The gauge said 3.4 feet and rising. The paddler who ran it that morning said the wood had moved into the main line. Only one of those mattered.

Numbers lie

A stage reading tells you how high the water is. It doesn't tell you that a log shifted into the tongue overnight, or that the big hole is a different shape this week.

Beta is truth

Fresh paddler reports are the whole reason current exists — people who ran it yesterday, telling you what the gauge can't. Read the number, then read the river.