{"id":23039,"date":"2020-06-10T17:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T00:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=23039"},"modified":"2020-06-10T16:28:59","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T23:28:59","slug":"getting-through-the-gates-on-the-north-platte-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2020\/06\/10\/getting-through-the-gates-on-the-north-platte-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Through the Gates on the North Platte River"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care what rivers your buddy has run. This is Northgate and Northgate eats rafts,\u201d said Hack of Hack\u2019s Tackle in Saratoga, Wyoming.<\/p>\n

Allegedly…that\u2019s what Hack said.\u00a0\u00a0My friends, Dave and Eric relayed Hack\u2019s words to me second-hand.<\/p>\n

We were already at the Routt put-in on the upper North Platte River, gear strewn all around us, and just on this side of \u201ctoo late,\u201d when Dave and Eric reenacted Hack\u2019s reservations about our fishing trip.\u00a0The water level for our early June trip was at 850 cfs and falling. Below 900 cfs the river guide lists the run as \u201cVery marginal for rafts.\u201d<\/p>\n

In hindsight, cracking a beer with a shrug was probably not the correct response to Hack\u2019s dire warnings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Upper North Platte is an amazing but fickle river. It originates in Northern Colorado, but only becomes large enough to float as it nears the Wyoming border and then only for a short time in the spring and early summer. Its intermittent flows, difficult access and somewhat technical whitewater combine to keep it under the radar of most western boaters.<\/p>\n

But for those who know about it and those who time it right, an Upper North Platte multi-day river trip delivers the goods: canyons, whitewater, trout, hikes and some great camps.<\/p>\n