It is not easy to catch good a paddling water in the South Platte River in eastern Colorado. 5 years ago I made a series of trips on the South Platte above and below Fort Morgan. My trip reports had a common title Paddling on Wet Sand …

It seems that the South Platte has a pretty good flow this winter, so I selected 20 miles above Fort Morgan for my New Year paddling. Sunny weather with temperature above freezing (well at least before sunset), a little bit of breeze, and the river flow of ~750 cfs at Weldona.

I was joined by Rob Bean for this trip. We paddled our Kruger canoes (Sea Wind and Sawyer Loon), probably, the best boat choice for winter paddling. We started at Goodrich (hwy 144) around 12:30 and finished 5 hours later under the Rainbow Bridge at Fort Morgan.

The river was slower than I expected – much wider than between Evans and Kuner, but pretty shallow with multiple channels. It was also much nicer than you could see around Greeley. No feedlot aroma! We had three dam portages. The last one over the Upper Platte and Beaver Canal dam was pretty long, but snow on ground helped with portaging.

You can compare my pictures with those shot five years ago during my 30 mile Texas Water Safari training run. I had much lower water (~400 cfs at Weldona) and a nicer weather in May.

Connie helped us with a shuttle. We finished our trip together with a dinner at Fort Morgan’s Memories.

During last September paddling trip to Nebraska with Rob Bean I used my Subaru Outback to carry our two Kruger canoes along Dismal and Niobrara Rivers.

I have 58″ Yakima crossbars on Subaru and Ezee-V racks. We carried my Sea Wind (28″ beam) upside down as usual on crossbars and put Rob’s Sawyer Loon on V racks. I transport a variety of my racing boats and kayaks on these racks (see my review), but it was first time I used them for a “fat” canoe. Of course, in the case of wide boat straps need to be used instead of bungee loops which work fine for Thunderbolt kayak or Surfrigger. I should point out that Loon is much lighter and a little bit narrower than the expedition heavy Sea Wind.

All transportation went pretty well including a longer driving from Mullen to Valentine with a strong cross wind. You can see more pictures of these two Kruger boats in the Dismal River slide show. Pictures presented here were shot by Rob with his Pentax Optio W30.

Related posts:
Dismal River 2009 – Slideshow from Paddling Nebraska Sandhills
Ez-Vee Roof Racks from Kayak Pro – Review

I am extending my paddling on the North Platte River in southern Wyoming. Last Sunday I had a very nice trip from Bennett Peak campground to Pick Bridge below Saratoga. I paddled Sea Wind canoe with Pixel, the water corgi, as a partner. Connie with Dax were waiting for me at the Pick Bridge. It was a fast training run: 36 miles in exactly 4 hours without any stops.

River flow: ~1700 cfs in the North Platte at Northgate + ~1000 cfs from the Encampment River joining just above Treasure Island, ~4500 cfs in the North Platte further downstream. It was still high water, but much lower than a month ago during the Wyoming Outback Challenge. A perfect weather with just a moderate wind, very green with a lot flowers. A lot of wildlife including nesting bald eagles.

The river below the Bennett Peak campground is very scenic. It flows in a granite canyon with many rocks and cliffs. There are multiple narrower channels in several places. Paddling was easy. I suppose that it may be more challenging at lower water: some rocks sticking out and rocky shallows in some channels.

Driving to the Bennett Peak access takes some time. It can be reached by 19 mile long dirt road starting at highway 230 a few miles east of Riverside. The road is well marked and pretty scenic. The first 10 miles you can drive at highway speed, then you need to slow down.

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.

It was my first paddling on the Horsetooth Reservoir this year. I launched Sea Wind canoe at North Eltuck Cove from Lory State Park just dragging my boat on snow like sleds. It was similar snow scenery as four years ago when I was shooting Colorado Winter Paddling video clip. Just an easy 6 mile paddling with a long photo session at Quarry Cove.

Second paddling this week on ice free Beaver Pond in Arapaho Bend Natural Area in Fort Collins. Camera: Canon EOS 40D mounted with my sticky pod (3 suction cup mount) on a bow of Sea Wind canoe.

Fog on a river may be really photogenic. Well, if it is not too dense. I rarely have occasion to paddle in fog in a dry Colorado and when it happens it is usually too cold to enjoy it. I just returned back to my pictures shot during the 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge.

Not much paddling in December 2007. Every year I spent a week in December in San Fracisco attending Fall Meeting of American Geophysical Union. I was shooting some cityscapes with a new Canon EOS 40D camera. After returning back to Colorado I manage to take Sea Wind canoe to the Horsetooth Rservoir before it was frozen.

I packed my Canon EOS 40D camera with a tripod for the recent MR340 race. I launched 40 minutes before the start and paddled across the Kaw River to shoot 150 boats lining up above boat ramp, then starting, entering the Missouri and heading down the river.

Superior: Journeys on an Inland Sea, a wonderful coffee table book by a Canadian couple, Gary and Joanie McGuffin, full of great pictures from their kayak and canoe trips on Lake Superior. I believe that most of the pictures including a paddler (i.e., Joannie) were carefully staged, but they are still impresive. I am not aware of many photography books published by paddlers. Only Joel Rogers comes to my mind.
After buying this book I started to plan my own paddling trip on Lake Superior. It hasn’t …