Launching my Thunderbolt kayak on the Lonetree Reservoir near Loveland – tall grass and high water. It was a pretty wet spring in Colorado.

This time I was carrying my standard “self portrait” DSLR camera gear: Canon 40D, EFs 17-55mm zoom lens, Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and TC80N3 Timer Remote Control. Of course, Pentax Optio W30 waterproof camera is always attached to my life jacket.

Lonetree Reservoir southwest of Loveland belongs to my favorite paddling waters in northern Colorado. You can always enjoy a nice view of Rocky Mountains Front Range. It is a great spot to shoot sunsets over mountains.

However, in springtime when reservoir is full it’s time to explore some hidden treasures – submerged cottonwood forest in different lake corners. Please note that the heron rookery is a restricted area.

During last few weeks I paddled different boats on the Lonetree Reservoir: Surfrigger (outrigger canoe), Thunderbolt-X kayak, and Sea Wind Canoe. I cannot take Surgrigger into tight passages between cottonwood trees. There is a lot of floating debris after recent heavy rains. So, Sea Wind is the best choice for my exploration.

7 years ago I was training here with Spencer X-treme canoe for my first Texas Water Safari. I couldn’t find any other place in my vicinity to practice portaging over fallen trees and log jams.

At this high water level you can even escape the lake and explore some irrigation channels. You can easily find the inlet of a supporting channel to the lake. It is a little water cascade over headgates when the lake is low, but at this time it was the same water level in the reservoir and channel. However, there is also another entry to that channel hidden in woods which I discovered this year. No portage.