Gordon River levels

[Bill P]

Next month, we are planning to walk the Spires Ra to Innes High Rocky and then to the Denison river. From there paddle to the Gordon river to get picked up at Heritage landing. Concerned specifically about the Hydro Tasmania releases into the Gordon which may impact our paddling. See latest graph. Wondering if anyone with experience of this section of river could advise their thoughts, please.

[Jon MS]

I would be MUCH more concerned with high water in Marriotts Gorge and Denison Gorge. Especially the grade 7 rapid (ie straight to heaven...) in Denison Gorge (which has claimed a life).

The Gordon, even while running at max power station flow is ok if you stay in the middle of the river. Sunshine Falls Gorge is a hoot. A couple of km of wave-trains, just stay out of the holes at the edge of the river. If the Gordon is being turned on and off, make sure your campsite is well above water level because if you camp on a nice sandy bank and then they turn the river on...

As an aside, are you the person I met whilst walking at Wilpena Pound back in August who was planning to raft the Denison R?

[Mark_O]

Hi Bill P. There have been packrafting groups that have found such levels on the Gordon too hard for their experience and skills. It can be BIG volume and a capsize can and has resulted in swims of more than a kilometre in some intimidating water conditions. I know of one pair of packrafters who both had a couple of scary swims and they lost one of their paddles and as a result they panicked and set off their PLB and got air-lifted out. This is absolutely avoidable with a bit of forethought and training. First off, as you can see from the graph there are times when it can be super high and other times it will be quite low. You might need to sit and wait a few hours to half a day at times in order to avoid the big flows in certain locations like Sunshine Gorge. That said, skilled experienced packrafters who have had some experience in high flows should be fine. As a last resort you can lash two packrafts side by side and paddle with two 'half paddles' (ie a 2 oe 4-piece paddle split into 2) to deal with certain emergency situations. Doing so significantly increases stability and it does not actually impede your speed that much. We teach this technique on packrafting courses for dealing with a lost paddle, an injured or significantly scared paddler, etc. You definitely want to make sure that all party members are very comfortable swimming in fast flowing high-volume whitewater situations and that everyone has a decent specific whitewater PFD. If you don't have the skills currently then take the time to learn them before the trip or re-think your timing. Paddle Tasmania runs various packraft specific courses throughout the year. There are lots of groups that don't experience such big flows on the Gordon and consequently they have done it easily but Hydro can and do release high volume flows at times.

[Bill P]

Thanks Jon and Mark, that’s exactly the type of well considered and relevant information I was seeking. We will take your comments on board and plan accordingly. Yes Jon that was me at Wilpena, I hope your Simpson trip went well. I met you Mark about 8 years ago while you were chasing a group of enthusiastic students up the Eliza Plateau. Thanks again!

[Bill P]

UPDATE. All went well. The Gordon was thankfully benign . Apparently there was some turbine maintenance occurring which limited the outfall. Had to wait out a flood in Marriott's gorge on the Denison for a few days and had some trouble getting off White Pyramid in poor weather. Great trip. Five stars.