Flying along the Arkansas River

Here’s the honest-to-god truth about a trip i took to the Arkansas River...

I was craving adventure a wanted to explore something id never seen before. So i got my drone out and flew on it to survey the Arkansas River.   Here is an actual high-resolution photograph of me just after take off...

I flew first, at 750mph to the start of the Arkansas River which is in the rocky mountains near Leadville.

The A.R. is the sixth longest river in the United States measuring almost 1500 miles. As i soared high into the mountains i noticed that the river becomes rather large rather quick. The riffles between bends here are fairly long and the discharge in the mountains is about 2900 cfs.  Depending on the snow pack that year, the A.R. has mean overall discharge of 41,000 cfs so you can see that it becomes quiet large over its run.  
Here in the Rockies the river is known for its class 3-5 rapids and is home to many people of questionable disposition who kayak and raft these dangerous waters....questionable disposition, not like me flying safely on my sub-sonic drone.

As the river meets a gentler grade, it gains width and slows in speed. it is the Arkansas river that Flows through Rocky Ford Colorado and is the main supply for the famous Rocky-Ford Cantaloupes as well as other fruit farming that takes place is south eastern Colorado.  

The A.R flows through four states, the last of which is Arkansas, before flowing into the great Mississippi River of which the A.R. is therefore a tributary.

Here i ended my journey by touching down on a barge...hopefully they will let me power my drone back up so i can be home for dinner. From Rapids, to watering farms, and now finally assisting in the huge discharge required to make freight transport by boat real, the A.R. ends its particularly productive run.