paddling with a camera

I paddled about 1.5 miles upstream to Hillsboro Ditch Dam. I had to portage around or rather under two barbed wire fences stretched accross the river. They may be dangerous if somebody unprepared is going donwriver. At both locations, the river was narrow and the current was really strong. Another hazard was created by the remains of a concrete bridge a few hundred yards below the dam. During my portages, I noticed that a thorny Russian olive was spreading along the river channel.

It was another nice evening paddling. The river crossing farmland with many cottonwood trees was really scenic, so I spent a lot time photographing. After a heavy snowstorm during weekend there were still some snow patches on the ground contrasting nicely with a fresh green grass. Just before finishing at I-25 I saw whitetail deer.

GPS trip odometer: 3.1 miles, moving time 1:04h, stopping time 1:04h, moving speed 2.5 mph, max speed 9.8 mph.

Next day after my paddling the river was shut down and return back to regular ~10cfs. Obviously, that water episode on the Big T was supported by a reservoir release, but it didn't look like the water was coming all the way from Estes Park.

Related posts:

• 03/28/2005 Big Thompson River ?
• 04/07/2005 Paddling and Exploring the Big Thompson River below Loveland, Colorado
• 04/20/2005 Paddling Upstream Can Be Faster than Downstream - Hail Storm on the Big Thompson
• 04/26/2005 Big Thompson River with a New Pentax Optio WP Camera
• 07/02/2005 Sinking Sisson Nucleus Kayak on the Big Thompson River
• 07/06/2005 Back to Big T with Sisson Nucleus