Make sure you’ve got a medical alert bracelet with your next of kin contact information on it. Typically it takes them a few days to pull corpses out of the bayou and by then you’re all bloated and hard to identify.
Seriously this is idiotic.
The change in elevation across the highest and lowest point in Houston is like 40 ft. Which means all of our rivers are slooow. Hell a lot of them are tidal which means they’re so slow they flow backwards at times.
That river in your video is fast because of a huge drop in elevation. Our rivers get fast because of sheer volume of water. That volume of water will crush your bones, pin you against a snagged tree, and drown you.
This is not hyperbole: if you try this during one of our flash floods you will die.
If you really want to try this go to Colorado.
This is complete hyperbole and a terrible understanding of how forces work. At the surface of the water as long as the kayak is floating the force is solely dependent on Ft/s of the moving water not CFS.
The bayou could be a million feet deep and thousands of feet wide, the force on an object at surface hitting another object or getting pinned is still only due to the water velocity (Ft/s) not the volume. The water velocity in Buffalo bayou at full flood rate is really not fast at all by whitewater standards.
If you’re nowhere near a bridge there’s no risk of pinning on a seal entry maneuver itself. Beyond that the spans of Taylor are massive so completely avoidable as you have plenty of set up time after a seal entry behind Sawyer Lofts. After the Taylor street bridge there is a great eddy to take a pause or to pull out formed by the cement ramp on River right.
Enjoy the gnar OP
1) you’re the one who said volume was a factor, not velocity
>Our rivers get fast because of sheer volume of water. That volume of water will crush your bones, pin you against a snagged tree, and drown you.
2) none of our bayous flow anywhere near 20mph (30ft/sec)! This is simply untrue and uninformed. While White Oak only has depth and CFS readings Buffalo Bayou is very similar in size and flow characteristics. Per the USGS monitoring site Buffalo Bayou maxes out at 6-7ft/s of velocity (4.8mph) that is nowhere near 20mph and any reasonable athlete could hit a concrete wall in a kayak at 5mph.
This appears to be an area that you lack actual realistic information on.
Lol true. I mean i have a drysuit that id probably wear but im gonna contract something. I would try to manage that risk by hitting the run on the tail end of the diurnal of the storm, maybe the risk is decreased when the street/cement/poop/pee has had water flowing over it for a bit longer...
It really doesn't get any cleaner with continued rain. It's not just the stuff washing of the streets, it's when the sanitary sewer gets inundated and starts mixing into the runoff. There's a reason why they tell people not to play in the water when it floods down here. In fact just recently the city got fined over $2B by the EPA because of the sewer overflows.
Oh and BTW, when fire ant mounds get flooded they make rafts with their bodies and just go with the flow. So you have that to contend with as well.
If you really want to go shoot some rapids keep an eye on the water levels of the New Braunfels and Comal rivers. They don't have huge rapids but they're decent for Texas.
Just go to Arkansas or Tennessee man, Houston really isn't the place for this lmao.
If you don't want to drive that far there are fun Class I-III to be found in the Hill Country but really dependent on the rain (Rio Vista in San Marcos probably the only exception). Paddling in Houston is just not it my man. Unless you're into extended flatwater canoe trips, the Neches and San Jacinto nearby are great for that.
You probably won’t die, but you might get hurt or trapped and then a team of fire fighters will have to waste time saving your dumb ass when the city is in an emergency situation. You could have just stayed home and drank Lone Star and ate Pop Tarts, but I guess you got a bug. 🙄
Nothing steep, but when we get one of those 6-10” storms Brays Bayou runs pretty fast. If you survive, you can get a 10-20 mile run until it empties into Buffalo Bayou. However, when it widens past UH, the flow probably becomes a little less thrilling.
Greens Bayou just south of Tidwell near the Brock Disc Golf Course. The pipeline ROW has/had major armor their that constrict flows and make a small drop in the creek from downstream erosion being arrested by the matting. It'd be a short run, but can move.
Plus I'm sure it's all been cleaned up a bit following the 2021 gasoline pipeline leak at the crossing.
A couple of the smaller creeks there move pretty well. You're near their confluences with Buffalo Bayou, so if you get a good rain north of I10 and those drain before Buffalo Bayou rises, the lack of tail water should allow them to flow pretty quick.
Lots of debris possible, and careful of your launch point. None of it will be your video, but might find a few short rapids.
Make sure you’ve got a medical alert bracelet with your next of kin contact information on it. Typically it takes them a few days to pull corpses out of the bayou and by then you’re all bloated and hard to identify. Seriously this is idiotic. The change in elevation across the highest and lowest point in Houston is like 40 ft. Which means all of our rivers are slooow. Hell a lot of them are tidal which means they’re so slow they flow backwards at times. That river in your video is fast because of a huge drop in elevation. Our rivers get fast because of sheer volume of water. That volume of water will crush your bones, pin you against a snagged tree, and drown you. This is not hyperbole: if you try this during one of our flash floods you will die. If you really want to try this go to Colorado.
This is complete hyperbole and a terrible understanding of how forces work. At the surface of the water as long as the kayak is floating the force is solely dependent on Ft/s of the moving water not CFS. The bayou could be a million feet deep and thousands of feet wide, the force on an object at surface hitting another object or getting pinned is still only due to the water velocity (Ft/s) not the volume. The water velocity in Buffalo bayou at full flood rate is really not fast at all by whitewater standards. If you’re nowhere near a bridge there’s no risk of pinning on a seal entry maneuver itself. Beyond that the spans of Taylor are massive so completely avoidable as you have plenty of set up time after a seal entry behind Sawyer Lofts. After the Taylor street bridge there is a great eddy to take a pause or to pull out formed by the cement ramp on River right. Enjoy the gnar OP
A human body traveling at 20mph smashing into a concrete piling is going to break bones. CFS has nothing to do with it. You and OP have fun though
1) you’re the one who said volume was a factor, not velocity >Our rivers get fast because of sheer volume of water. That volume of water will crush your bones, pin you against a snagged tree, and drown you. 2) none of our bayous flow anywhere near 20mph (30ft/sec)! This is simply untrue and uninformed. While White Oak only has depth and CFS readings Buffalo Bayou is very similar in size and flow characteristics. Per the USGS monitoring site Buffalo Bayou maxes out at 6-7ft/s of velocity (4.8mph) that is nowhere near 20mph and any reasonable athlete could hit a concrete wall in a kayak at 5mph. This appears to be an area that you lack actual realistic information on.
It sounds like fun as long as you don't mind paddling around in street runoff and raw sewage.
Lol true. I mean i have a drysuit that id probably wear but im gonna contract something. I would try to manage that risk by hitting the run on the tail end of the diurnal of the storm, maybe the risk is decreased when the street/cement/poop/pee has had water flowing over it for a bit longer...
It really doesn't get any cleaner with continued rain. It's not just the stuff washing of the streets, it's when the sanitary sewer gets inundated and starts mixing into the runoff. There's a reason why they tell people not to play in the water when it floods down here. In fact just recently the city got fined over $2B by the EPA because of the sewer overflows. Oh and BTW, when fire ant mounds get flooded they make rafts with their bodies and just go with the flow. So you have that to contend with as well.
If you really want to go shoot some rapids keep an eye on the water levels of the New Braunfels and Comal rivers. They don't have huge rapids but they're decent for Texas.
>the New Braunfels and Comal rivers The Guadalupe and the a Comal rivers?
Gah, I had a brain fart. Yes the Guadalupe River.
Not that much of a brain fart as they coverage in New Braunfels.
Just go to Arkansas or Tennessee man, Houston really isn't the place for this lmao. If you don't want to drive that far there are fun Class I-III to be found in the Hill Country but really dependent on the rain (Rio Vista in San Marcos probably the only exception). Paddling in Houston is just not it my man. Unless you're into extended flatwater canoe trips, the Neches and San Jacinto nearby are great for that.
You will die. This is not okay. Please don't.
Later, from cancer. We just had a guy on here say he was going to dispose of his used oil and gas combo down the storm drain. He isn't the only one...
This is not true
You probably won’t die, but you might get hurt or trapped and then a team of fire fighters will have to waste time saving your dumb ass when the city is in an emergency situation. You could have just stayed home and drank Lone Star and ate Pop Tarts, but I guess you got a bug. 🙄
Extremely unlikely. This is peak “I’ve never done a real outdoor sport” Houston talk.
I didn’t know putting a rowboat in a ditch during a hurricane was a sport. Anyway, I take it back. Please do it.
Kayaks ain’t rowboats cuh
Nothing steep, but when we get one of those 6-10” storms Brays Bayou runs pretty fast. If you survive, you can get a 10-20 mile run until it empties into Buffalo Bayou. However, when it widens past UH, the flow probably becomes a little less thrilling.
Never heard of it before, maybe I live under a rock, but what does it mean when you say "ive got a bug" ?
I’ve got a passion
Greens Bayou just south of Tidwell near the Brock Disc Golf Course. The pipeline ROW has/had major armor their that constrict flows and make a small drop in the creek from downstream erosion being arrested by the matting. It'd be a short run, but can move. Plus I'm sure it's all been cleaned up a bit following the 2021 gasoline pipeline leak at the crossing. A couple of the smaller creeks there move pretty well. You're near their confluences with Buffalo Bayou, so if you get a good rain north of I10 and those drain before Buffalo Bayou rises, the lack of tail water should allow them to flow pretty quick. Lots of debris possible, and careful of your launch point. None of it will be your video, but might find a few short rapids.
I will definitely check this out, do you have coordinates for the constriction/drop?
29.8433258, -95.2311595