Saturday March 14th from 9am to 2 or 3 pm
Sign up with trip coordinator Mat Bozek, matbozekx@gmail.com.
The South Platte River from Brighton to Fort Lupton is generally a beginner friendly 9 mile trip that is lined with cottonwoods hosting numerous birds and other wildlife… a nice way to begin the paddling season. There is one mandatory portage at a dam and one boat chute drop early on that will also be portaged depending on conditions. Meet at Veterans Park in Brighton (junction of Hwy 7 and 85 – W of 85, N of 7) at 8 a.m. and be ready to begin the car shuttle no later than 9 am. Take out is at Fort Lupton’s ball-fields park. Bring rain gear, canoe floatation, painters, spare paddle and of course a PFD. Also bring a set of dry clothes in a water proof bag and a lunch or snack (20 min break). Don’t pack too heavy!, the two portages are not all that easy, and you need to cross a boulder field and fence.
This will be an ACA trip – e-mail your aca # to Mat. If not an ACA member, bring $10 per person for the insurance fee. Potentially the trip may be run on Sunday depending on the weather.
Warning! – there are now a very lot of strainers (trees) in the river with a lot of tight turns – you need to have good boat handling skills to avoid them. The lower the water is, the tighter the gaps past the sweepers.