South Platte River - Deckers

Ran 7/4/2017 from just below Deckers with a first-time hard-sided kayaker. This is a loooooooong run in low water-- other guides mention 3-4 hours for the full run, but at 200 CFS I'd easily double that. Upper section is very mild and quite shallow at this level. For the upper stretch, I think I'll be looking for >250CFS minimum instead of >200CFS-- the lower section seems fine at 200, though.

Heavy use by tubers and fly fisherman throughout much of the run, particularly the slower, flatter upper section.

Next time I bring a beginner there, I'll start much lower than the Deckers or Trumbull-- the Scraggy View Picnic Area is really the turning point in the river, at least in today's run. If you're in a group with class III+ kayakers, there's very little to be gained going much above the Chutes, a very cool (and equally obvious) IIIish shot through giant rock faces.