak in Adventure. West of #Sundre the #RedDeerRiver has settled down from the spring melt rush. We have been operating trips the last few weeks and everyone is having a very good ride. Some have even come out twice!

With the high water warnings in place, both for Alberta and British Columbia, people are wondering about the safety of the Red Deer River.

Since we are rafting in the foothills west of Sundre, this is the only part of the Red Deer River I know. Please heed the warnings about being near any of the rivers elsewhere in this large province.

You can see the comparative pictures, in this blog, over the last few months of the Red Deer River at Coal Camp Ledge. This is the final ledge of the river’s class#3 section of the  upper reaches.

Three weeks ago the melt waters were passing through this section of the river and the river was quite high and dangerous. Below are pictures from June 28 of the same ledge. The river has dropped and the high water volumes have moved east and out into Alberta’s major cities and on into the prairies. This leaves us back to average spring flow rates for the section of the river we are rafting on.

So join us rafting. We can offer you an amazing, safe, river trip that you will thoroughly enjoy and maybe want to come back the next day too!

A weekend of bucking and hanging on

It was the rodeo weekend here in #Sundre. People came from all over #Alberta. On the river there were some wild rides that were lasting more than 8 seconds.

It has been an incredible weekend of white water rafting on the Red Deer River west of Sundre. With all the rain lately the river has risen again. Not too high like a few weeks ago but at a level just below the point where we cut off our trips. Some people got a rafting trip they will never forget.

Few people get lucky enough to catch the water at it’s highest that is runnable. It’s like going skiing and catching the 6 feet of powder. You probably had to travel through some adverse weather but it was exactly that that created the conditions. Don’t let the weather keep you away. You are going to get anyway.

Here is last weeks pictures of the river compared to the previous weekends pictures. It’s come up again but not the raging torrent it had been.

Rafter’s comments

Many people come to #Sundre from Central #Alberta knowing that this is the closest #rafting business to them. Here is a collection of comments off the white boards of what our customers think about Otter Rafting Adventures. So far our trips have covered family outings, stags, girl guides and cooperate team building groups to name a few. Looks like we are making sure everyone is having a good time

Who says a bus ride is boring?

The rapids on the #Reddeerriver are always a great ride. The river west of #sundre offers a full days worth of fun and action.

The bus ride can be quite a lot of fun too. And a group of enthusiastic camp counsellors know how to do just that!

Queen Rules!

Queen Rules!

Rafting on the Red Deer River

It was another great weekend of #rafting near #Sundre. The water is still high – too much FUN. The river is down a bit but some monster waves are being revealed. New rapids have been created everywhere due to the high water a week ago. Get out and enjoy this river while the water is up.

Here is this weeks comparative pictures. June 10 on the left and June 17 on the right. The rapids have gotten larger as the water level drops. You can see the change in the left picture. Sometimes that’s how it works.

The weekend was busy with rafters. There was lots of adventure and excitement on the river. It is good to see so many people having FUN.

River drops temporarily

The high water surge has passed on and is long gone past #Sundre out into the rest of #Alberta. There is plenty of snow in the mountains that is being saved for later. It could come out as a quick flush or be released over the summer.

Here are pictures comparing June 8, a high water day, to June 10 after the river dropped. Fresh debris has been left behind on the shores and new channels carved. The high water has created a new river again. More rapids have been carved out of the river bed on the section of the river we are rafting. We’re a asked “Don’t you get tired of running the same river?”. Well you don’t. The guides are quite excited to explore this new river.

Great Rafting west of #Sundre

Otter Rafting runs whitewater #rafting tours on the Red Deer River, upstream from #Sundre. We are unaffected by the oil spill. Join in the fun!

Red Deer River–High Water

On June 8 after the clouds had parted we headed out to see what the river looked like. It was all chocolate milk  and some large rollers. These are a result of, and therefore downstream of, the frowning hole. These waves are larger than they look!

A High Water Week

The first taste of high water arrived June 7. We were expecting rain but who knew that the rain would be so heavy. And the water arrived in the statistical range of June 7 to June 11th. I didn’t expect it looking at the trends in the two prior weeks but the heavy rain changed the trend. If you are making plans for an outing and it involves the river you have to be ready for what the extreme case is. At Otter Rafting Adventures we are always watching the river for flow rates and rate of change. And another variable – the weather. This was quite interesting to watch as it unfolded during the week.

I have taken two photos of the river for comparison on June 3 and June 8. On June 8th, the river is just past it’s crest and debris has started to be dropped on the edge of the river. The photos on the left are from June 3 compared against June 8 on the right – big changes.

The volume of water has completely overpowered the rapids created by the rock ledge and created a recirculating wave that disrupts the flow. There are no neat wave trains behind this to ride. In a raft this would be a very fast , very dangerous, scary ride with little control. With the water so high it would be difficult to get to shore and land because of the trees at the waters edge that are flooded and the speed you are moving downstream. Not a good place to be. With the high water comes the floating hazards that you can see as well.

The chocolate milk color indicated the volume of materials being pushed downstream by the power of the water. There will be a lot of erosion of banks after this current as well as new gravel bars created and old ones washed away. 

First weekend in June

It has been a weekend on the river again. The snow in the mountains is very slow in melting this year. Usually the river is higher than this on this date. Statistically, the highest flow rates on the Red Deer River are between June 7 to June 11. That is very hard to imagine happening at this time this year at the rate the river is changing now. Still, people are having a good time out on their rafting trip.

Here are some photos comparing the last two weekends. You can see a small change. What is interesting is that as the river flow rate dropped you can see how the standing wave train after the ledge changes shape. The wave has increased in height but shortened up compared to the longer, lower wave at the higher volume. So, sometimes the rapids are rougher as the water volumes are lower like at the beginning and later in the season.

The plants are greening up as the season progresses but the river is not acting like we hope. The forecast for the week is mild with rain. Hopefully that brings it up. Maybe some more interesting photos then! As well, the guides are chomping at the bit for some big water – they know what is coming!