15
Mar

South Platte River from Wildcat to Evans by SUP

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South Platte River from Wildcat to Evans by SUP
March 14, 2015. 16 miles stand up paddling (SUP) trip from Wildcat on St Vrain Creek on the South Platte River to Evans Rob Bean. Beautiful, warm weather. Numereous bald eagles, turkeys and other birds, one turtle, and surprisingly a lot of people with children playing on the river.River flow: St Vrain Cr at mouth 230 cfs, South Platte River at Fort Lupton ~350cfs. Water level on the South Platte was lower than during my last trip. Some of rocks near Wildcat Mound visible in my aerial photos were exposed. I used a short fin on my Badfish SUP and paddled without special problems, but Rob was forced to remove his regular fin in the last miles of paddling..

We finished our trip at highway 85 bridge at Evans about 1 mile upstream from the closed Riverside Park. I was describing this place in my previous posts: comfortable parking (limited to ~10 cars) at the end of frontage road, a pretty good river access under the bridge, but the place has a lot of “urban” character (graffiti, garbage, beer bottles).

Rob’s pictures from this paddling on facebook.

Access to the river from the county road 19.5 looks more or less the same as before flooding. River flow ~200cfs. I started paddling trips here with flow as low as 90cfs.

Wildcat – March 8, 2015. Access to the river from the county road 19.5 looks more or less the same as before flooding. River flow ~200cfs.

paddling South Platte River by SUP

Rob is paddling on St Vrain Creek just above confluence with South Platte River

paddling South Platte River by SUP

The first diversion dam above highway 60 bridge.

paddling South Platte River by SUP

Railroad trestle below highway 60 bridge.

paddling South Platte River by SUP

Portaging the 2nd dam. Water was low enough to just go over the dam.

paddling South Platte River by SUP

Landing at Evans under highway 85 bridge.

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