June 6, 2011 – another biking and packrafting trip on the South Platte River. This time I run the lower St Vrain Creek and the South Platte River to Milliken (hwy 60). This section along high cliffs of the Wildcat Mound is perhaps the nicest part of the river below Denver.

I made some improvement to my packing and used the same shoes for both biking and packrafting. My new Keen Newport sandals worked pretty well except of few cases of walking through loose gravel on the South Platte.

Biking leg

8.56 miles, 0:48h. From highway 60 bridge I rode my bike on CR46 (sections of dirt and pavement, and even a bike path near new developments, very light traffic), and then CR19 (pavement, light traffic). While the South Platte is a flatwater river here, riding over the Wildcat Mound is not so flat.

Transition

~20 minutes. I chained my bike to a rail of CR19.5 bridge and launch my packraft on the St Vrain under the bridge. It was quite muddy after recent high water and mosquitoes were hungry.

Packrafting leg

7.66 miles, 2:12h, 3.3mph average speed, with max 6.2mph. The St Vrain had still high water (~200cfs), but the South Platte run really dry. Floating downriver was pretty slow, especially along the Wildcat Mound. I had to walk several times. After first couple of miles the situation improved until the Union Ditch Dam which was diverting a lot of water. The last section (0.6 miles) between the dam and the hwy 60 bridge was very shallow. The barb wire fence next to the bridge has been fixed making launching or getting out of the river much more difficult.

Wildlife

White tail deer, beavers, hawk and other birds. I completed my trip with a close encounter with a fox hunting in my driveway.

In my last visit to the South Platte River I used Alpacka Yukon packraft combined with inline skating between Kersey and Kuner. The river has a good flow again after heavy rains, so I did another packrafting trip (May 22, 2011) – a classic run from Evans to Kersey. This time I used my mountain bike for a shuttle.

Biking leg

9.11 miles from Kersey bridge to Evans Riverside Park, 50 minutes. It was a typical car shuttle route. The road from the river bridge to Kersey is narrow and with high traffic, the highway 34 is also very busy but has a wide shoulder lane, the rest of the course had almost no traffic. The folded packraft traveled on bike racks and all other stuff including my big camera and tripod went to backpack. It got quite heavy!

Transition

10:17 minutes. Inflating the Alpacka Yukon packraft. I left my bike at Evans.

Paddling leg

9.13 miles downriver to Kersey, 2:30 hours with a long photography stop at the first dam. Cruising speed: 5.5-6 mph with the river flow ~2200 cfs. I could easily float over the first dam. The second portage was more difficult because of dense weeds.

Wildlife

Eagles are gone, now it is a pelican time on the South Platte in addition to resident geese and ducks. Beavers were very noisy and had a good time in a small pond next to the Kersey bridge.

Kuner, CO, April 16, 2011. Alpacka Yukon packraft in a backpack together with a life jacket, chota boots, Epic take apart paddle, water, and some other essentials, together about 24lb.

It took me about 40 minutes to ride 5.5 miles on inline skates to Kersey. I chose back roads (county roads 61 and 388) on the left shore of the South Platte River – light traffic and smooth asphalt. I was riding on the left side facing the traffic ready to jump to shoulder if necessary. Everybody gave me plenty of room including big farm trucks. The main road along the South Platte, highway 34, has a wide shoulder, but covered with sand and gravel. My route was almost avoiding the very busy county road 37 leading from Kersey to the river.

There was a lot of wild turkey around Kuner.

Kersey. Time to change gears. It took me only 5 minutes to inflate my packraft with an inflation bag. However, I used next 15 or 20 minutes to attach my backpack and launch the packraft. I need a better system …

The South Platte River was running very low during last month, but it got more water after a recent day of rain and snow. I caught a decreasing flow of 400 cfs at Kersey. My cruising speed downriver was between 4.5 and 5 mph, so after just 1 hour and 20 minutes I returned back to Kuner.

The river leg was quite relaxing while the road part was much more difficult and exhausting. I started too late (~10am) when it was getting pretty hot on the road and I didn’t have a hydration system accessible when skating. I have still original wheels on my new skates (K2 Mach 100) which are pretty soft. My old skates with smaller, but harder racing wheels are faster. So, there is some room for improvements in my road transport. I would like to extend my range up to 20 miles.

My second test of Alpacka Yukon packraft took place still on lakes (April 9, 2011), but with high winds and some chop.

I used a heavier load on a bow of my pacraft – a drybag containing my photo geart inlcuding Canon DSLR camera, a tripod and flash. The packraft was tracking much better. And, it seems to be not a big problem to paddle against 20 mph wind with some stronger gusts.

I explored 3 of 3 7 lakes within Fort Collins’ Riverbend Ponds Natural Area covering about 3 miles. Because of wind I didn’t unpack my big camera. The above snapshot was made with Pentax Optio W30, a waterproof camera on duty in all my paddling.

Related post:
Speed Test of Alpacka Yukon Packraft

Some packrafting resources:
PACKRAFTING! An Introduction and How-To Guide by Roman Dial
Tips & Technique from Alpacka Raft
Tips for your first Packrafting trip by Alastair Humphreys