We had actually only planned to boat a couple of small stretches of the river near Walden, CO and then intended to head to Saratoga, WY to enjoy a quick run and a dip in the hot springs. But once we got to scouting, we found that the entire area was inundated with high water from melting snows and heavy rain fall. It became obvious that if we wanted to run the upper reaches of the North Platte River that this was the weekend to do it.
A different kind of weekend calls for a different kind of craft
Day 1 - Warm up: Grizzly Creek Run (14 miles)
However, once we got looking around the water was very high all across the entire valley and so we decided to start at Grizzley Creek where it crosses Highway 14. Grizzly Creek is the main tributary of the North Platte River and we would paddle down to where it meets Little Grizzly Creek, and to the confluence where the main river officially forms. From that point forward, the North Platte River stretches 716 miles and crosses 3 states before joining the South Platte River in Nebraska (which also has it's source in Colorado).
The paddling day was estimated to be about 8-10 miles (a great warm-up run) but after what felt like hundreds of curves it turned out to be 14-miles from put-in to take-out. We saw lots of animals during the paddle including hawks, sparrows, yellow headed blackbirds, and eagles - to cows, deer, and even a beaver. I also got personal with the river when I went for an impromptu swim. While paying too much attention to my photography instead of watching out for clumps of grass under water, I was catapulted right off the front of my board.
The biggest issue of the day was the very sever storms that were circling around us within just a few miles. We had been experiencing heavy thunderstorm activity in previous days along the Front Range and the mountains were getting their fair share of weather, as well. What had been a warm sunny day early on turned very ominous as the storms began to brew around us. We managed to finish just minutes ahead of the heavy weather and lighting. In fact, after getting off the water on day 1 it rained steadliy until about 3:00 AM. Day 1 pictures and details are below.
Day 1: 13.8 miles in a time of 2:50 hours
Day 2 - The long haul: Upper Stretches to Northgate Canyon (31 miles)
Day 2: 31 miles in a time of 6:49 hours