Arkansas River 2024

I tagged along with Romyn RV'ing it near Buena Vista to kayak Fractions, BV town run, Stone Bridge to Salida, and, the big one for me, Browns Canyon.

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Kayaking the Arkansas

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After just having returned yesterday from rafting the Middle Fork Salmon and Snake rivers, I find myself, in less than 24 hours, headed to the Arkansas valley centered on Buena Vista to do some whitewater kayaking. The outing had been agreed to a several months prior organized by Scott. I haven't made an effort determine the exact number of participates. They are all related to the Poudre Paddlers Club out of Fort Collins.

Romyn graciously offered to drive his truck pulling his trailer. He purchased the food and reserved the RV camping site. This made my life easy as all I needed to do was to pull an overnight bag together and grab my kayak gear. Through observation and some assistance, I learned a little about the logistics of setting up and pulling a multi-wheel trailer. We traveled through South Park arriving in the RV site late afternoon. The campsite packed in the trailers. It did have pleasant cottonwood trees providing shade with a small clear creek flowing nearby. Steve spoiled me my fixing all the dinners and breakfasts over the next several days.

Steve and I went into Salida to have dinner. We ate at a place were we could see a small portion of the Salida water park and watch play boaters flipping, rolling, surfing, and spinning in the first wave.

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I requested this first day that we run the class II Stone Bridge to Salida section of the Arkansas. I just wasn't feeling confident in my skills and my mood was rather dismal.

With incredible fortune, Jonathan offered to guide us. He become our guide over the next several days. He knows the river very well and provides simple direct instructions for the rapids. He's very calm and patient and highly skilled on the water. He's the sort I imagine would make for a stellar astronaut.

Stone Bridge to Salida is a class I-II paddle at the water level of ~750csf that we ran it at. It was a little sleepy even for me. But I was happy to warm up on this section. This was where I'd completed my first combat roll in the kayak years ago. I performed a practice roll just above the Salida water park.

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Today the level moved up a notch. We started by running from Buena Vista to Fisherman's bridge. There were only a couple of class III rapids, but they gripped my attention. Jonathan guided keeping us out of any trouble.

Other folks arrived by now with the desire to run the Numbers section. I declined and instead ran shuttle. Romyn ran it for the first time making a clean run.

Every afternoon it would rain. Today it was heavy enough on river left that it turned the road muddy and some debris covered the road and started to wash it out slightly. Steve Romyn spent a day cleaning his truck as a result.

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Folks wanted to run Numbers again in the morning. I shuttled Steve's truck to Railroad bridge, the put in for Fractions. There I met the group as they finished the Numbers and after a break we paddled Fractions to the Buena Vista town water park.

I'd run Fractions many years ago. I didn't remember it being so busy! Right from the start it was a constant rock doging exercise. A couple of the guys flipped, but rolled up without incident. It rained like you'd expect in the Gulf Coast; that means torrentially. The rain splashing off the surface of the river and rapids made it awkward to always reed the water and choose the line. A mist formed above the water and the deluge created a unique paddling experience that we all commented on. Frog rapid, class III, was straight forward. House Rock, class III, offered a tad more excitement. The 'rock' sits in the middle of the river. Going left offers a drop with a slightly sticky hole. Going right involved riding the current toward House Rock, turning right with the current flowing around the rock, and then moving back to the left to avoid running up against a wall the current ran down. Ryan managed to eddy out in a small nook at the start of the wall on river right. I surprised myself by running it cleanly - a nice confidence booster.

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Folks ran Numbers again this morning. Steve and I skipped it and instead took a walk. We connected mid afternoon with the others at Ruby campground/put in for a run through Brown's Canyon. I'm not sure I would have gone if I'd known what was in store. I believe Evelyn did this run early in kayaking and may have swum. The first couple of miles are minor rock doging at a peaceful pace. As the canyon walls grew, I kept expected a massive drop around the next several corners. Jonathan again talked us through was was coming. This section is definitely class III-IV. Pinball rapid felt like a labrynth. It didn't help that other rafts and kayakers had to be avoided. Zoom Flume is the big one talked about. It's 100 meters of splashy bouncy water with holes. Following Jonathan into it, I leaned forward in the kayak, pulled my knees up tight, loosened my hips, and worked to keep the paddle in contact with the water. A photographer capture a number of images of me. Shockingly I made it without a bobble! The Seven Steps (or something like that) rapid also got my adrenaline pumping. Each step of the rapid with an intervening pool is longer and more challenging. I jokingly wished the 5th step was the last, but it wasn't. The very last drop on the 7th step had a submerged rock only evident at the last moment. I just managed to dodge though others were so lucky.

Tony flipped on that last step. He tried three times to roll up. He'd had a long day of paddling today with Numbers in the morning. Jonathan was yelling at us to get to him and 'T' up. I arrived and bumped the side of his upside down kayak. He later said he saw my orange boat and reached to grab the bow. This was perhaps the closest I'd come to flipping today as he pushed down hard to roll himself. I had to brace and swing my hips a bit. He rolled up, grabbed his paddle, and expressed thanks. I was glad to have been able to help and avoid him swimming - there was another rapid coming up quickly.

Overall, I stunned myself at the level my skills have advanced. It's taken 7 years to reach this level of reading the water, using the water to my advantage, knowing where to place the paddle in the water, and bracing. I'm very buoyed. I still don't have a desire to paddle class IV water, but I'm feeling the ability reach for it if I need to.

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Steve and I packed up the trailer and returned to the Front Range today.