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Anyone have any info one when Cheeseman will start running? I could be wrong, but it seems to me like it didn't run last year because Elevenmile was very low. Any info would help!
Whitney
Whitney
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/2835/Posted on Mountainbuzz.com by Tim Kelley, AW Board Member:
Sportsmens Paradise (SP) has informed American Whitewater (AW) that SP will lift the trash rack that created a river wide strainer. AW in response has taken the Wildcat Canyon aka Cheesman Canyon access out of the national spotlight and will continue to encourage paddlers to follow the guidelines listed below in connection with paddling sections of creeks and rivers that are frequently fished or that pass through private property.
Sportsmens Paradise still asserts that the public doesnt have the right to float through private property, and that individuals that do float through SP are committing civil trespassing. SP prefers that boaters not paddle the section of the South Platte that passes through SP property (preferring instead that paddlers take the 2 mile portage around SP); however, they will not seek to harass or interfere with a boaters downstream passage. SP has made clear they could pursue civil trespassing charges against a paddler or group of paddlers just like the landowner on the Lake Fork is doing. AW lawyers disagree with this opinion and assert that the public has the right to paddle through private land.
Sportsmens Paradise will seek prosecution of those committing criminal trespassing, paddlers touching the riverbed or banks, which they assert constitutes SP property. SP has marked its property line across the river with numerous no trespassing signs hanging from a cable. There is no doubt when you are paddling through SP, so stay in your boat. The Park CO DA has confirmed that touching the diversion dam and streambed just below the dam is not criminal trespassing. The dam is located less than 100 yards below the no trespassing signs and just upstream of the bridge from which the trash rack hangs. A fence across the downstream property line marks the end of SP land and is about a mile above the first rapid Club Dues. (You can paddle under the fence safely on river left.) The section of river that runs through SP is approximately two miles.
Tim Kelley
AW Board Member and Safety Chairman