I'm glad we waited for the river to drop some before running this section. There were few eddies to be found and usually on the small side. The river was fast and the amount of strainers and downed wood was worrisome. It was still all good with the upside being not really having to oar or paddle, only steer.

Three person - three boat trip with roughly 800 CFS at Clifton and 1700 CFS at Safford. Dropped throughout the trip but still required your full attention. It was difficult enough just to get a gulp of water, much less take a photo. Mark Foster and Mike Watts were co-runners. Mark has a better trip report than this at his Google photo page. One portion of that TR is "The day's highlight came below the confluence with the San Francisco. Rounding a bend, two channels of the river rejoined and went into a narrow, steep, violent, tree lined chute." That is nicely understated. For the Gila, that was exceptional.

Reliable shuttle services were sorely missed for the Gila Box the last few years. This is our second time using VerGene and all was as expected. No issue with anything. He is located on Airport Road (928-965-1461 Gila Valley Monuments) which is only minutes from the takeout. We left a key and money with him, the truck and trailer were at the takeout at the requested time. Photos by Mike and myself. Mark's are on his Google photos page as noted below.

Mark's trip report and photos can be found at Gila Box Mar 2023. My photos accessed by clicking the bottom left image on this page.