Usage

The Verde River is now surprisingly little used.  Frankly, I couldn't believe how few people there were on the river.  I was shocked.

Here we have a free-flowing river that doesn't require a fee or a mandatory permit.  It's over 2,000 cfs in near perfect weather.  The desert is coming alive with flowers--the scenery and wildlife are spectacular.  The rapids are in rare form.  But where are the people?  Amazing but true--there were essentially no people on the Verde River during our trip.

Dex and I speculated there would be 100 people on the river this weekend.  Gee, we sure would have lost a bet on that foolish prognostication.  We counted only 17 people on the river on Saturday.  On Sunday, we saw only people we had already counted the day before and NO other boaters coming down to Childs!  Nope, nary a soul.  So, that's it--17 people besides ourselves.

Rumor has it all of the Flagstaff and Prescott boating community was on the Salt day stretch.  Go figure.  By the time you pay for gas to the Salt and pay the highway robbery Apache fees, you could easily hire out two or three shuttle drivers!  Plus, your total time away from home would be a lot less and your total time on the river would be a lot greater than the Salt.  Go figure.  Meanwhile, as far as I cal tell, the Verde was running BIGGER than the Salt that particular weekend!

As near as we can speculate, usage is down because of "buzz" about the vegetation and the Childs road.  We discuss these two factors below.  They are legitimate factors and could well be limiting usage forever from this point forward.  There's absolutely no doubt that the vegetation is a genuine concern.  Likewise, if you don't have the right vehicle(s), you could have a world of hurt on that Childs Road.

In some ways this lack of usage is sad, in other ways, it's great.  For those who have the equipment, skills, and experience, the Verde now becomes a rare adventure.  Here's a great chance to test your gear and mettle while seeing hardly any people.  How good is that?  Very good!  Also, from a biological point of view, this means the wildlife basically outnumbers the people!  We had some great river otter sightings--my best ever--got up close and personal with a Mexican Blackhawk and saw eagles in the sky and on the nest.  The Verde is becoming that "wild kingdom" experience we always dreamed it could be back when "riparian restoration" was the buzz phrase for river fans and managers.