Colorado Top 10

[Big Daddy D]

Trevor and I just got back from our 9-day father and son trip to Colorado before he goes to college. We hit some familiar spots and also ran some new rivers.

Here is our Top 10 on the Fun-Meter.

#1 – Clear Creek (Dumont section). Non-stop creeky Class IV with lots of drops and holes to punch. Ends with fun rapid, Outer Limits. My abs were sore by the end and I hit one of my best combat rolls on this run. My favorite run of the week.

#2 – The Numbers. The quintessential Class IV. This was Trevor’s first time to run it. He aced it. It was so much fun to see him experience this run. Level was 1100 cfs.

#3 – BV Playpark. Trevor hit his first loop ever the first day there. My goal was to not be outdone by the kid. I was getting closer all week. Finally, on our last day, I stuck the first three loops I tried at the first wave hole. I moved down to the 4th hole and got a total of 10 for the day. (But who’s counting? That’s right, I am. Middle-aged men rule!) That was the cherry on top of the trip.

#4 – Salida Playpark. Great waves and holes. Great atmosphere. Friendly people. A lot of great paddlers were giving us pointers and tips all afternoon.

#5 – Browns Canyon. This was our warm up for the week. Trev tried the hero line at Sidel’s Suck Hole, got flipped in the top hole, hit his roll just in time to avoid getting chundered. Close call, but he was Mr. Cool under pressure.

#6 – Upper Blue. Ran it with John Burt at around 600 cfs. Lots of small waves on the fly and fun eddy lines to play. A great short evening run for sure.

#7 – Lawson Hole. They say it’s not as good as it used to be. It was good for loops, but kinda flushy. Water is COLD.

#8 – Pueblo Park. Hit this on our drive up. Pretty fun for concrete channel. 8 different play spots. About 4 were decent and fun at this level. Would like to see it at higher flows.

#9 – Dowd Chute. Ran this in our playboats. It’s created from blast rock from the highway. Pretty straight forward, but I flipped in a big hole and ran half of it upside down. Missed first two roll attempts, but got my third. One of my longer upside down rides of the last few years.

#10 – Upper Eagle. We caught it near the minimum flow level. Class III with some play on the fly. A little long for the amount of fun and play at this level.

I started paddling with Trevor when he was 12. This was absolutely one of the best weeks of my life. Great one on one time with my son. That's why I love this sport.

BDD

[tomOzarkVideo]

Thanks for the Beta!!

[MaxTexan]

Glad to see the Pueblo park on yuor list. It is a favorite of mine. To me the biggest draw back is that it can get hot down there during a sunny summer afternoon.

[Fish]

For me, your #1 run, Clear Cr. Dumont, has been the most underrated run in CO for a long time. Probably the best class IV creek in the state, and good at almost any level. Great warmup for a class 4+ boater, exciting for a class 4 boater, and serious white knuckle stuff for a class 3+ boater at medium flows. At high water... be sure to bring your big boy wet-booties. Glad to see some other folks appreciating the whitewater up above Idaho Springs!

- Fish

[gannon_w]

Dumont is one of my Fav runs which is simply underrated because of the difficult shuttle. ((Difficult is anything not hitch-able which is everything in AR)) You need to add upper Clear Creek, Boulder creek, Big Thompson, and you skipped the best river in the state the Poudre? I've noticed most Arkansas (the state) boaters rarely venture above I-70 and mainly stay in the Ark Valley? Maybe due to the name? I dunno.

Here is a funny beatdown video on Pineview this year. The Steven's down is a solid playboatin IV level right now easy to hitch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YbNrf9IZIw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RomanLA]

Sounds like an amazing week! Your #2-5 are on my personal list, but it will be another year before I can get out there. I've been slowly introducing my 9 and 11 year old girls to paddling. Hopefully, one or both of them will be out running whitewater with me one day!

[Big Daddy D]

Dumont is one of my Fav runs which is simply underrated because of the difficult shuttle. ((Difficult is anything not hitch-able which is everything in AR)) You need to add upper Clear Creek, Boulder creek, Big Thompson, and you skipped the best river in the state the Poudre?

Thanks for the suggestions. Poudre was in consideration. John had run it the weekend before, and none of us had run Dowds or Upper Eagle so we opted to try those out. In hindsight, Poudre probably would have been more fun even with the extra drive. There just isn't enough time to hit everything you want. But we got on 5 new runs and visited parts of Colorado we had not seen before. Hopefully will catch more new rivers next year. Best of all we got to paddle with old friends and made new ones.

[gannon_w]

Next time you're there and the rock is 3.5 or higher hit Upper and lower rustic (17.5 miles), free camping on Pingree road (the higher you go up the more secluded and better spots), then hit Steven's down (11 miles)! All class IV but all playboating friendly.