paddling with a camera

Union Pacific Railroad trestle across the South Platte River
about 2 miles below highway 60 (near Miliken), Weld County, Colorado

... from Wikipedia:

A trestle is a bridge that consists of a number of short spans, supported by splayed vertical elements and is usually for railroad use. Timber trestles were extensively used in the nineteenth century in mountainous areas and to traverse floodplains adjacent to rivers as approaches to bridges. These were typically constructed using peeled logs preserved with creosote as vertical elements and with bolted and spiked sawn timbers for bracing.

One of my motivations to build CLC Patuxent kayak eight years ago was to paddle fast to some photographic locations accessible by water only. Nowdays, I am paddling even a faster kayak, Thunderbolt-X, though, I am carrying only a compact Pentax Optio W10 camera.

Pictures of this railroad trestle come from a short afternoon paddling trip on March 7, 2007. I launched Thunderbolt on the South Platte at highway 60 near Miliken. I paddled down river about 2.8 miles to the Godfrey Ditch Dam, I entered the ditch and continued with the fast current to the first weir, and turned back. The weather was almost too hot (up to 60 F) for upstream paddling.

I made a longer photo break at the railroad bridge wondering if it still in use. It was too early in the day to photograph and the light was harsh, but I enjoy shooting anyway.

I paddled that stretch of the river first time in February 2004 in my Sea Wind canoe. Of course, I shot pictures of the railroad bridge and the lonely grain elevator.

I paddled there again in Spencer X-treme canoe during my training run from St Vrain to Evans in April 2004, and, again, during South Platte River Marathon in May 2005.

Related posts:

• Paddling under the Rainbow Bridge - Fort Morgan, Colorado
• Kayaking on Saint Vrain and South Platte Rivers near Platteville
• A Mystery Structure at the Confluence of South Platte and Poudre Rivers - Scout Island?
• Google Custom Search Engine for My Paddling Pages
• Flow Data for South Platte River Basin in Northern and Eastern Colorado

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