Happy Holidays!
And, here’s to a New Year of satisfying paddling for all!
Reminder: The Permit and Planning Party (PPP) will be Saturday, January 10, 2026, (details are on the club calendar and reminders will follow)
Our annual Interest Survey will open on January 1, 2026. On that day, all members will receive a link to the survey along with instructions on how it works. The survey will be open through Sunday, January 11, 2026, the day after the PPP.
The Interest Survey is a way for members to share with each other what we would like to do in the upcoming season. With this info, members can then coordinate among themselves to make our desired trips happen. Remember, as a club, trips only happen when members volunteer to put them together.
At the bottom of this note you can preview in simple list form all the trip possibilities you will see on the survey.
As in the past, this is a Survey of INTEREST. It is NOT a sign up sheet.
So, take some time to think about what trips you’d like to take, and what trips you’re willing to help with. Read below the reminder of various ways to help. Then take the survey when it opens and make your interests known to others! And, come to the party on January 10th!
Enjoy planning for a great 2026 season on the water.
Brookie – Outgoing Tripmaster
Leslie T. – Incoming Tripmaster
Ways to help with trips:
- Coordinate. Find a trip you want to do, and coordinate it by setting river sections, dates, camping, etc. The club will help you coordinate, and you can always ask for assistants and co-coordinators.
- Co-coordinate. We strongly encourage people to consider Co-coordinating, especially if you are new to coordinating for our club. This is also a great way to get your feet wet, teaming up with someone else. It also can protect against the need to cancel a trip if a sole coordinator has to bow out at the last minute.
- Volunteer with the coordinator to assist with a particular task. This could be checking up to date put-in/take-out possibilities, researching campsites, handling the ACA waivers, writing the trip report, etc. You will be helping out and building confidence to take on future responsibilities.
- On-the-river-coordinator. Ask a more experienced person–someone who is more familiar with a river/lake than you or has more river skills/experience–to be an “on-the-river-coordinator” while you do the prep organization.
- Mentor. If a trip has a coordinator, especially a seasoned one, contact them and ask if they will “mentor” you in preparation for you to coordinate that trip in the future. Discuss with them how this could best work for both of you.
- Propose a trip as “exploratory.” Anyone who wants to participate should plan to be even more flexible than usual with a researched but untested plan.
The following is a list of the events that will be on the Interest Survey:
Day Trips
- Arkansas River
- Barr Lake – Brighton. Birding
- Chatfield Reservoir
- Demo Day (try out other club members’ boats)
- Gross Reservoir north of Boulder
- Lagerman Reservoir
- McIntosh Lake Longmont
- Saint Vrain – Apple Valley
- St. Vrain Creek through and east of Longmont
- South Platte – Brighton to Ft Lupton
- South Platte – Deckers
- South Platte – Evans to Kersey (Joint Club Paddle)
- Standley Lake – Westminster
- Taylor River
- Upper Blue River
- Weekly Day Paddle
- Weekly Evening Paddle
Short Trips
- Colorado – Cisco Landing to Onion Creek
- Colorado – Loma to Westwater, 1 night
- Colorado – Loma to Westwater, 2 night
- Colorado – Loma to Westwater, 3 night
- Colorado – Loma to Westwater, Spring
- Colorado R., Sat: Rifle to Parachute. Sun: Parachute to Debeque
- Colorado R. Sat: town run Grand Junction. Sun: Gunnison R.
- Colorado – Rendezvous near Radium
- Gunnison – Delta to Whitewater
- Niobrara – Wild & Scenic near Valentine
- North Platte – 6 Mile Gap
- North Platte – Glendo to Guernsey
- North Platte – Saratoga to I-80
- White River – near Meeker
- Yampa River – Craig to Duffy Mountain
Extended Trips
- Big Horn Canyon Lake in southern Montana
- Blue Mesa Reservoir (Curecanti National Recreation Area) Exploratory
- Boundary Waters Canoe Rec Area
- Buffalo River
- Colorado- Pumphouse to Dotsero
- Current, Jack’s fork and Eleven Point River
- Flaming Gorge Reservoir (South End) Exploratory, self-supported multi-day
- Flaming Gorge Reservoir (North End) Exploratory, car camping
- Flathead River – North and South Forks
- Green River – Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom Spring
- Green River – Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom Fall
- Green/Colorado – Mineral Bottom to Spanish Bottom
- Green River through Seedskadee NWR
- Grand Teton area Rivers
- Green River below Flaming Gorge
- Lake Powell
- Lewis to Shoshone Lakes in Yellowstone NP
- Montana Exploratory. Multi-river and/or multi-day. River(s) TBD
- Pacific Northwest Exploratory. Multi-river and/or multi-day. River(s) TBD
- Rio Grande – Big Bend NP
- Smith River late season. water dependent
- Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River – Spring
- Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River – Fall
- Yellowstone Lake
Instruction
- Boat Rigging and Packing for Tripping
- Canoe Instruction Beginner
- Canoe Instruction Intermediate
- Canoe Instruction Advanced
- Introduction to River Safety & Rescue
- Swiftwater Safety and Rescue
- Trip Coordinating, Virtual how to workshop
- Trip Coordinator, River Day Trip
- ACA Instructor Course (3 days, Level 1-2, Flatwater, easy moving water)
- ACA Instructor Course (5 days, Level 3-4. Rivers, Whitewater)
- ACA instructor Update (1-2 days, Update certification for existing instructors)
- Club sponsored Wilderness First Aid Class (16 hours, Cost: $200-300)
Practice
- Open Pool Sessions
Permit by Lottery
- Green – Gates of Ladore through Dinosaur NM
- Green – Desolation Gray.
- Main Salmon
- Middle Salmon
- Rio Chama
- San Juan, Sand Island to Mexican Hat
- Smith River
- Yampa through Dinosaur NM