With the flows dwindling to "low" & "too low" across the state, and a trip to Denver on the agenda, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some last minute boating in, even if it was some easy, short lived class II action. Any day being in a boat is better than being inside. With my mom & sister attending a play, my dad was game to come along and either boat with us, or run shuttle for us, depending on how scary it looked. I called my cousins, Jeremy Allen & Zach Allen to see if they wanted to go. They were both interested when I brought it up, but Jeremy unfortunately wasn't able to make it due to his work schedule. Still, Zach was not to be deterred and came on down. We met up at the new Safeway between Conifer & Aspen park, loaded up the boats in the back of the truck and took off. It's a pretty drive down into the South Platte Canyon, the Reynolds Park Open Space is very scenic, as is the winding dirt road the parallels the North Fork of the South Platte on your way to the confluence. The confluence itself is a very beautiful place, with two beautiful, meandering Rocky Mountain streams converge and then plunge into the forbidding depths of Waterton Canyon.
This creepy looking hotel sits overlooking the confluence; contrary to popular myth it is NOT haunted. It is an old hotel from when then the Denver South Park & Pacific Railroad went through here.
The Chutes. There are two kayakers on river left below it (not members of our party). As you can see there is lots of granite. A much better picture can be found here thanks to Flickr member PaulMeisburger.
We headed up first to run the South Fork of the South Platte, also known as the "Chutes" or "Deckers". It's a class II+ at most, although I would rate the Chute itself as a class III, due to some awkward but fun hydraulics that you encounter while in the granite hallway. The Chutes themselves are actually a multi-stage drop, with a small easy rapid up top that leads into a small ledge that drops you into the granite hallway. From here you plunge through the Chute, into a large flat pool around a corner, and then you pop through the Lower Chute, which has a fun ledge/wave on the left side to boof. There whole area is supposedly "off limits", so PK was unable to get any video of us in this section. We put in about a half a mile above the Chutes and ended up floating about 2.5 miles down. I should mention at this point Zach suffered a perfect case of "insta-karma" on the river. Not 50 yards below the put in, he lines up for a sleeper in the river, looks at me and says "Watch This!" amd goes tearin' ass for the rock. He goes jarring up onto it, immediately gets stuck, tries to wriggle his way off, flips, and then proceeds to swim in chest deep flatwater. Fortunately he self resuced, gear and all, but we did get some laughs from the fishermen that were just below us. Zach laughed it off and we soon were moving downstream.
Zach & Kit 1 from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo. I think this is called "Eagle Rock Rapid" but I am not sure.
Zach & Kit 2 from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo. A fun rapid just below there. I don't know this one's name.
Approximately a half a mile above the confluence there is a bridge over the South Fork where the Colorado Trail crosses it and proceeds on it's way to Denver. The bridge is named in honor of Gudy Gaskill, who was a strong advocate of the trail in it's early days. The bridge made for a goode filming platform for PK, and a great takeout for us to avoid the landowners just downstream. Apparently there used to be an old man who lived just above the confluence and used to regularly threaten boaters with guns and lots of threats. While the cantankerous old coot is gone, the new landowners (while nowhere near as crazy) are still unfriendly to boaters so it's best to avoid them altogether.
Gudy Gaskill Bridge
Zach said he saw a snake on the hike out but I failed to. I believe him, I guess.
Just completed.
Walking to the cars.
Kit & Zach From Bridge from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo.
From The Bridge
Our plan was to then drive downstream and have a look at Waterton Canyon, which is one of the few standard off-season runs for Denver and Front Range-area boaters. Boasting an incredibly long season and at least a basement flow, Waterton is about as standard as class III+ gets. We were stoked to go down, but unfortunately about halfway down in started pouring rain on us. We ran a couple of drops and went about a half a mile but ultimately decided to hike back to the safety and warmth of the truck.
Zach Waterton 1 from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo.
Zach On Waterton
Zach Waterton 2 from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo.
Zach still on Waterton
Kit Waterton 1 from Whorefish Productions on Vimeo.
Me on Waterton
Waterton Canyon in the rain. By the time we got back to the truck, it had of course stopped raining. Not wanting to hike back out the same shit we had just hiked out, we decided for another quick run down the Chutes. We sat around at the confluence for a while, warming up and just generally enjoying the outdoors. You could see evidence from the Hayman Forest Fire, which was still fresh seven years later.
The burn area. There are large splotches like this everywhere.
A map of the area
After running the Chutes again we headed back out to the Safeway, where we reunited Zach with his Subaru, and we rallied out, making it to my cousin James' house in record time. Despite the fact that it is a class II, the Chutes are still supremely enjoyable. The canyon is very scenic, with large granite domes popping up in between the large swaths of ponderose pine. The water is mostly flat and burbly, but there are a few class II rapids to keep the beginner on their toes. The rock is all granite, so the rocks in the riverbed tend to be sharp and unfriendly. Zach cut his hand pretty badly early on and will likely be sporting a fresh scar from it before too long. All things considered, a great way to spend September 20th!
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