North Platte River in Wyoming above Seminoe Reservoir

Thu - April 20, 2006

North Platte River in Wyoming above Seminoe Reservoir

North Platte RIver above Fort Steele, Wyoming

Sunday, April 16, 2006. My first paddling trip to Wyoming this year. Connie, Dax and me drove to Ft Steele/Rochelle Public Access Area just south of I-80 at Ft Steele exit (~150n miles and 2.5 hour of driving from Fort Collins).

Wyoming Fish and Game Department provides several on-line maps allowing one to find river access within the mosaic of public and private lands. I started my paddling from the parking "H" at Ft Stelle/Rochelle Area. There was a cattle fence separating the road from the river there, but it was made visitor friendly with a smooth wire at the bottom.

The trip started with a surprise: I forgot my paddle! I was installing a bulkhead in my Sisson kayak and I didn't pack my Quickblade wing paddle which is usually stored inside the kayak. Fortunately, I had my spare paddle, Epic Wayfarer. It is a great paddle, but I felt somewhat less confident in my Sisson and much slower.

It was windy! I mean Wyoming windy. When driving on I-80 we observed strong SW winds. However, on the meandering river, I got wind from all possible directions with gusts 20-30 mph. It was difficult to paddle in some spots. The current was very strong and quite turbulent with the flow around 3500 cfs at Dugway.

The spring in Wyoming was very early, just first signs of green color in the river landscape. However, we saw a lot of wildlife: geese, ducks. herons, bald eagles, and even three pelicans, several deer herds on the river looking curious and surprised to see me, and several large proghorn herds when driving.

I finished paddling at the Dugway boat ramp. We drove a little further towards the Seminoe Reservoir to check the lower Dugway ramp and the gauging crest.

It was not the best time for photography: a middle of day with very harsh light. Shooting pictures from my tippy kayak was quite challenging. I could only photograph in more quiet places shadowed from the strong wind. The slide show includes snapshots from my paddling as well as the map of the Dugway area.

GPS trip odometer: 19.8 miles, moving time 2:43, stopping 0:27, moving speed 7.2 mph, average speed 6.2 mph, max speed 11.3 mph.

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