[jeffmoore64]

Hi all,

I'm new to the Denver area, and have just bought two Jackson Rouge kayaks. Want a decent place to check them out with fast water, say class III/II and a decent length 10 - 15 miles. And relatively close to the Denver area. Planning on going next week, probably Monday or Tuesday, if anyone would like to join.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[nemi west]

Edit your post and remove the Yaks part. People are afraid to kayak with people who call them Yaks. Use boats or kayaks.

 

[Digby]

The south platte run through Denver is a great place to try the new boats out. Put in at c470 near Santa Fe and you take it all the way to downtown Denver. You even pass a few play parks along the way.

 

[jeffmoore64]

Thanks Digby,

So, from google maps it looks like S. Platte ends in lake Chatfield and then starts again just North of the Lake and a bit South of 470. I couldn't find anything marked "Santa Fe". Is that a road or park?

 

[carvedog]

two Jackson Rouge kayaks

rouge is a face cream or color, Rogue is a river in Oregon or a Jackson Kayak.

Even if you are clueless you don't to sound it.

Blame it on autocorrect.

 

[jeffmoore64]

rouge is a face cream or color, Rogue is a river in Oregon or a Jackson Kayak.

Even if you are clueless you don't to sound it.

Blame it on autocorrect.

Missing a word in here?

 

[carvedog]

Missing a word in here?

Of course I am. Didn't want you to feel alone!! I blame it on autocorrec.t

 

[mattoak]

I second the post about yaks. If you say yaks, I probably don't want to boat with you for several reasons


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz

 

[Palirider13]

I clicked this thread just to see the Buzz folk's reaction to the usage of the word 'yaks.

 

[SteamboatBORN]

"All Righty Then!"

Yak Call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4mjUTBXnPQ

 

[Bonker]

A hairy cow that can handle class III? I gotta see this

 

[benR]

Hi all,

I'm new to the Denver area, and have just bought two Jackson Rouge kayaks. Want a decent place to check them out with fast water, say class III/II and a decent length 10 - 15 miles. And relatively close to the Denver area. Planning on going next week, probably Monday or Tuesday, if anyone would like to join.

Thanks

Jeff

Jeff, if you are new to kayaking, I wouldn't recommend jumping into Class III on the Front Range unless you have a roll and have worked your way up to that level. You will probably lose your boat and bang your head and it may ruin you on Kayaking, which, even though the Buzz is giving you a hard time about calling your boats "yaks", no one here wants.

I would take your boats to do the Deckers run once the water goes down below 600 or so. It may be a while though... Description here:

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/424/



Take your boats to Glenwood Springs and run the Colorado River from Grizzly Creek down to town or South Canyon. If you have a weekend, go to Moab and hit up the Moab Daily section... deeper water and more forgiven than a class III creek on the front range. Glenwood is a nice staging area for beginning kayakers, you can run the Grizzly Creek section and then the Cemetery run on the Roaring Fork if you felt like you handled it well. If that goes well and you start to have some roll experience, a first "class III" could be the Upper Colorado (Pumphouse section)...

If you want a sense for front range "class II" take your boats to Golden and park by lions park and run through the whitewater course through town. Make sure you boat and/or swim to shore before the Coors dam though. In a few more weeks it will be more easy going and a fun place to play around.

I've never run S. Platte through Denver (below Chatfield), but it has some obstacles ... if something looks like a Horizon line, make sure to get out and Scout. Santa Fe Blvd. is a street in Littleton. You may want to look at joining Colorado Whitewater, they have events for people who are starting out.

 

[Palirider13]

Jeff, if you are new to kayaking, I wouldn't recommend jumping into Class III on the Front Range unless you have a roll and have worked your way up to that level. You will probably lose your boat and bang your head and it may ruin you on Kayaking, which, even though the Buzz is giving you a hard time about calling your boats "yaks", no one here wants.

I would take your boats to do the Deckers run once the water goes down below 600 or so. It may be a while though... Description here:

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/424/



Take your boats to Glenwood Springs and run the Colorado River from Grizzly Creek down to town or South Canyon. If you have a weekend, go to Moab and hit up the Moab Daily section... deeper water and more forgiven than a class III creek on the front range. Glenwood is a nice staging area for beginning kayakers, you can run the Grizzly Creek section and then the Cemetery run on the Roaring Fork if you felt like you handled it well. If that goes well and you start to have some roll experience, a first "class III" could be the Upper Colorado (Pumphouse section)...

If you want a sense for front range "class II" take your boats to Golden and park by lions park and run through the whitewater course through town. Make sure you boat and/or swim to shore before the Coors dam though. In a few more weeks it will be more easy going and a fun place to play around.

I've never run S. Platte through Denver (below Chatfield), but it has some obstacles ... if something looks like a Horizon line, make sure to get out and Scout. Santa Fe Blvd. is a street in Littleton. You may want to look at joining Colorado Whitewater, they have events for people who are starting out.

I agree with this. When you run Deckers, put in below the Chutes. Great class II to begin with. Once you begin to feel comfy with that, give the Chutes a shot.

 

[buckmanriver]

I will take you down Gore anytime. And by gore I mean the milk run. Welcome to the mother land!

 

[jeffmoore64]

Nice to see there are so many helpful folks here to encourage the new people.

 

[lmyers]

Lot's of stuff on the Ark that fits the bill. Pretty much everything between Stone Bridge and Pinnacle Rock which is like 80 miles...

Are you a beginner paddler? I realize you asked about II-III water, but your profile says you have been boating for 35 years. If so, I think many of these comments are directing you towards overly flat and boring beginner water.

Probably worth checking out the Upper Colorado. Mostly class II water with a couple random, easy III's over a stretch of many miles. With a little longer drive you would also likely enjoy the Upper Rio Grande below Rio Grande Reservoir and the Taylor.

 

[jeffmoore64]

Thanks

Thanks to the folks who posted good information on where to kayak and get used to the waters out here in Denver. This week I ran south Platte from c470 to broken tee. Skipped the of the chutes at union but did the first two and the last of the chutes. Did a bit of swimming on the last one, but I tried and that was good enough for me. Never lost boat or paddle!

Yes my profile says 35 years, I did 2 week long trips as a kid. And am starting again now. So how do you explain that in a profile?

Anyway, thanks again for the advice and offers to go boating.

And yes I'll not call them Yaks, in the future!

 

[smauk2]

To all the folks complaining about the terminology.

 

[metalsniper]

As another new kayaker in the Denver area it's great to see that not everyone has been doing this forever!


It's hard to find people to go out with who aren't completely bored by the stuff we're comfortable on. My wife and I have only been out a few times so we would love to get out with another beginner on some of the easier stuff.


If you want to paddle together on a weekend shoot me a text 97O 7O8 762O.