August 18, 2006. I seldom paddle South Platte River in summer. There is usually not enough water for paddling below Greeley. The river flow is much better between Brighton and Fort Lupton, but water quality is poor since it is much closer to Denver.

I needed some river practice in my Sisson kayak before the Dotsero to Hanging Lake race, so I went for a short evening paddle to Brighton. At the flow of 300 cfs at Henderon there was plenty of water in the river to paddle. The river looked pretty nice with all late summer overgrown weeds. Unfortunately, the water was, as I was afraid, stinky with a distinct sewage aroma. Nevertheless, I paddled from Brighton’s Veteran Park about 1 mile downstream to a boat chute, played a little bit in waves, and paddled back upstream. Running the chute wasn’t really fun since I was taking a big splash of that stinky water on my face.

Related posts:

• Towing, Paddling and Filming before the 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge
• Another View or How to Photograph the River?
• A Classic Run from Evans to Kuner
• Paddling on Wet Sand – South Platte River in Eastern Colorado near Fort Morgan
  
• Paddling Sisson Nucleus above Evans
  
• Opening the 2004 Winter Paddling Season