South Platte River, Brighton To Fort Lupton
12 July 2009
Sue H., Brian H. and I met at 10 AM at the take-out in Ft. Lupton, which at that time was located on the east side of the river, just at the juncture of Highway 87 and 52. That has since been closed and now we park just north of the ball fields and take out on the west side of the river. We left Brian’s truck and trailer there, loaded his boat on my car and we drove to the put in, Veterans Park on Highway 7 in Brighton, where Ron and Kathy H. awaited us.
We headed down to the river’s edge to access the water. It way down from the 2200 of july 4th; At 8 AM, the gauge showed 670 CF, a perfect level for this float and the river flows but does not rush. This should be a good trip – it’s warm, it’s sunny and the flow is a nice level – slow enough to manage yet high enough to not get grabbed by each and every sandbar.
We are all tend to getting ready and fiddle with gear and then we are on our way. I ferry back and forth a few times, a skill and habit enforced by all those years of white water kayaking with Gary.
The first drop, aka the Brighton Boof, is hardly 5 minutes down river. According to the canoe guys, this is a class 1 drop. Personally, I don’t actually know if there is a rating that is class 1 for a drop, but I think his point was that it is pretty easy and it is pretty easy (though on the canoe club trip, someone did take a swim). It is very even, not steep and not long. But, you do need to be mindful and paddle thru those waves.
So we get to scout the drop. I note there is no longer a channel of water to the right of the drop, the difference between 670 and 1800. Kathy and Brian portage, Sue decides to give it a try. Ron, in his whitewater kayak, not only runs it, but plays on the waves.
Then we continue downward.
Eric Niles had sent Sue an email with the hazards which she passed on to me: First a drop, then a dam, then a strainer. The way I read it, the strainer is 20 minutes downstream from the put-in, so now I am on the lookout for where the river splits into 3 channels. But none appear and before long we are at the dam.
Today, all three gates are open. I decide to give it a try, as does Sue and Ron and we regroup below, as Brian and Kathy portage.
We approach a bridge, and Kathy, as her intention was, decides to get out. We stop, make sure she is situated and head on down river.
Seems like at this point, Ron has gone on ahead. I take the right hand channel and oh-no! There is a strainer. I work really hard to get to the side but not in time to tell Sue not to follow, though Brian sees us and does not follow.
We are both on the side and getting out of our boats. What to do? We need to get the boats across an island with lots of brush then across another very narrow channel of water onto the beach where Brian is. So we line the boats across, tied together. The tying together wasn’t really too bad of an idea but a longer line between the 2 would have been much more effective.
We manage to get across, relax a minute, then are on our way again and catch up with Ron.
No more incidents and before long we are at the takeout and dragging the boats up a fairly steep incline, load them on Brian’s trailer and pile into his truck. After 1 stop to get Kathy, we are back at the start in Brighton.
Not a bad outing and once home, I updated the Eddy Flower’s website with the strainer info.
In The Shadow of Longs Peak