Went for a cruise on the cowie on Saturday. The roads into vimy, sandy pool and stoltz are clear. From the places you can see the river it looks free of jams BUT there are many areas you can't see from the road so don't take my word that there are no jams. I would assume there are problems and walk all the river you are going to drift prior to drifting. No need for any surprises.
The pullout at Sandy pool has a tree overhanging out to about 2/3 of the way across the river about 15 ft above the pullout making the pullout a very tricky proposition. You would need to hug the outer portion of the tree as close as possible and then row like hell to get out of the fast water to make it into the pullout. At this water level I don't think most guys could actually make it into the pullout before being swept out the back end of Sandy pool. I would recommend scouting out the pullout prior to any drift you do just to get a game plan as to how you will get out safely. This situation could be easily fixed with a chain saw and now would be a good time as there is enough flow to wash the trees away without them getting hung up and totally blocking the launch ( I don't own a decent sized saw needed for the job).
Also there is a new gate at Vimy at the rivers edge potentially blocking access to the pullout. Yesterday there was no lock on the gate so you could pull out. It looks like the lock could end up being the same as Sandy pool as the signage is the same.
The river was gray in colour with about a foot of visibility.
The pullout at Sandy pool has a tree overhanging out to about 2/3 of the way across the river about 15 ft above the pullout making the pullout a very tricky proposition. You would need to hug the outer portion of the tree as close as possible and then row like hell to get out of the fast water to make it into the pullout. At this water level I don't think most guys could actually make it into the pullout before being swept out the back end of Sandy pool. I would recommend scouting out the pullout prior to any drift you do just to get a game plan as to how you will get out safely. This situation could be easily fixed with a chain saw and now would be a good time as there is enough flow to wash the trees away without them getting hung up and totally blocking the launch ( I don't own a decent sized saw needed for the job).
Also there is a new gate at Vimy at the rivers edge potentially blocking access to the pullout. Yesterday there was no lock on the gate so you could pull out. It looks like the lock could end up being the same as Sandy pool as the signage is the same.
The river was gray in colour with about a foot of visibility.
