I'm making a thread to document my Flight Sim river adventures. With no career mode available at launch, I decided to combine THE SIM with my day job and tour and explore some great rivers! I'll add some nerdy notes about river geomorphology and I also hope to learn a lot with my parallel research for this. I'm not sure how many rivers I'll fly, but even the first river should produce enough content to warrant it's own thread and not clutter the SIM thread.
North Platte River Adventure:
The first river adventure will be the North Platte! We begin our adventure at the Walden - Jackson County airport in Northern Colorado. The whole of North Park is the headwaters of the North Platte River, but the river begins its officially named journey at the confluence of Grizzly Creek and Little Grizzly creek, just southwest of Walden near highway 14. From this unassuming beginning it rapidly picks up volume as other small creeks throughout North Park contribute their volume. From here it travels just over 700 miles through Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River. I'll break this trip down into many different legs and I might super sim through Nebraska
Jackson County Airport:

Our flight plan takes a short loop south of Walden where we’ll gain some altitude to appreciate North Park, bordered by the Never Summer Mountains on the east and the Zirkel Range on the west. Then we’ll fly to the confluence of Grizzly Creeks and begin our journey along one of the most famous rivers in the west. Here's a photo of the Zirkel Mountains from North Park. You can see a couple of my favorite fishing lakes barely in view, but don't worry we'll swing closer!
Zirkel Mountains:

Grizzly Creek on the right meets with Little Grizzly Creek on the left. At the confluence they change names to the North Platte River! Name changes of rivers are fairly common in the west, where one explorer might name a lower section of the river something different than other explorers who had already named an upper section of the river. In some cases they changed one name or the other, and in other cases they just change the name at a confluence. In this case they opted to keep both Grizzly Creeks named as such and just start the North Platte River name at the confluence. My favorite example of this is the Wind River/Big Horn River in Wyoming, which changes names at the bottom of a canyon with no confluence to even give legitimacy to the name change. The location of that name change is called "Wedding of the waters."
Start of the North Platte River at Grizzly Creek Confluence:

As we fly North along the river the first foothill we come to just west of the North Platte River is Delaney Butte and the three lakes that share a name. South Delaney is probably my favorite of the three and I have spent a lot of quality time on a float tube or kayak fishing that lake. It is especially fun to fish in the fall once all the mosquitoes have died off. The whole North Platte River valley and all associated creeks use flood irrigation in the spring to grow hay and the mosquitoes are completely out of control
Delaney Butte and Lakes:

The North Park section of the river is characterized by highly sinuous morphology. I won't dive too much into river nerding, you can go CJones river meanders if you'd like, but the basic explanation is that rivers will naturally trend toward an equilibrium slope that balances erosion and sedimentation so that the river carries all the sediment that it naturally erodes. In areas where the overall river valley is steeper than the equilibrium slope and the river has lateral room for migration in erodible soils, the river will become highly sinuous to flatten the river slope relative to the valley slope. High mountain streams are often typified by this pattern. Less erodible soils on the edge of the river valley are what constrain the river meanders.
Sinuous river meandering back and forth within the wider river valley:

River meanders have a life cycle, they develop and become more and more curved until the river eventually cuts through the curve, usually during a high flow event, and the meander is abandoned. The river in North Park has some amazing examples of this formation process, and the migration process can be viewed and measured through comparing historical aerial photographs to current aerial photographs. Abandoned meander bends form critical wetland habitat for many species, and are the sign of a healthy connection between the river and the floodplain.
Examples of many abandoned/historic meander bends, with the river straightened along the less erodible soils at the edge of the valley:

At the northern end of the park, near the Colorado/Wyoming Border, we encounter the mountains at the edge of the park, and our first river canyon for the North Platte. Northgate Canyon is a wonderful stretch of river famous for rafting and fishing opportunities and flows through the North Platte River Wilderness. My first elk/deer hunting spot was near the Colorado/Wyoming border on the east side of the river just above the rim of the canyon. I decided a video would be best for this section of the river, because it's just so pretty. THE SIM does a decent job with this canyon, but as with the other river canyons I've explored so far, things look a lot better if you stay a bit higher in elevation. I'm just glad I didn't kill myself trying to show off my acrobatic flying. This was the first time I've flown with the external cam and I definitely almost crashed at one point!
Near the lower end of Northgate Canyon:

South of Northgate Canyon we fly out into the "Upper North Platte Valley" or Saratoga Valley in Wyoming. The river valley is similar to North Park, but you'll notice that the river itself adopts a different plan form within the wider river valley. The river is straighter and wider and the meanders have much lower amplitude. The meander bends that do exist are typified by sedimentation/gravel bars on the inside of the bend and deep holes on the outside of the bend. You'll also see a lot of split flow paths or multiple branches of the river within the wider river valley. At low flows these splits are often dry, but they are activated at higher flows. While the river form has changed dramatically compared to North Park, it is still typified by a good connection between the river and the wider floodplain.
Floating/trespassing laws in Wyoming state that you are allowed to float the river, but you aren't allowed to anchor or touch the bottom. There are definitely some conflicts between old timers who felt they owned the river and recreational boaters and fisherman floating the river. My dad told me a story of an old lady who lived near Bennet Peak who would shoot rock salt at boaters with a shotgun. He told me a story of ducking down into the bottom of his canoe so he wouldn't get peppered. Bennet Peak is some of the coolest public land I've hiked around. It's this little mountain in the middle of the valley and some of the best mule deer habitat around.
North Platte approaching Bennet Peak, I like to imagine this is where the shotgun lady lived!

Entering Upper Platte River Valley, note the split channels:

We finished today's flight in the middle of the Platte River Valley and had a successful but somewhat derpy landing at Shively Field on the western edge of Saratoga. Came in a little slow/low and almost landed short of the threshold, but managed to pull up just enough to clear the lights on the front of the runway with the stall horn blaring! Time to do some fly fishing this afternoon before continuing our flight tomorrow! I realized I didn't take any photos of the area around Saratoga, so I think I'll actually do a video of that when I start tomorrow's flight. The next leg of the journey will take us from Saratoga to Casper and we'll see a lot more human impact on the river!
North Platte River Adventure:
The first river adventure will be the North Platte! We begin our adventure at the Walden - Jackson County airport in Northern Colorado. The whole of North Park is the headwaters of the North Platte River, but the river begins its officially named journey at the confluence of Grizzly Creek and Little Grizzly creek, just southwest of Walden near highway 14. From this unassuming beginning it rapidly picks up volume as other small creeks throughout North Park contribute their volume. From here it travels just over 700 miles through Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River. I'll break this trip down into many different legs and I might super sim through Nebraska

Jackson County Airport:

Our flight plan takes a short loop south of Walden where we’ll gain some altitude to appreciate North Park, bordered by the Never Summer Mountains on the east and the Zirkel Range on the west. Then we’ll fly to the confluence of Grizzly Creeks and begin our journey along one of the most famous rivers in the west. Here's a photo of the Zirkel Mountains from North Park. You can see a couple of my favorite fishing lakes barely in view, but don't worry we'll swing closer!
Zirkel Mountains:

Grizzly Creek on the right meets with Little Grizzly Creek on the left. At the confluence they change names to the North Platte River! Name changes of rivers are fairly common in the west, where one explorer might name a lower section of the river something different than other explorers who had already named an upper section of the river. In some cases they changed one name or the other, and in other cases they just change the name at a confluence. In this case they opted to keep both Grizzly Creeks named as such and just start the North Platte River name at the confluence. My favorite example of this is the Wind River/Big Horn River in Wyoming, which changes names at the bottom of a canyon with no confluence to even give legitimacy to the name change. The location of that name change is called "Wedding of the waters."
Start of the North Platte River at Grizzly Creek Confluence:

As we fly North along the river the first foothill we come to just west of the North Platte River is Delaney Butte and the three lakes that share a name. South Delaney is probably my favorite of the three and I have spent a lot of quality time on a float tube or kayak fishing that lake. It is especially fun to fish in the fall once all the mosquitoes have died off. The whole North Platte River valley and all associated creeks use flood irrigation in the spring to grow hay and the mosquitoes are completely out of control
Delaney Butte and Lakes:

The North Park section of the river is characterized by highly sinuous morphology. I won't dive too much into river nerding, you can go CJones river meanders if you'd like, but the basic explanation is that rivers will naturally trend toward an equilibrium slope that balances erosion and sedimentation so that the river carries all the sediment that it naturally erodes. In areas where the overall river valley is steeper than the equilibrium slope and the river has lateral room for migration in erodible soils, the river will become highly sinuous to flatten the river slope relative to the valley slope. High mountain streams are often typified by this pattern. Less erodible soils on the edge of the river valley are what constrain the river meanders.
Sinuous river meandering back and forth within the wider river valley:

River meanders have a life cycle, they develop and become more and more curved until the river eventually cuts through the curve, usually during a high flow event, and the meander is abandoned. The river in North Park has some amazing examples of this formation process, and the migration process can be viewed and measured through comparing historical aerial photographs to current aerial photographs. Abandoned meander bends form critical wetland habitat for many species, and are the sign of a healthy connection between the river and the floodplain.
Examples of many abandoned/historic meander bends, with the river straightened along the less erodible soils at the edge of the valley:

At the northern end of the park, near the Colorado/Wyoming Border, we encounter the mountains at the edge of the park, and our first river canyon for the North Platte. Northgate Canyon is a wonderful stretch of river famous for rafting and fishing opportunities and flows through the North Platte River Wilderness. My first elk/deer hunting spot was near the Colorado/Wyoming border on the east side of the river just above the rim of the canyon. I decided a video would be best for this section of the river, because it's just so pretty. THE SIM does a decent job with this canyon, but as with the other river canyons I've explored so far, things look a lot better if you stay a bit higher in elevation. I'm just glad I didn't kill myself trying to show off my acrobatic flying. This was the first time I've flown with the external cam and I definitely almost crashed at one point!
Near the lower end of Northgate Canyon:

South of Northgate Canyon we fly out into the "Upper North Platte Valley" or Saratoga Valley in Wyoming. The river valley is similar to North Park, but you'll notice that the river itself adopts a different plan form within the wider river valley. The river is straighter and wider and the meanders have much lower amplitude. The meander bends that do exist are typified by sedimentation/gravel bars on the inside of the bend and deep holes on the outside of the bend. You'll also see a lot of split flow paths or multiple branches of the river within the wider river valley. At low flows these splits are often dry, but they are activated at higher flows. While the river form has changed dramatically compared to North Park, it is still typified by a good connection between the river and the wider floodplain.
Floating/trespassing laws in Wyoming state that you are allowed to float the river, but you aren't allowed to anchor or touch the bottom. There are definitely some conflicts between old timers who felt they owned the river and recreational boaters and fisherman floating the river. My dad told me a story of an old lady who lived near Bennet Peak who would shoot rock salt at boaters with a shotgun. He told me a story of ducking down into the bottom of his canoe so he wouldn't get peppered. Bennet Peak is some of the coolest public land I've hiked around. It's this little mountain in the middle of the valley and some of the best mule deer habitat around.
North Platte approaching Bennet Peak, I like to imagine this is where the shotgun lady lived!

Entering Upper Platte River Valley, note the split channels:

We finished today's flight in the middle of the Platte River Valley and had a successful but somewhat derpy landing at Shively Field on the western edge of Saratoga. Came in a little slow/low and almost landed short of the threshold, but managed to pull up just enough to clear the lights on the front of the runway with the stall horn blaring! Time to do some fly fishing this afternoon before continuing our flight tomorrow! I realized I didn't take any photos of the area around Saratoga, so I think I'll actually do a video of that when I start tomorrow's flight. The next leg of the journey will take us from Saratoga to Casper and we'll see a lot more human impact on the river!