In the interest of helping out some beginners, is anyone interested in a very beginner paddle down the Oldman in Lethbridge? I would help organize an evening paddle around 7pm to 8pm. If there are any interested takers, please post with preferred days for next week.
4 comments:
Funny you should mention that. I had already planned to take some brand new paddlers (3) out on Saturday afternoon. The more company the bettter. We hadn't chosen a river yet. But the old man would be just fine i think.
I'd be interested, but 7 to 8pm is not a great time for me on weekdays. Would 9 to 10pm be too late?
For an excellent local beginner float, I'd encourage the float on the St. Mary River from the Airport Bridge down to the Oldman River and to a take-out at Popson Park (or float on the Oldman for another hour or so to the weir access for take-out).
For the St. Mary put-in, take Hwy 5 south past the airport and turn right at the next gravel road with the big power line - follow the road about 10 minutes down to the bridge over the river). The Popson Park take-out is at that City park on the westside - access with a left turn from Univ. Dr. south of the UL and past the turn to Paradise Canyon.
With fairly good flows, it's about an hour on the St. Mary (6 km) and then less than a half hour on the Oldman to Popson Park. The smaller size of the St. Mary is a bit more comfortable than the Oldman for beginners and there are some eddies, etc. (grade I with a couple of I+). On the Oldman there's often a surf-wave along the left bank (below the coulee-top houses) and there's the broken ledge on river right just above the take-out at Popson, where surf-waves often form (grade II feature but easily avoided by staying on the left side of the river).
One suggestion.
Stew
I would be very interested but i am not available this weekend. Wednesdays and thursdays are usually free evenings for me.
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