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Posts Tagged ‘Wildcat’

South Platte River from Wildcat to Evans by SUP

16 Mar
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.

Related posts:
Exploring the Upper North Platte River in Colorado by SUP
Paddling SUP on South Platte River from Kersey to Kuner
South Platte River below Denver – GPS/photo river guide


paddling with a camera

 
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Aerial View of South Platte River at Wildcat Mound below Platteville

12 Mar

A stretch of the South Platte River along Wildcat Mound below confluence with St Vrain Creek is my favorite river section for paddling. It can be accesswd from the county road 19.5 bridge on the St Vrain Creek (north of the power station). River access is relatively easy without a need to climb any fences. From here you have 1 mile of paddling to the confluence. This may be a start of a longer downriver trip or just downstream/upstream workout. The St Vrain current is pretty mild and you can easily paddle upstream. The South Platte is, in turn, much faster with some shallows and even little rock gardens (easy to navigate). It is more interesting for paddling downstream and more challenging for paddling upstream than the river section below Evans.

During my last trip (March 10, 2015) I shot some aerial pictures of the river at Wildcat Mound from a low flying drone. This place is about 1 mile below confluence. There is a shallow rapid just below the confluence. It gave a very good workout when I was paddling back upstream. River flow was ~120 cfs at St Vrain Cr and ~400cfs on South Platte at Ft Lupton (several diversion dams upstream).

For comparison you can check pictures from my packrafting trip in June, 2011. The 2013 flooding cleared all previous log jams on the St Vrain. You can still see these huge cottonwood trees in the water, but they do not block the river.

South Platte River aerial view

South Platte River at Wildcat Mound looking up stream

South Platte River aerial view

South Platte River with Sea Wind canoe

South Platte River aerial view

South Platte River at Wildcat Mound with a little rock garden looking down stream

Related posts:
Paddling SUP on South Platte River from Kersey to Kuner
Opening 2015 Paddling Season on the South Platte River
South Platte River below Denver – GPS/photo river guide


paddling with a camera

 
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