paddling with a camera

We drove with Connie first to Torrington to see the river. The water was loaded with silt and pretty high with all sandbars covered. We proceeded upstream along the river to Fort Laramie Historical Site. I visited Fort Laramie a few years ago during my weekend paddling on the Guernsey Reservoir.

We spent some time at Fort Laramie. Although it was quite early in the morning (before 9) the light was already pretty harsh. I didn't shoot many pictures outside but focused on shooting inside buildings. I got an interesting collection of windows from officer apartments to soldier barracks to jail.

I was considering to start my paddling just at the Fort on Laramie River, but it didn't look too inviting with the flow of 40 cfs and some fences across the river. We returned back to the crossing of the North Platte River where I launched my kayak under the old iron bridge. I started to paddle just before 11 am. Connie returned back to the Fort and, later, she met me at Torrington.

The river was fast. I could paddle well above 7 mph without too much of effort, but at the beginning I was paddling even 9 mph. However, it was getting very hot with temperatures up to 104F (40C). The high wind also started to slow me down.

There were three diversion dams between Fort Laramie and Torrington after 6, 15 and 18 miles. I portaged all dams. It would be possible to run the second dam and, perhaps, the third one under a lower flow. The first two portages were really short, the third one was longer and more complicated by barbed wire fences. During the third portage I had a chance to observe a swimming turkey hen. She was definitely a white water turkey! I finished my paddling after 28 miles at Torrington's Pioneer Park just above another double diversion dam. Several road bridges were crossing the river. They could serve as additional access points or just as landmarks.

This stretch of the North Platte wasn't particularly scenic, just a river flowing across range land in a wide open valley. At few places high cliffs were coming closer to the river. However, the river was nicer than the South Platte River around Greeley and it had one significant advantage: it was flowing!

GPS trip odometer: 28.2 miles, moving time: 3:47h, stopping time: 0.39h, moving average: 7.4 mph, overall average: 6.3 mph, max speed: 10.7 mph

River flow: North Platte below Whalen dam: 1750 cfs, at WY/NE state line: 1500 cfs, Laramie River at Fort Laramie: 40 cfs.

River information:

• more paddling on North Platte River at Mountain Wayfarer
• North Platte River from Treasure Island to Pick Bridge - movie
• North Platte River above Seminoe Reservoir
• The Floater's Guide to Wyoming Rivers: Paddle and Portage
• Wyoming Atlas & Gazetteer
• North Platte River guides by Canoe Colorado:
  Treasure Island-Saratoga and Saratoga-Pick Bridge
• river flow:
  Northgate, CO | Ft Steele/Dugway | Orin | below Glendo |
  Whalen Dam | WY-NE border

Technorati tags: Wyoming North Platte River paddling kayak Fort Steele Seminoe Reservoir