Bow River Float 09

Stuff is a bit scrambled on my end of things right now. I have been taking photos every day, but I haven’t had much time to put posts up for them. It seems like we have always been busy with one thing or another.

This is my ninth float down the Bow River this year, and we went from Ogden to Fish Creek Park just like we did on the last float, number eight. Not that anyone reading this blog would know that since the images from that last float aren’t all processed yet. I’m uploading stuff in the wrong order now.

The previous float on October 8th (which I have still yet to post as of October 19th when I am updating this entry) saw us departing from the Ogden Boat Ramp Parking Lot in Calgary, Alberta, for the first time. I parked above in the lot and then walked everything down, which was several trips. This time I backed down the ramp and we fired everything out onto the ground including a battery powered pump. We pumped and configured our crafts on the spot, I tossed the portable pump in my trunk, and the I parked the car. Only one trip down the ramp this time. That saved about fifteen minutes for everyone and got us going sooner.

I met five other people at the Ogden. Two of them, Lena and Alex, I knew from previous floats. The fellow in the dinghy is a friend of Alex and he is here from the Ukraine. Philip and Leslie were new to me. Philip is missing from the above image, he is off to the left and barely visible.

It was very warm when we started out, the temperature was 23C. The air temperature, that is. The water was a different story and my thermometer said it was 9C. That’s pretty cold and is concerning if you go into it without proper clothing. That’s why I’m wearing a wetsuit, and also why I have it open to avoid cooking before going onto the river. Well, that, and who doesn’t want to see some beefcake? LOL.

Hitting the river itself was a bit of a fustercluck. We all really need to stop trying to head out at the same time as we were bouncing off each other just as we reached the current. Dumb. It didn’t help that Leslie decided not to use a fin so she wouldn’t drag bottom in the shallows, but it left her with a lot less control of her craft. I’m not throwing shade at her here, just observing that our planning lacked … planning.

I sort of became the official photographer for the float as I always seem to, sharing out an album of images with everyone after the fact. I also tried to do some fine art work, but it is getting harder as the leaves disappear…

The trip itself seemed to be shorter than the previous one. I think that is, in part, because the river seems to be moving faster as the water level drops and it gets shallower.

I had trouble with this patch in the construction area on October 8th when I did an afternoon river run. Just after you get past the bridge two different currents meet and create a swirly eddy that messed with me and almost made me lose my balance. I was ready for it this week and blasted through without any problems.

I also had a bit of fun choosing some of the more turbulent options (again) this week. I had originally decided not to in case I ditched and went into cold water, but cold water is why I bought the wetsuit, so why not? I went for it and it was great. The rest of my party was saner than I and took the fork to the right.

One turbulent spot you can’t avoid now is the final approach to Fish Creek Park. As we get later in the season the water level is lower and that stretch keeps getting rougher to go through. You also have to watch for the odd rock you can hit with your board that wasn’t a problem last month. I got a good laugh out of one family we passed who were fishing on the shore. I plainly heard a little girl telling a parent, “those people are nuts” despite my lousy hearing.

There are more videos from the trip in this playlist on Youtube. There is also one long video showing most of the float. It’s a bit much, but I will need to watch it in February when I have cabin fever and it will remind me that I will have a life on the water again soon-ish.

We shaved a bit of time off on this trip. The previous week it took us three hours and seventeen minutes with three hours in motion. This week it took us three hours and six minutes with two hours and fifty-three minutes in motion. Last week’s average speed was 5.35 kph and it was 5.58 kph this week. Look at us go!

Images from my OM System (Olympus!) Tough TG-7 and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The videos are from my Akaso EK-7000 action camera, a.k.a. the “Crap Cam”.