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2008 South Platte River Joint Spring Paddle Trip

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The second trip for March 22 is POSTPONED.

The Rocky Mountain Canoe Club is an organization for paddlers in the Colorado area covering all aspects of paddle sports from flat water to white water with an emphasis on the open canoe.

Trip Status

(Thursday March 20)  A second trip for Saturday March 22 was scheduled, but has just been postponed due to infamous March weather. Debbie Hinde of Poudre Paddlers and RMCC hopes to schedule another Platte River trip soon!

Click here for the current weather forecast and river flow at Kersey .

The first trip on March 16 went well. Attendance was light because of the cold weather, perhaps 17 to 19 boats. We did not get rained on! However, three of nine (?) boats headed for Kuner bailed out at Kersey because of a very chilly headwind in the afternoon!

Introduction

  
  Portaging by Marek Uliasz

Wecome to the Seventh Annual South Platte River Joint Paddle Trip. This event is hosted by Rocky Mountain Canoe Club, Poudre Paddlers Club, Rocky Mountain Sea Kayak Club, Canoe Colorado, and High Country River Rafters.

This is a fairly simple and casual flatwater (class I) day trip, suitable for novices, families, etc. There are two short dam portages. There are some dangers involved in all river paddling; please read the safety notices below.

Pre-registration is not necessary, membership not required, though we encourage you to take this opportunity to join our organizations. There are no fees. This trip is purely for fun. Last year we had 60 boats, so this year should be interesting.

The meeting and put-in is Riverside Park in Evans, a few miles southeast of Greeley, Colorado. We will all start paddling together. From there you have your choice of shorter or longer trips to either of these two destinations:

    
Ready to go by Marek Uliasz  

If anyone wants to be creative and join us for only the final 5 mile segment, you're welcome to meet us at Kersey bridge. No promises about when the group will pass by. I suggest that you be there early, maybe 2:00 pm, and shuttle your own cars to the south Kuner bridge, if convenient.

Note: The Mitani-Tokuyasu State Wildlife Area between Evans and Kersey is closed in the spring for wildlife protection. The driveway and parking lot are closed during this time, so launching and taking out are not allowed there.

Details

There is a chance that this trip might be postponed due to bad weather. Please check this web page the day before the trip for current trip status.

Meet us at 9:00 am on Sunday March 16, OR A SECOND DATE TO BE DETERMINED, at Riverside Park in Evans, Colorado. Go to the stop light at highway 85 and 37th in Evans. Go 1/2 mile east on 37th. Turn right on Riverside Parkway, just after a blue sign for the state patrol. Go 1/4 mile south and enter the park. Bear left through the parking lots. Meet us on the east side of the baseball fields, at the paved trail leading up to the levee. (This is the red star on the Evans map above.) (Click here for wide area map.)

If coming from the south, you can also take 42nd Street east from highway 85 through the neighborhood and into the park.

  
  Put-in sand bar at Evans RMSKC photo

Please unload boats and equipment promptly, and hand in waivers to your club coordinator (see below).

We will have a short meeting for everyone at 9:30, then run two separate car shuttles to the two destinations. One driver per car is needed for the shuttle. Everyone else stays behind to finish moving boats and for security. Please decide by the meeting time which shuttle to join, so that your car will end up at the right take-out location.

For those doing the longer trip to Kuner Bridge, please shuttle your vehicles to the south bridge on county road 61 north of Kuner. The north bridge and surroundings are heavily posted. Park within the highway right of way, and do not block any driveways.

Rough time estimates:

Arrive at Riverside Park, 9:00 am.
Launch from Riverside Park, 10:30 am.
Lunch stop at second dam, 12:30 pm.
Mitani-Tokuyasu Wildlife Area, 2:30 pm. (No parking, closed for season.)
Kersey Bridge, 3:30 pm.
South Kuner Bridge, 5:00 pm.

Bring your canoe, kayak, or inflatable, with paddles and life vests. Most any kind of low draft paddle boat will be suitable. Recommended additional gear includes spare paddle, bailer, sponge, warm clothing, rain suit, spare change of clothing, lunch, water, sunglasses, sun screen, sun hat, and dry bag. Kids should be bundled up especially well, top and bottom, unless there is a heat wave. Also bring leakproof rubber boots or a change of shoes. You will probably get your feet wet at the first dam portage.

Safety Notices

WAIVERS REQUIRED. There are some dangers involved in any river paddling, as well as a few unusual hazards on this trip. Therefore we require signed waivers and life vests (Personal Floatation Devices or PFD's) for everyone.

The waiver is your agreement that you know there are dangers; you will be completely responsible for your own safety; and you will not try to hold anyone else responsible if you have a mishap on the river. Parents, you are completely responsible for the safety of any children you bring.

    
Portage spot at first
dam, at about 1200 cfs		 by Marek Uliasz  
 
    
First dam at about 500 cfs by Eric Nyre  
 
    
Portage or line second dam  by Marek Uliasz  

Please help us out by printing your waiver off your club website and bringing it to the meeting place. Unaffiliated paddlers please use the RMCC waiver.

Dangers. Particular hazards on this trip will include cold springtime water; rain, snow, and wind; two dams with dangerous drops and currents; submerged and overhanging trees; invisible wires across river; unpredictable changes to river configuration; paintballers and duck hunters shooting; metal spikes; broken glass; rattlesnakes; poisonous spiders; agressive cattle; Romulans; crocodiles; IRS agents; rusty nails; bad comedians; and so on. Also, we are not generally competent rescuers, and we can't predict everything bad that might happen.

Dams. Please use extreme caution around the diversion dams. It can be surprisingly easy to get sucked over the edge if you don't keep a respectable distance away.

At lower water levels, the safe portage at the first dam (Patterson Ditch Dam) is a lift-over on river right. You will probably get your feet wet. The second dam (Plumb Ditch Dam) has a short land portage on the left bank. It can also be lined with care on river left, if there are not too many trees in the way. These portages get more difficult above 1000 cfs.

Sweepers. There are many fallen trees strewed along the South Platte. The combination of trees and strong currents can instantly tip over careless boaters and trap them underwater. Watch the direction of flow when approaching these sweepers, and give them plenty of distance. (Photo of sweepers, courtesy of Canoe Colorado.)

Wires. Thin wires across the river are sometimes encountered just below the confluence with the Poudre river, roughly 3.5 miles above Kersey Bridge. The wires were reorted absent in February 2008, but paddlers should still be wary. These wires hang at neck level in some places, and may be hard to see, hence a hazard. They may or may not be marked with colored tapes. They should be easy to lift over or go around if you see them. Since they may be part of a ranch electric fence, it would be better for local relations to not break these wires.

Hypothermia. The water can be quite cold on a spring trip. For a simple trip like this, a good defense against hypothermia in case of a tip-over is to travel with one or more companion boats, so that you can quickly get assistance to dry land and a change of clothes. Wetsuits and drysuits are also defenses, but are a matter of personal preference and are not required for this trip. Please see Mark Zen's page on hypothermia.

Traffic. There is high speed traffic on the roads at Kersey and Kuner bridges, not expecting pedestrians there. Please avoid a casual attitude about the road, and keep your children and dogs in check.

Organizations and Contacts

Come on out and meet your fellow paddlers and club representatives. For websites, waiver printouts, and more club info:

Canoe Colorado

High Country River Rafters

Poudre Paddlers

Rocky Mountain Canoe Club

Rocky Mountain Sea Kayak Club

South Platte River Information

River Guides:

Photo Collections:

Area maps by Marek Uliasz of Mountain Wayfarer:

Street map of Evans, Colorado

Flow gage, South Platte River at Kersey Bridge

Kersey weather forecast

Links Back:
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Updated 2008-mar-20

Maintained by: Dave Allured
Copyright © 2008 by
The Rocky Mountain Canoe Club.
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