Some paddlers are afraid to paddle on the South Platte River during a goose and duck hunting season …

Another afternoon paddling on the South Platte River, this time near Kuner. It was warm, but windy. I packed again my DSLR camera with a tripod into Thundeborlt kayak, but didn’t have an opportunity to shoot to many pictures.

The light wasn’t that great. So, all pictures below come from Pentax Optio W30, except the last one of old cars.

I have several favorite “tight places” on the South Platte. One of them is a narrow channel a mile or so upstream of Kuner. The river forms a pretty big island there.

Three weeks after surgery my wrist is not fully operational yet, but I can do almost anything with some movement restrictions. So, yesterday, I started my 2009 paddling season with an easy afternoon workout on the South Platte River near Greeley.

My local paddling lakes are frozen, but Horsetooth Reservoir is still open and the South Platter River is flowing. Unfortunately, I am not ready for my usual winter paddling yet. I need a few weeks to recover from my wrist surgery which I had just before Christmas.

Meantime, I am reposting a photo story from my paddling on the South Platte River on January 12, 2008. I paddled Thuderbolt-x kayak upstream from Kersey to the Plumb Ditch Dam and back down the river. All pictures were shot with Pentax Optio W30.

Rob Bean just paddled the same course on the South Platte with his Spencer X-treme canoe and a new wing paddle. He posted some pictures from this trip on Facebook.

Related posts:

South Platte River below Denver, Colorado – GPS/photo river guide

Paddling with Icicles – Thunderbolt-X on the South Platte River below Greeley

Old Truck, Young Eagle and the South Platte River Mysteries

Paddling Thunderbolt Kayak in Tight Places – Lone Tree Creek

January 2001 – My First Paddling on the South Platte River

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 started my winter paddling season on the South Platte River in the middle of November. It was a short trip, rather a photo session. The goal was to photograph old cars on the river shore at the Patterson Ditch dam.

I discovered the South Platte River for paddling almost 8 years ago in January 2001. I believe it was the first river I paddled in northern Colorado and, for sure, my first winter paddling here. Here is some old writing on these day trips with my CLC Patuxent 10.5 kayak. It was originally posted on Mountain Wayfarer site. At that time, I was shooting slides with Canon EOS 2AE SLR camera.

I was launching my kayak at Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area just below the mouth of the Cache la Poudre River. This place is less suitable for paddling now days. It is open only during a hunting season and closes by the end of February. A parking space is limited to 4 cars only. And, you need the Colorado Division of Wildlife Habitat Stamp to use the area. See my GPS/photo river guide for other access points.

A lot of paddling on my local waters in northern Colorado including Beaver Pond, Horsetoorh Reservoir and Boyd lake. Starting paddling season on the South Platte River. I was paddling Thunderbolt-X kayak and shooting with Pentax Optio W10.

“A thousand miles in a canoe: Or, A canoe voyage from Denver, Colorado, to Leavenworth, Kansas during the summer of 1867″

Dusk on the South Platte River below the Plumb Ditch Dam near Greeley. The picture was shot during a short evening paddling workout with Thunderbolt kayak starting at the Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area (open till the end of February only) above Kersey.