GCPBA has received an alert from river runners of a steel cable sticking out from the left side river bank near the old Bat Cave at mile 267. Be very cautious when floating past here. Stay away from the left side!
This is the note GCPBA received from Kyle P.:
“I recently got off of a private trip from Lee’s to Pierce. Our group night floated from Separation Canyon to Pierce Ferry and encountered a fairly significant safety hazard due to the old Tram Cables at mile 267 (bat cave). Previously the Cables weren’t much of a factor since they were mostly buried by the old lake bed sediment. When our group passed them on 17 March, the sediment bank there was completely gone and old (Tapeats?) sandstone was exposed with undercuts at river level. The Cable hangs from the top of this cliff and spans about 40-50 horizontal feet just before entering the water at an angle. During the night float our Flotilla, of 7 boats married together, hit the cliff and pivoted into the cables. We had very little time to react and it came very close to going in between married boats. Luckily we only hit it and were squeezed between the cliff and the cables and no one was hurt or swept off the boats.” GCPBA will contact the GCNP rangers to discuss this.
Photo Credit: Gina Pedroza April 15, 2021