paddling with a camera

The Rainbow Bridge in Fort Morgan, one of the famous Marsh Arch Bridges, one of the largest in the United States and the only one of this type in Colorado. This reinforced concrete 11 arch bridge, spanning the South Platte River, was built in 1923 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located on State Route 52 one mile north of Fort Morgan, which is 80 miles northeast of Denver via Interstate I-76.

Paddling on the South Platte River in eastern Colorado is quite challenging. It is just difficult to find a good flow between numerous diversion dams there. I have been checking the river flow in Fort Morgan for the entire winter. Finally, in the end of February the river started to flow at 700 cfs. So, on the first warmer day without gusty 40 mph winds, Sunday, March 4, I drove 80 miles to Fort Morgan with the Thunderbolt kayak.

I launched in the afternoon just downstream of the Rainbow Bridge at the Riverside Park (far behind ball fields). I paddled 2.2 miles upstream to reach the Upper Platte and Beaver Dam. It was a great workout: a warm weather (50+ F), fast current, hundreds of geese, a surprised beaver almost jumped from the bank to my kayak.

There were some drops and rapids just below the dam. The main dam gate was open and all water was flowing through one channel. In May of 2005 I portaged the dam on the left shore. This time, I could not reach that spot since the left river leg was dry and frozen. Probably, the only way to portage that huge dam was on the right shore. It looked like a long and not very comfortable portage. Unfortunately, I could not shoot any good pictures of the dam.

I returned back to Fort Morgan about 1 hour before sunset. I had enough time to photograph the Rainbow Bridge and the old power plant building at a low sun light. Pictures under bridge were shot from a kayak with Pentax Optio W10 camera while all land pictures were taken with Canon EOS 10D DSLR mounted on a tripod. Shooting the Rainbow Bridge was a little bit tricky since the modern road bridge is just next (upstream) to it. I also had to avoid or compose somehow a power line into my frame.

Related posts:

• Exploring South Platte River in Eastern Colorado - 30+ mile paddling near Fort Morgan
• Paddling on Wet Sand - South Platte River in Eastern Colorado
• Paddling on Wet Sand Again ... South Platte River near Fort Morgan
• Flow Data for South Platte River Basin in Northern and Eastern Colorado
• 12 Pictures and Reflections from Paddling with a Camera in 2006

Technorati tags: kayak paddling upstream training South Platte River Thunderbolt Fort Morgan Colorado diversion dam Rainbow Bridge arch bridge