Blog
What’s In a Name
A History of the Cache La Poudre River by Morgan Mayo
Juniper and silver sage cascading down long red riverbanks. The shadow of spruce trees falling across dark water, flowing over lichen covered boulders, disappearing over drops and around bends in a tumult of white. Craggy grey canyon walls against a pale blue sky, all ablaze at sunset. Dark hills covered in ragged rocks. Lush grasses blowing in a summer wind beneath a ghostly white moon.
What do you call a place like that?
The Cache La Poudre River
How do you give a wild river, flowing older than time, a name?
Today we call it the Cache La Poudre River. It begins in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains along the Continental Divide; winds its way through the Roosevelt National Forest, the city of Fort Collins and eventually merges with the South Platte River near Greeley, Colorado. It flows a total of 76 miles and drops 7,000 feet in the process.
“Cache La Poudre” is French for “where the powder is hidden”. The name came about when trappers for the American Fur Company were stranded in the canyon during a snowstorm. In order to lighten their load and make it to their destination in Wyoming; they had to bury much of their cargo including several barrels of gun powder. The next spring they returned and found that all their cargo was still intact, where they had hidden it.
Photo courtesy of Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center
But the Poudre has been a river of many different people and many different names throughout history. In the letters of a military captain and explorer stationed in the area in 1820, it is referred to as “Pateros Creek”. The Captain said it was named after a Frenchman who lost his way along the winding river and then wandered for twenty days without food.
In 1840, the river was also widely referred to as “Piteux” which is French for Piteous. It achieved this name after a band of French trappers left a young man behind to watch after their trap line over winter. When they returned the following spring they found the man wandering “piteously” along the banks of the river, his clothes in shreds, completely insane from the isolation of the canyon in winter.
And then there was “Mini Luzahan”. Perhaps the most accurate of all the names the river has worn throughout the years, it means “Swift Current” in Sioux.
If there is anything that all the names of the Poudre River have in common, it’s that they describe a place that is at once savage and beautiful, isolated and tranquil.
The words Poudre Canyon instantly inspire images of hidden trails meandering through meadows filled with wildflowers; spring snows melting into the quiet rush of a pristine river. However, for centuries the Canyon and the river have had utilitarian purposes beyond beauty.
Evidence of Native American settlement in the Canyon can be seen through the left over rock shelters, burial sites, and fire hearths nestled in hidden corridors near the river. Gold mining, logging, and railroad construction resulted in permanent settlements in Poudre Canyon in the mid-1800’s. Gold mining met with limited success, as ghost towns such as Manhattan and Old Poudre City continue to attest to today. Yet, there are whisperings that a 19th century bandit’s hoard of panned gold and stolen treasures still remains hidden in some shady grove deep within the Poudre Canyon. Imagine the happy hiker, climber or rafter that happens to stumble upon that secret.
Early Rafting on the Poudre River
In addition to failures in mining, efforts to construct a railroad track through the Canyon were also abandoned. However, many of the original railroad grades eventually served as a foundation during the construction of Highway 14, which continues to snake its way alongside the river today. The construction of this highway gave outdoor enthusiasts greater access to the area and private whitewater rafting trips on the Poudre became immensely popular in the 1950’s.
An important and special milestone in the Poudre River’s history occurred in 1986 when it was designated as Colorado’s first and only Wild and Scenic River. While 46 miles remain open for recreational use, 30 miles of the river are completely wild. In addition, certain restrictions limit the amount of rafting trips that are allowed to go down in a day. Thus, any rafting trip you take with Mountain Whitewater Descents ensures a level of peaceful isolation in nature and a total escape from the hectic, crowded daily grind.
The Poudre River has had a long, tumultuous and at times tragic history. Yet, the moment the shadow of those canyon walls falls across your shoulders it feels as though you’ve entered some furtive world where time stands still. You see a river wound round boulders as deeply as a vein pulsing blood through some pre-historic giant, whose sleeping form has been mistaken for mountains all these years. It is a Canyon torn between light and shadow, the quiet whisper of a breeze passing through the branches of a Cottonwood against the loud crashing cacophony of swirling rapids. It is a place for lost people, lost secrets and lost treasures. Let Mountain Whitewater Descents introduce you to this un-spoilt world so that you can re-discover them.
Trip Schedule & Meeting Time Changes
We are going to make some changes to our trip schedule and meeting times for 2012
We are excited to announce a few minor changes to our trip schedule and meeting times to better accommodate our guests. The new changes are as follows:
- Meeting time for the AM Splash Half-Day will be moved from 7:15am to 7:45am. This should make the AM Splash easier for guests from Estes Park and outside Fort Collins to make this trip.
- The Mishawaka Full Day trip will now be offered ONLY on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. This will open up some space for more guests to take the half-day trips on the other days of the week.
Thanks for checking-in to the Mountain Whitewater Descents website and we hope to see you on the river in 2012.
Thanks for a GREAT Rafting Season!
We are now closed for 2011.
Thanks to all of our guests and employees for making 2011 a season to remember. We are taking some time off in September, but will be back in October to start getting ready for 2012. If you need to get in touch with us before then, please send an email to contacts@raftmwd.com and we will reply as soon as we can. Thanks for choosing Mountain Whitewater Descents and we hope to see you on the river in 2012.
Mountain Whitewater Descents’ Guest Testimonials!
Thanks to all of our customers for another wonderful summer on the Cache la Poudre River! Here’s what our guests had to say about us this season:
“This was my first time to whitewater raft and I felt very safe with the professionalism of our guide and the company in general. It was a great and exciting experience and I will definitely recommend this company to friends and family, as well as be a repeat customer in the future.”
“Your team was very professional and courteous…after the first wall of water flew over us we were ready for more, and did not want the trip to end. And the pics and video at the end had some great laughs. Thanks for putting one more check on the bucket list…”
“Bryan quickly got to know us and made us feel confident about our abilities and made us a part of the journey.”
“Ben, our guide…he did a fabulous job! He definitely made our rafting experience more interesting and kept us entertained!”
“The river was awesome at 4.9 and Melissa was awe-inspiring in her technical and interpersonal skills.”
“Kevin was an excellent guide. His calm, friendly, and confident personality along with his encouragement allowed the first-timers in our raft to have a positive first experience and left us wanting to come back for more. Overall, each of us had an incredible trip & look forward to coming back next summer!”
“I’m glad that Mountain Whitewater Descents’ guides were competent to take us through some more aggressive rapids and a longer stretch of river, letting us have a unique interaction with one of the Front Range’s most incredible features.”
“Tracey was a fabulous guide!!!!!!”
“Andrew and Mattie were incredible guides! Plus we enjoyed having a beer at your Paddlers Pub post-trip.”
“Drew was awesome. He made the experience. We have used other companies on other rivers. The guides can make or break the experience. This is why we keep coming back to MWD.”
“We really enjoyed the whole place. We thought it was great that you guys had a pub, a hot tub, fire pit, and sand volleyball.”
“Jordan was an excellent guide. We had total confidence in her. It was our first time rafting and she made it very enjoyable.”
“Cass made it so much fun, and she did an awesome job making sure we were informed about the rapids so that we would stay safe. It was an absolute blast!”
“Even though I (mom) couldn’t raft with my kids because of a recent surgery, Micah allowed us to drive behind him and photograph my boys on the river in all the “good” spots. In every single instance, both of my boys had ENORMOUS grins and were obviously having the time of their life. So, even though I wasn’t actually on the river, I really got to be involved…you REALLY made the difference for us.”
“The people you employ here were glad to be helpful and confidently pleasant. People really do make the place/experience. Light-hearted and great at their jobs. You guys were great.”
National Get Outdoors Day 2011 with MWD
MWD Promotes Outdoor Water Activities.
National Get Outdoors Day is a new annual event to encourage healthy, active outdoor fun. The main goals for the day are to reach first-time visitors to public lands and to reconnect our youth to the great outdoors! Come join us this Saturday June 11, 2011 from noon-4pm at various locations around Spring Canyon Park in Fort Collins. Mountain Whitewater Descents will be located on the north-west side of Dixon Reservoir. We will have kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, and kite boarding all for FREE from noon-4pm. Come GET OUTDOORS and enjoy the sun while learning new skills. See you Saturday!
2011 Poudre River Cleanup a huge success!
Over 100 Volunteers Gather to Clean up the Cache la Poudre.
12th Annual Poudre River Cleanup
Over 100 volunteers gathered on Saturday May 21 to clean up the Poudre River. Volunteers not only filled a 300 yard dumpster, overflowing its capacity but also collected 150 gallons of glass and aluminum recycling! Mountain Whitewater Descents would like to thank our co-sponsors Save the Poudre and City of Fort Collins Natural Areas. The Poudre river cleanup is part of the National River Cleanup through American Rivers.
This is Mountain Whitewater Descents 12th annual river cleanup. We would also like to thank the local companies that helped to make the cleanup such a huge success including New World Sports who gather the collected garabge and took it to the dumps and Gallegos Sanitation for providing us with dumpsters.
With the support of these local sponsors the cleanup was efficient and fun! The river cleanup is about more than just cleaning up the banks, it’s about connecting the community with one of the most valuable resources for Fort Collins.The post party was a great way to celebrate the efforts of everyone. Mountain Whitewater Descents hosted the thank you celebration following the cleanup. Food and Beer was provided by Back Country Provisions, Odell Brewing Co., Rio Grande and Marcos Pizza.
Thanks again to our fantastic sponsors and all of our volunteers for helping to celebrate our City’s treasure, the Cache la Poudre! We hope to see everyone again next year!!
Check out Mountain Whitewater Descents in the Coloradoan!
Expectations run high for the 2011 rafting season on the Cache la Poudre River!
Mountain Whitewater Descents was featured in the XPLORE section of the Fort Collins Coloradoan last Friday! Check out the article by following the link below:
Mountain Whitewater Descents featured in the XPLORE section of the Coloradoan
Mountain Whitewater Descents Sponsors River Cleanup
Down Town Cache la Poudre River Cleanup
Join Mountain Whitewater Descents for their annual Cache la Poudre River Clean-up. With help from our co-sponsors Save the Poudre and the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program, we will clean all along the Poudre trail from Taft Hill Road to Lemay Avenue, possibly further.
Clean-up meets Saturday, May 21, 2011 @ 9am and will last until noon. All you need is gloves, sunscreen & the desire to make a difference in our community. Meet @ Lee Martinez Park in the main parking lot. Any and all volunteers are welcome; please register at the check-in table prior to the cleanup.
New World Sports will provide bike trailers to haul the trash bags off the trail, and Gallegos Sanitation is donating trash & recycling bins for the event.
Please try to carpool or ride bikes to reduce parking congestion and to reduce the event’s carbon footprint. Also, make sure to dress for the weather. We will clean the river rain or shine!!
To say thanks to anyone who volunteers during the event, there will be a volunteer appreciation event held at Mountain Whitewater Descents after the cleanup. The event is going to begin at 12:30pm and will last until around 5:00pm. There will be FREE beer provided by Odell Brewing Company and FREE food provided by Backcountry Provision and the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. Other refreshments will also be provided for those who are not of legal drinking age. This event is only open to those who volunteer, so make sure you register for the cleanup before you start.
Call 970-419-0917 or email ben@raftmwd.com for more information.
Mountain Whitewater Descents Celebrates Earth Day!
Offsets are a great way to do your part on Earth Day.
In order to celebrate this wonderful planet and our company’s commitment to environmental sustainability, Mountain Whitewater Descents is participating in the Colorado Carbon Fund’s Earth Week Campaign. The campaign asks individuals and businesses to voluntarily offset their emissions for the week of Earth Day (April 18-24). Mountain Whitewater Descents has contributed to offset 5 metric tons of its carbon emissions, Enough to cover the output from our buses for an entire summer!
Please join us in our sustainability efforts by offsetting your own carbon emissions! It is easy to contribute; all you need to do is contact the Colorado Carbon Fund (CCF) at (303) 866-2264 or email them at ccf@state.co.us. For every dollar received by CCF, a dollar will be spent on building clean energy projects in Colorado. This will create jobs, reduce emissions, and bring Colorado’s clean energy future that much closer to reality.
Mountain Whitewater Descents has also been participating in the City of Fort Collins’ Climate Wise program since 2009, and has achieved the title of Gold Level business for 2011 through our commitment to environmental stewardship.
Mountain Whitewater Descents also encourages all of our guests to offset their travel emissions though a local non-profit company called Trees, Water & People. The program is very simple. Find where you live (or where you traveled from) on our Carbon Offset Travel Map. The map will show you the cost to offset the full Carbon impact of your travel with Trees, Water & People (The map prices are based off of national averages for vehicle mileage). Mountain Whitewater Descents can simply add this price of your CO2 offset to the price of your trip or feel free to just leave a donation with our office staff when you check-in. If you do not wish to offset all of your Carbon Footprint from your travels, no problem, any offset donations will be accepted. In fact, Mountain Whitewater Descents believes in sustainable travel so much, that we will match all of our guest offset contributions up to $1000 each season.
Ernie Fund Spurs Cross Country Cycle Trip
Bicycle Touring from Wyoming to Washington
by Laura Loretz
With the help of this travel grant provided by Mountain Whitewater Descents, a pro-deal purchase for some amazing panniers from Pacific Outdoor Equipment and of course the support of my mom and dad I took off! Although I was going to make the trip happen no matter the circumstances, the ease of this trip would not have been possible without the Ernie Fund and the support given to me by MWD!!
This past fall, a friend and I took off on our first ever bicycle tour. Bicycle travel is human-propelled and therefore sustainable by nature. This along with my need to keep this trip as low-cost as possible fit perfectly with what the Ernie Fund stands for. (Traveling cheaply and with the environment). I applied for the Ernie Fund, and proudly became the 2010 recipient.
My friend Toby and I began in Lander, WY with little expectations, only a simple goal of reaching the coast of Washington in the 30 days we had to complete the journey. What we learned was there was no way to plan for what was about to take place. 1,400 miles, 29 days , and 4 states later we finished with new friends, amazing memories, and a feeling of satisfaction and pride I never expected.
Reaching the Puget Sound in Anacortes, WA I realized that the memories were endless;
From the scary (a bear growling around our campsite in the dark or being face to face with buffalo in Yellowstone NP) to the impossible (climbing up 5,000 ft in elevation for 25 plus miles) to the beautiful (the moss-drapped trees of Washington, The Grand Tetons peering at us from a campsite) to the unexpected (locals bringing pizza and beer to our campsite, the constant addition and subtraction of total strangers to our ride) The people we met will not soon be forgotten, nor the support of friends and family. And the miles, well, let’s just say I am certain that they will keep on going… because for me this is not the end of an adventure, but the start of many more!
Things that I learned while cycle touring:
- People think that riding your bike across the country is impossible
- It is not impossible
- Warm beer is infinitely colder than no beer at all
- We are not “bikers”, but rather cyclists
- At the end of the day you forget the pain, can’t put your finger on any frustrations and still feel as though your are having the time of your life
- Tourists in Yellowstone seem more attracted to cycle tourists than the wildlife around them
- Washington state is a temperate rain forest
- People are good
- The best cure for a bad day, a good day, a rainy day, a hilly day or a flat day is a good beer and a Snickers bar
- Even when you think you cannot pedal for one more mile, you usually find that you have to pedal 15 more miles… and you can
- Our country varies so much, the people, the towns, the landscapes… nothing is the same and that is consistent
- Laughing with strangers is under appreciated
- Small miracles happen everyday
- We are just a small part of the earth, but can touch lives and do our part to spread goodness in ways that can multiply
- A bar in a small town is the best way to get the truth out of a town
- Other than the bar, don’t believe the locals; they will tell you it’s “all downhill” and the weather forecast is “perfect for the next 10 days”
- The best way to find yourself is to be lost on an adventure, immersed in chance and embracing the others that come into your life… you can only know yourself when you are at your lowest and watch how you react to getting yourself up again
- Don’t plan on planning, let each day bring with it new adventure… planning gets in the way of the freedom to let life and adventure unravel …These are the best moments!
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