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imzeppy
When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 10:20AM
Does anyone know when they might open the raft rental stand at Curry Village? I heard the river is now open to rafting if you have your own raft. I suspect with the hot weather coming up the river may rise and close again. I will be camping at Upper Pines from July 10-17 and the kids are disappointed the river may be closed. Any information would be appreciated.
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 12:33PM
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imzeppy
I heard the river is now open to rafting if you have your own raft.

Where did you hear that?
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imzeppy
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 12:40PM
A friend called me this morning and told me that. Then today I read this link. There is no date on it but it does say 2011 at the bottom so I'm not sure how current it is.. Just trying to get a read on curretn conditions.

http://www.myyosemite.com/content/yosemite-valley-merced-river-now-open-rafting
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 12:44PM
All pages on that site say 2011 at the bottom. It's their standard footer.
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imzeppy
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 12:49PM
The USGS Gage at Happy Isles Bridge read 5.85 ft as of 11:30 am this morning. I know the level has dropped significantly due to the cool weather. It was at 7.5 just two days ago. It's now heating up so I was just curious as to what eyes in the valley have seen lately.
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mtn man
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 12:55PM
The guage at Sentinel Bridge has to be below 6.5 ft.. The guage here pretty much mirrors the guage at Pohono Bridge which you can bring up on the internet: National Weather Service hydrologic forecast, Merced river, Pohono bridge. It showed 7ft. yesterday but is to rise daily until at least next thurs. We missed rafting too, but it has to come down sometime this month...hopefully.
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 02:50PM
Just so everyone's clear what exactly are the rafting regulations for Yosemite National Park, here is what they say on the Park Service Yosemite Web Site:

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nps.gov/yose

Rafting is permitted on the Merced River between Stoneman Bridge (near Curry Village) and Sentinel Beach Picnic Area between 10 am and 6 pm under the following conditions: the river stage (depth) must read less than 6.5 feet at Sentinel Bridge and the sum of air temperature and water temperature must be more than 100°F. You must have a personal flotation device immediately available for each occupant of the raft.

Rafting is also permitted on the South Fork of the Merced River in the Wawona area.

Some visitors enjoy kayaking the calm waters of Tenaya Lake.
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hotrod4x5
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 01, 2011 10:53PM
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plawrence
Just so everyone's clear what exactly are the rafting regulations for Yosemite National Park, here is what they say on the Park Service Yosemite Web Site:

Quote
nps.gov/yose

Rafting is permitted on the Merced River between Stoneman Bridge (near Curry Village) and Sentinel Beach Picnic Area between 10 am and 6 pm under the following conditions: the river stage (depth) must read less than 6.5 feet at Sentinel Bridge and the sum of air temperature and water temperature must be more than 100°F. You must have a personal flotation device immediately available for each occupant of the raft.

Rafting is also permitted on the South Fork of the Merced River in the Wawona area.

Some visitors enjoy kayaking the calm waters of Tenaya Lake.
Can you take a raft on Tenaya lake?
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 02, 2011 01:49AM
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hotrod4x5
Can you take a raft on Tenaya lake?

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a motor.
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 02, 2011 08:11AM
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eeek
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hotrod4x5
Can you take a raft on Tenaya lake?

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a motor.
And I think you have to be able to carry it to the water from your car, no launching from a trailer using your self designated boat ramp.


Old Dude
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hotrod4x5
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 02, 2011 07:13PM
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mrcondron
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eeek
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hotrod4x5
Can you take a raft on Tenaya lake?

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a motor.
And I think you have to be able to carry it to the water from your car, no launching from a trailer using your self designated boat ramp.
That's no problem, it's a 5 man inflatable Sevylor raft. I figure it must be calm at sunrise, would be a nice time for a float around the lake.
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 03, 2011 09:50AM
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hotrod4x5
Quote
mrcondron
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eeek
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hotrod4x5
Can you take a raft on Tenaya lake?

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a motor.
And I think you have to be able to carry it to the water from your car, no launching from a trailer using your self designated boat ramp.
That's no problem, it's a 5 man inflatable Sevylor raft. I figure it must be calm at sunrise, would be a nice time for a float around the lake.


Just don't drift out the outlet and end up running Pywiack Cascade.
sharkWhite flag



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2011 09:52AM by szalkowski.
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hotrod4x5
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 04, 2011 07:30AM
This late start most likely means the season will last longer at the end than normal.
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Red Lipstick
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 02, 2011 12:03PM
All these years I did not know this...I may try to attempt this, but it seems breezy there, at times...The thought of capsizing in that cold water is a bit scarey.
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hikerchick395
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 02, 2011 09:03AM
With mucho high temps (yes, that is in technical terms smiling smiley ) the water should be rising quite a bit again this holiday weekend and beyond. Hard to believe that there may be no rafting over the 4th.
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marcia
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 03, 2011 12:52PM
Higher temps remain, more snow melt will occur.. Due to Wapama falls incident, NPS will not take chances. River has to be a certain temp and river gauge has to read below a 6.5.
There are two downed trees that will be removed before river opens too..... Rafting should be hopefully opened by the next 2-3 weeks is what I am hearing... I work at the raft stand this summer..
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avatar Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 03, 2011 03:57PM
Thanks for the update!
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mtn man
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 09, 2011 02:12PM
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marcia
Higher temps remain, more snow melt will occur.. Due to Wapama falls incident, NPS will not take chances. River has to be a certain temp and river gauge has to read below a 6.5.
There are two downed trees that will be removed before river opens too..... Rafting should be hopefully opened by the next 2-3 weeks is what I am hearing... I work at the raft stand this summer..

The Hydrologic outlook for this coming week looks pretty good for rafting. What do you hear about rafting from the concessionaire you work for?
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NacciNW
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
July 09, 2011 07:27PM
The Yosemite NP Facebook page says rafting may open in a week and will stay open 6-8 weeks.
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El Cerrito Larry
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
May 11, 2012 12:40PM
Nice to find this string of info. We're heading up for the weekend after next, and I was trying to get some read on the river being open to rafting... ie., should I bother to bring the raft (and life jackets, and pump, and oars, and throwable cushion, and extra long safety line).

From the discussion it looks like the Pohono Bridge gauge (online at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hnx&gage=pohc1) gives a good read of the river height at Sentinel. And it seems that the river will be at or near the 6.5' limit.

Anyone have better input on this?

Larry
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mtn man
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
May 11, 2012 08:26PM
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El Cerrito Larry
Nice to find this string of info. We're heading up for the weekend after next, and I was trying to get some read on the river being open to rafting... ie., should I bother to bring the raft (and life jackets, and pump, and oars, and throwable cushion, and extra long safety line).

From the discussion it looks like the Pohono Bridge gauge (online at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hnx&gage=pohc1) gives a good read of the river height at Sentinel. And it seems that the river will be at or near the 6.5' limit.

Anyone have better input on this?

Larry

They started renting rafts a few weeks ago. The latest number I have for the raft rental stand which will let you know if the river is still open is 209-372-8319.
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mtn man
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
May 11, 2012 08:32PM
Quote
El Cerrito Larry
Nice to find this string of info. We're heading up for the weekend after next, and I was trying to get some read on the river being open to rafting... ie., should I bother to bring the raft (and life jackets, and pump, and oars, and throwable cushion, and extra long safety line).

From the discussion it looks like the Pohono Bridge gauge (online at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hnx&gage=pohc1) gives a good read of the river height at Sentinel. And it seems that the river will be at or near the 6.5' limit.

Anyone have better input on this?

Larry

http://www.myyosemite.com/yosemite-daily-photo-raft-rentals-are-open-yosemite-valley-curry-village-42112
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DanPJ
Re: When will they open the raft rentals at Curry Village?
May 12, 2012 09:04AM
Really nice photo... love the waterfall in the back.
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