Springtime at Cherry Creek Reservoir
In a few months it will be spring and I am planning to partake again of an activity that I enjoyed so much with two of my friends a few years ago. What prompted this? I was looking through my old photographs and I see a picture of me from behind paddling a canoe. I had almost forgotten I did this! I loved it. The downside is that I am afraid to go by myself and it is very tiring. I noticed one of my coauthors Sydney Lupica wrote about a river canoe trip that sounded great last month, so now I have decided to add my two cents worth. I would never try to canoe a river like that without an experienced helper like Sydney had, but a lake far safer and easier.
I rented my canoe a few years ago at the Marina at Cherry Creek reservoir in east Denver. Cherry Creek is a state park so there is a $9 fee to get in unless you have a season pass. The canoe rental was cheap, around $20, and it came with a life vest. Neither my boyfriend nor I had every paddled a canoe anywhere, ever, but we watched a couple of how-to videos. Canoing on a flat lake might bore some but it was plenty for us. We paddled fast, we paddled slow, we whirled the canoe in circles, we paddled in reverse. Two hours with a lunch break was all the paddling I wanted. I was exhausted.
I took a friend of mine with us and she sat in the middle, and as you can see she helped paddle. She was from a foreign country and asked if we had sharks in the lake. I cracked up laughing. I advised her no, just very, very, cold water. Dangerously cold. We wore our life jackets and did not get too far from the bank. I picked spring for this activity because I don’t want to paddle in hot weather. Remember, If you decide to try this, bring sunscreen, sandwiches, and lots of drinking water.
Cherry Creek Reservoir is huge, 880 acres of water, and over 40 feet deep. The recreation center around it has miles of multipurpose trails. It's a great place to get outside. The Cherry Creek Marina is still there in east Denver waiting for spring. You can give them a call for their current prices.
