- Joined
- Aug 9, 2007
- Messages
- 12,939
I'm a desert rat all the way through, but sometimes I just have to get my mountain fix. With my hiking distance limited, I figured it was a great time to break out the inflatables and do some 'yakpacking'. Fair warning: it's tough to get unique angles from within the kayak, so get used to seeing the back of my dog's head a lot.
Loaded up and heading off from near the campground. @ashergrey brought up his impressive handmade kayak.
@Christian paddled up in my new inflatable, Great Bend.
@Cody and Cowboy took Llewellyn.
And Sage and I paddled my other Sea Eagle, Labyrinth.
It looked like it could storm on us as we paddled up lake. A soft wind at our backs helped propel us forward.
A few rain drops started to fall so we pulled up on a beach in case it got bad. It didn't, so 15 minutes later we were back on the water and heading for the inlet that would lead us to the upper Green River Lake. At first paddling up stream wasn't too bad. More work, but doable.
But soon we found ourselves beached and had to resort to dragging our boats. The water quickly became deep enough to float, but we soon discovered the current was too strong to paddle up.
After this photo, it got particularly tough for a short stretch. I had bad shoes on for it and the water became pretty deep and quite swift. I tried to get in and paddle a couple times which did not end well. My fishing pole paid the price.
Soon after passing the bridge over the river, the current slowed and we were able to paddle most of the remaining distance into the upper lake. I'd had my eye on a spot on the left just as you enter the lake, but it was occupied. We made our way up lake and found a nice spot along the east shore.
The next day we slept in late. The water was glassy when I rolled out of my tent, but soon after the winds picked up and went back and forth up and down the lake. It would have been fine weather for hiking, but not so much for paddling. We just lounged around camp until about 3:30 when things calmed down and we hopped in the boats to head up to the top of the lake.
Sage enjoyed having all of our stuff out of the boat. Lots of room to move around. I love how stable these boats are.
The light was hit and miss as we got to the top of the lake and started up the Green River towards Square Top, towering nearly 4,000 feet above us.
@Christian taking in the view at the top of the lake.
Paddling up the green on glassy water.
White Rock lit up by the fleeting sunlight.
We turned around here where some fallen timber blocked the channel. We tried making a run up the left side but it was too shallow. If it hadn't been so late in the day, we would have portaged and been able to make it much further up.
Back on the lake, the mix of sun, clouds and milky green water made for some nice photo opportunities.
The view from camp that second night.
The next morning the lake was glass again, but this time I took some pictures.
@Christian dedicated to getting the right angle.
Before pulling down my tent, I took a photo of it. It's the Sierra Designs Tensegrity Elite 2 (2 lb 3 oz). I'm working on a review of this, but so far I am very impressed.
Loaded up and back on the water. I decided to take Great Bend down. My first time paddling it since acquiring it earlier this month. Out on the lake, it was awful compared to the amazing tracking on the Sea Eagles. Especially with wind at my back. It would just spin me around. But it was great once there was a nice current pulling me down the river.
I didn't get many photos of the fun parts of the river. It was a total blast though. No rapids or anything but a few swift sections. We didn't have to get out and portage anything on the way down.
Back in the lower Green River Lake. A few more miles back to the truck.
Lucky for us, the wind was at our backs again. About half way back the wind got pretty crazy. We were surfing through 2+ foot waves the closer we got to the end of the lake. Lots of fun and I am so glad it wasn't going the opposite way!
It was a fine paddle and great to finally get out on a couple of BCP'ers I'd yet to get to know very well. I'm looking forward to returning sometime and paddling further up the Green.
Featured image for home page:
Loaded up and heading off from near the campground. @ashergrey brought up his impressive handmade kayak.
@Christian paddled up in my new inflatable, Great Bend.
@Cody and Cowboy took Llewellyn.
And Sage and I paddled my other Sea Eagle, Labyrinth.
It looked like it could storm on us as we paddled up lake. A soft wind at our backs helped propel us forward.
A few rain drops started to fall so we pulled up on a beach in case it got bad. It didn't, so 15 minutes later we were back on the water and heading for the inlet that would lead us to the upper Green River Lake. At first paddling up stream wasn't too bad. More work, but doable.
But soon we found ourselves beached and had to resort to dragging our boats. The water quickly became deep enough to float, but we soon discovered the current was too strong to paddle up.
After this photo, it got particularly tough for a short stretch. I had bad shoes on for it and the water became pretty deep and quite swift. I tried to get in and paddle a couple times which did not end well. My fishing pole paid the price.
Soon after passing the bridge over the river, the current slowed and we were able to paddle most of the remaining distance into the upper lake. I'd had my eye on a spot on the left just as you enter the lake, but it was occupied. We made our way up lake and found a nice spot along the east shore.
The next day we slept in late. The water was glassy when I rolled out of my tent, but soon after the winds picked up and went back and forth up and down the lake. It would have been fine weather for hiking, but not so much for paddling. We just lounged around camp until about 3:30 when things calmed down and we hopped in the boats to head up to the top of the lake.
Sage enjoyed having all of our stuff out of the boat. Lots of room to move around. I love how stable these boats are.
The light was hit and miss as we got to the top of the lake and started up the Green River towards Square Top, towering nearly 4,000 feet above us.
@Christian taking in the view at the top of the lake.
Paddling up the green on glassy water.
White Rock lit up by the fleeting sunlight.
We turned around here where some fallen timber blocked the channel. We tried making a run up the left side but it was too shallow. If it hadn't been so late in the day, we would have portaged and been able to make it much further up.
Back on the lake, the mix of sun, clouds and milky green water made for some nice photo opportunities.
The view from camp that second night.
The next morning the lake was glass again, but this time I took some pictures.
@Christian dedicated to getting the right angle.
Before pulling down my tent, I took a photo of it. It's the Sierra Designs Tensegrity Elite 2 (2 lb 3 oz). I'm working on a review of this, but so far I am very impressed.
Loaded up and back on the water. I decided to take Great Bend down. My first time paddling it since acquiring it earlier this month. Out on the lake, it was awful compared to the amazing tracking on the Sea Eagles. Especially with wind at my back. It would just spin me around. But it was great once there was a nice current pulling me down the river.
I didn't get many photos of the fun parts of the river. It was a total blast though. No rapids or anything but a few swift sections. We didn't have to get out and portage anything on the way down.
Back in the lower Green River Lake. A few more miles back to the truck.
Lucky for us, the wind was at our backs again. About half way back the wind got pretty crazy. We were surfing through 2+ foot waves the closer we got to the end of the lake. Lots of fun and I am so glad it wasn't going the opposite way!
It was a fine paddle and great to finally get out on a couple of BCP'ers I'd yet to get to know very well. I'm looking forward to returning sometime and paddling further up the Green.
Featured image for home page:
It has everything I love. Amazing mountains, Beautiful Blue-green lakes, This forests, Kayaking, Camping, possible hiking, did I say AMAZING mountains!?
