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South Platte River, Colorado
2003
flow data | 2001 paddling | 2002 paddling | 2004 paddling | 2005 paddling | links
Ruins of the impressive outhouse in an old camp place on the right river shore just above Poudre River. Scout Island? |
1/18/2003: Kersey-Kersey. Finally, I am starting my 2003
paddling season! After 10 long weeks without paddling following a shoulder surgery. For the beginning
the same trip as my last in November: starting at
Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area below Greeley, paddling upstream to Plumb Ditch dam and back.
River flow near Kersey: ~510 cfs. A little bit shallow for upstream paddling in a few places. Not much
widlife - two bald eagles and one lost goose. Beautiful weather.
Evans-Kersey map |
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1/20/2003: Cache la Poudre River. I started to paddle upstream of the South Platte River (flow ~520 @ Kersey) from Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area but soon I turned right into Cache la Poudre River (flow ~75 @ Greeley). I didn't expect to go very far at that water level. I tried to paddle upstream of the Poudre twice in previous winters. Once, I got stuck very quickly in mud, another time a little further in a log jam. To my surprise, the river seemed to be clear and deep enough to paddle. So, I kept paddling. |
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The river was windy, 10 to 30' feet wide, and quite scenic for S. Platte Valley standards. Calm sections were separated by more shallow and swift parts requiring a pretty good workout. I passed two electric fences (~3' above water level), then an old bridge looking somewhat silly in the middle of water. It was too short to span the current width of the river. After 1.5 hours of paddling (~3 miles) I reached the bridge on the 45th county road with a gaging station (possible launching). There was a barbed wire fence across the river just above the bridge. The lowest wire was easy to lift but it could be a problem with a higher water, especially, that the current was pretty strong there. Well, I don't like barbed wire fences after my night paddling on the Dismal River in Nebraska. The river was getting more trashy and less interesting but I paddled upstream for another 15 minutes. When I saw a big pipe with a huge outflow on the right shore, I decided that my mission had been accomplished and turned my boat back. It didn't take more than 20 minutes of easy downstream paddling to reach my launch spot. Did I really paddle against that strong current? Wild life: a couple of muskrats, a lot of birds, some big fish jumping in a shallow water. | |
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1/25/2003: Kersey - Hwy 85 - Kersey. Start at 9:30 from the Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area, paddling upstream with two portages over dams to highway 85 bridge above Evans (16:30), then easy paddling back downstream and finishing at 17:00. It was similar trip to my May 2002 paddling but in a slower boat (Sea Wind) and a lower water (~500cfs @ Kersey). No pictures this time, just workout, but the camera was on board just in case. GPS trip odometer: 15.9 miles, moving time 6:25 h, stopped time: 1:21 h, averaged speed 2.5 mph. | |
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1/30/2003: Fort Lupton - CR 6 - Fort Lupton. Brighton-Ft.Lupton is a popular section of the South Platte River but I've never paddled there. I started at 7:20 from Fort Lupton(the parking area next to the highway 52 bridge), paddled upstream for 4 hours reaching CR 6 bridge. Returning back downstream took me about 1 hour. |
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The river in comparison to the sections below Greeley was a little bit more trashy with not so nice parts close highway 85. However, paddlewise, it was quite interesting: narrower, windy current, many cottonwood trees in water (look for signs of beaver activity). There is one dam below Brighton but it seems that its gates are permanently open. Henderson gauge above Brighton showed water flow decreasing from 300 to 200 cfs during my paddling. Indeed, I observed water level dropping down a few inches. This station reports a regular diurnal cycle of the river flow: high flow during night and rapidly going down during day. It is why I started my paddling early morning. | |
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one hungry beaver just above Ft. Lupton 
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GPS trip odometer: 11.1 miles, moving time 4:36 h, stopped time: 1:10 h, averaged speed: 2.4 mph, averaged speed upstream: 1.6 mph. | |
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| 2/15/2003: Kersey-Kersey. Another 3 hour paddling with Sea Wind. A cold February afternoon. I started at the Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wilderness Area, paddled upstream to Plumb Ditch dam, returned back downstream, and then paddled about 1 mile or so upstream the Poudre River. Paddling the lower Poudre was interesting. I saw a lot of big fish swimming in a shallow water. River flow: South Platte at Kersey ~600cfs and Poudre at Greeley ~70 cfs. |
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3/29/2003: Hardin-Hardin.
I am trying to explore South Platte River further downstream from Greeley. This time I launched at Hardin
and paddled downstream about 2.5 miles to the old railroad bridge, and then returned back upstream. According
to the plate, the bridge was built in 1901 by American Bridge Company, Chicago, IL. There was also 1947 marked
on the concrete. I am not sure when this old Union Pacific railroad was dismounted. I haven't found any information
on this particular route in "Tracking ghost railroads in Colorado" by Robert Ormes.
The flow at Kersey was ~1050 cfs, but about ~400 cfs was flowing into Riverside Canal. Another diversion below Kuner, the Empire Canal, looked pretty dry. It was enough water for paddling but a little bit too shallow for paddling upstream. The river was dominated by ducks. I also met some bold eagles and whitetail deer. It was first time in my Safari boat after almost 6 month break. It felt very tippy! | |
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| 3/30/2003: Evans-Kersey. A more relaxing trip with Connie. Almost 10 miles. Two boats, two cars. Ducks, herons, hawks, a lot of other birds and a couple of muskrats. The river flow at Kersey was still ~1050 cfs. | |
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John Murphy paddling his Ruahine Opus. |
4/24/2003: Fort Lupton - Fort Lupton.
After two days of heavy rain South Platte River got a lot of water. The flow at Henderson was well above 3000cfs.
What a difference in comparison to my winter paddling with 300-200cfs!
We paddled for about 2 hours (almost 4 miles) upstream starting at Fort Lupton and turned around at sunset. It was close to sunset when, for the first time on South Platte, I saw a beaver not just traces of its teeths. |
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4/27/2003: Kuner-Kuner.
I launched at the northern bridge (#2 on the map), paddled first dowstream to the Empire Canal dam, and upstream about 3.8 miles above Kuner. River flow at Kersey was ~900 cfs. I could paddle some narrow arms of the river which are not accessible at lower water levels. Total milage: 9 miles in 3.5 hours with some longer photo sessions. | |
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4/30/2003: Milliken-Milliken.
I started at highway 60 bridge at 17:00, paddled about 5 miles upstream until
I saw buildings of the St. Vrain power plant and finished 3 hours later.
I had to make a half hour stop due to thunderstorm with hail and a beautiful rainbow after rain.
River flow at Henderson: ~800 cfs.
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The launching from a parking spot (SW side of the bridge) was very uncomfortable but doable. Just above the bridge there was the Union Ditch dam (see the picture below) with an easy portage on the left shore. Wildlife: white tail deer, pelicans (first time seen on the river this year). |
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Despite of the ugly landing, the highway 60 bridge may be serve as a good end point for a short 6-7 miles paddling trip starting at the Saint Vrain Creek.
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5/02/2003: Kersey-Kersey.
Another evening paddle starting at the Mitani-Tokuyasu SWA at 18:00. River flow at Kersey: ~750 cfs. I paddled upstream about 3.6 miles to the highway 34 (business) bridge portaging over Plumb Ditch dam. Average speed of the upstream paddling: 2.2 mph; downstream paddling was much faster: 5-8 mph. I finished after sunset after 2:20 hours of paddling. Wildlife: a couple of magnificent bald eagles, one pelican, some resident geese. After sunset, I heard several beavers jumping into water and saw one swimming downstream when I was uploading the boat. | |
flow data | 2001 paddling | 2002 paddling | 2004 paddling | 2005 paddling | links
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