Horsetooth Reservoir is very busy as usual in the middle of summer and boating season. Fortunately, it is possible at least to avoid using boat ramps to launch a kayak or canoe. I am using a newly reopened Sunrise Area. You can now drive down to a swimming beach and park close to water.

Numerous fishing reservoir provide opportunity for a more calm paddling. I often paddle Boedecker and Lonetree Reservoir southwest from Loveland (below Carter Lake). Pictures below were taken on two recent trips to the Lonetree Reservoir. Water level is still high. There is a lot of water vegetation in coves, but not yet too dense to stop paddling. I usually like to squeeze around trees and log jams to explore the supplying ditch all the way to the main road. The bridge has a pretty low clearance at this water level.

Related posts:
Fisheye Lens Perspective for Paddling?
Springtime Paddling on the Horsetooth Reservoir
Icy Horsetooth Reservoir – Opening Lake Paddling Season
Paddling Horsetooth Reservoir in Winter Scenery
Early Morning Shot of the Horsetooth Reservoir and Paddling Links
160 Lakes and Reservoirs of Colorado
Horsetooth Reservoir map
WSBS Thunderbolt-X Kayak on the Lonetree Reservoir
Paddling through Forest and Irrigation Ditches

Medicine Bow Arm of Seminoe Reservoir
Wyoming, June 11-12, 2010
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North Platte River from Bennett Peak to Seminoe Reservoir
Wyoming, May 22-23, 2010
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Texas Water Safari
260 mile nonstop race from San Marcos to Seadrift, 2001-2005
read more

Dismal River from Mullen to Thedford
Nebraska Sandhills, September 29, 2010
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Colorado River Race
10 miles in Glenwood Canyon from Dotsero to Hanging Lake area, 2002-2007
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Did …

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.

I am trying to return back to my older articles through “Paddling Photography a Year Ago” series. However, I am running this blog for over 5 years. So, today, I offer a look at selected April posts over the recent 4 years.

A year ago I started to shoot hot air balloons. We went to Hot Air Balloon Harvest at Greeley in the end of October, then I drove to southern Colorado for another balloon festival at Rocky Ford. I took for that my Thunderbolt-x kayak and tried to explore a very shallow John Martin Reservoir.

My another paddling trip further from home was Lake Dillon with Sea Wind canoe: cold and windy, but with some interesting light for photography. Horses below were shot from Surfrigger canoe when paddling my local Beaver Pond near Fort Collins.

During two years, 2001 and 2002, the Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins, Colorado, was drained to just few % of its capacity to allow repairs to the main dam. The 6 mile long lake was reduced to three ponds connected by long narrow channels with some whitewater. The flow was supported by water diverted from the Colorado River within the Big Thompson Project.

Paddling was very interesting, but quite challenging in these narrows channels with a strong current. It was quiet, no motorboats since boat ramps didn’t reach water. Low water uncovered many structures at the lake bottom.

Below you can find 10 selected pictures from these dry years on the Horsetooth.

A nice paddling evening on Boedecker Reservoir near Loveland. Interesting clouds over the mountains. A distant rainbow, but too weak to photograph it without a polarizer filter. The water level was about 3′ lower than six weeks ago. Some islands were not islands any more. One fishing boat and two canoes.