- Joined
- Aug 9, 2007
- Messages
- 12,940
If you keep up with BCP, you know that I've been getting into kayaking lately. It's something I've always wanted to do so with the my knee being so difficult the last year or so, I decided to take the plunge. As with any new activity, it's not a cheap thing to start doing. But fortunately it's mostly up front investment on gear that will last for many, many years. I tried out a few rental yaks on local waters and ended up settling on a Wilderness Systems Pungo 140. It's a 14' rec kayak with some sea kayak characteristics. Very roomy for a large guy like myself and pretty versatile for the trips I want to do.
For her maiden voyage, @Ndheiner and I set out for our first multi-day kayak trip to Lake Powell.
We got down to Bullfrog just in time to find a campsite in Stanton Creek.
The harvest moon rises.
It was pretty busy down there but we camped up away from the shoreline so we weren't by anyone. It was a full moon out so it was awesome to just sit and stare out at the landscape and the twinkling lights.
The next morning we loaded up the kayaks with supplies and launched from the ramp. The water was so low that the last extension of the ramp was being used and it was only about half the width of the regular ramp.
Nate and I settling in for the long paddle to Moqui Canyon.
The first 4 or so miles, we skirted the shore slowly making our way towards the mouth of Moqui.
We noticed a long wall on the other side so we made the mad dash across the channel and followed the wall. It was a little scary because it's like not having any shore at all over there. The paddle across the channel was pretty spicy too. Like playing frogger with motorboats and lots of wake. Fortunately there as a bout a 50 foot zone of pretty calm water along the long wall to Moqui that made for some nice paddling.
As we neared Moqui Canyon, we talked to a couple in a fishing boat that told us Moqui was really rough water because of the motor boats. But we're idiots so off we went. It was a bit choppy but not all that bad at first. By this time I was really itching to get out of the boat and stretch my legs but there was absolutely no where to do it. Just vertical walls all around.
Occasionally big boats would come by and just plow wake right into use - not slowing down at all. It was annoying but wasn't all that bad. On the way in at least. One of the nice boats even stopped and offered us beer, vodka and kisses from beautiful women.
Ya know, someone oughta build a damn dam on top of this dam so I can get my motor boat over them walls!
A neat little alcove in Moqui Canyon. We linked up here for a bit and took a floating break as the motor boats barreled on by.
Checking out a short side canyon for a potential campsite. Boats can't come here.
There was a pretty decent little campsite in the side canyon but it was surrounded by putrid water and trash which I've come to realize is to be expected from the top of any canyon in Lake Foul. We contemplated camping there but decided to hop back in the boats and head for the top of the main canyon.
As we moved up the main canyon, all of the sudden we started seeing fantastic campsites. Big sandy beaches and rolling slickrock. But they were all taken by houseboats. Some of them were huge operations and massive groups of people. On we paddled until we reached no-boat land at the top of the canyon.
There was a massive debris and trash pile blocking easy access to the sandbar we hoped to camp on but we managed to break through and beach our boats. Here's Nate picking up speed after getting around the big log jam.
Success! Just don't touch the water!
We unloaded gear, stretched our legs and hopped back in the boats. There were huge fish jumping all over and I wanted to try to catch them. No luck but I later learned they were probably carp anyway. My friend JB over at Kraken Bass had set me up with some nice bass lures but I never tossed it where the bass were.
It was just nice to go and sit in the boats and drift around though.
Back in camp for the night looking over the funkified pool of nasty.
The joys of 'yakpacking'. Sure, ice would have been nice, but I can't complain.
The next day the water was glass as we started our way down the channel.
After a few bends the motor boats came out in force. There was one that slowed down when they saw us but the rest just slammed us with wake. Worse than anything we had experienced. I came really close to capsizing on the first round when I wasn't expecting it to be too bad. From there it just went nuts. In the very narrowest part of the canyon, we were coming around a bend just as three huge boats were heading straight for us. They all came at us at full speed dragging their water weenies and banked hard around the bend right where we were. The resulting wake was just downright frightening. Huge waves were crashing into the walls and refracting back at more huge waves. Boat after boat just amplified it all into pure chaos. It felt like nothing short of paddling for my life for about 15 minutes before we got out of that section and into more peaceful water. I wasn't wearing my gopro so no pics.
We finally made it out to the mouth of Moqui and a sense of relief washed over me. We paddled over to some rocks and got out and swam and relaxed. This probably sounds pretty dramatic, but I was very happy to be alive.
After our break we decided to paddle across the channel and start looking for some prime campsites on the other side. It was choppy with waves crashing over here and there but nothing like in Moqui. This was just fun now. I decided to put on my GoPro and have it take intermittent photos.
We found a choice campsite right across the channel and spent the rest of the long afternoon sitting out on the slickrock patio drinking beer and swimming. It would get hot, so we'd swim. We'd dry out, so we'd swim. A bunch of boats would cruise by and of course we would swim. The waves were actually fun!
A thunderstorm rolled through later in the afternoon but we stayed dry. The skies were neat. The motor boats just kept coming and going. Strangely I didn't mind them at all where we were. This campsite is what I came for.
Up the slickrock above our camp enjoying the late afternoon sun.
A rainbow over our little cove.
The evening light was just gorgeous from our spot.
A long day of drinking and swimming took it out of us and we were asleep not long after the sun set. We didn't bother with tents and just slept on the slickrock about 6 feet from the water.
We woke up in the morning to a very stormy, mostly overcast sky. When we left for the trip the chance of storms was very low. We packed up fast and started back to Bullfrog. The last thing we wanted was to get caught in a bad storm unable to paddle into the wind.
We did stop and explore a few side channels along the way though.
The wind was a little rough for most of the trip back but then with about 3-4 miles to go, it started getting pretty crazy. I was getting my technique down but it was still pretty intense.
As we got closer to Bullfrog, we were able to turn so that the wind was at our backs, making the waves a blast to ride through. They would swell up and I could almost surf them a bit as they rolled me up and down.
It got choppy enough that I ended up with a lot of water in my yak. I actually had to bust out the bilge pump and pump it out!
The last few hundred yards got really crazy. We were just b-lining for Hobie Cat Beach but the boats didn't care. I had a houseboat literally turn into me at full speed. Granted, that's not too fast so I was okay, but I swear they were trying to hit me!
Finally we made it to dry ground, just as the storm got completely out of hand. It was sideways hail with lightning there for a bit while I waited with the boats while Nate ran up to grab the truck. This pic is right before it hit.
We got the yaks loaded up and hit the road just as another wave of storminess appeared to be developing. Overall, I loved this trip. I hated paddling the narrow channels with all the motorboats but it was still an unforgettable experience. Part of me feels like I've kind of compromised something about myself by paddling Powell. It's no secret I hate this dam and what it has done to the landscape hidden under it's waters. If it were up to me, it would be drained immediately. But it's not, so I guess I'm going to try to enjoy it a bit. I might even do it on a motor boat sometime *gasp*. I've gotta admit... there's a certain appeal to having all the supplies and being able to just pull up on your own shore and have a nice luxurious campout. We'll see...
Here's a map of our tracks from the trip.
View larger map.
On the drive home, we noticed many of the drainages along the highway were flowing. This is what a 20% chance of thunderstorms looks like in North Wash. (predicted the day we left)
This is usually bone dry.
Featured image for home page:
For her maiden voyage, @Ndheiner and I set out for our first multi-day kayak trip to Lake Powell.
We got down to Bullfrog just in time to find a campsite in Stanton Creek.
The harvest moon rises.
It was pretty busy down there but we camped up away from the shoreline so we weren't by anyone. It was a full moon out so it was awesome to just sit and stare out at the landscape and the twinkling lights.
The next morning we loaded up the kayaks with supplies and launched from the ramp. The water was so low that the last extension of the ramp was being used and it was only about half the width of the regular ramp.
Nate and I settling in for the long paddle to Moqui Canyon.
The first 4 or so miles, we skirted the shore slowly making our way towards the mouth of Moqui.
We noticed a long wall on the other side so we made the mad dash across the channel and followed the wall. It was a little scary because it's like not having any shore at all over there. The paddle across the channel was pretty spicy too. Like playing frogger with motorboats and lots of wake. Fortunately there as a bout a 50 foot zone of pretty calm water along the long wall to Moqui that made for some nice paddling.
As we neared Moqui Canyon, we talked to a couple in a fishing boat that told us Moqui was really rough water because of the motor boats. But we're idiots so off we went. It was a bit choppy but not all that bad at first. By this time I was really itching to get out of the boat and stretch my legs but there was absolutely no where to do it. Just vertical walls all around.
Occasionally big boats would come by and just plow wake right into use - not slowing down at all. It was annoying but wasn't all that bad. On the way in at least. One of the nice boats even stopped and offered us beer, vodka and kisses from beautiful women.
Ya know, someone oughta build a damn dam on top of this dam so I can get my motor boat over them walls!
A neat little alcove in Moqui Canyon. We linked up here for a bit and took a floating break as the motor boats barreled on by.
Checking out a short side canyon for a potential campsite. Boats can't come here.
There was a pretty decent little campsite in the side canyon but it was surrounded by putrid water and trash which I've come to realize is to be expected from the top of any canyon in Lake Foul. We contemplated camping there but decided to hop back in the boats and head for the top of the main canyon.
As we moved up the main canyon, all of the sudden we started seeing fantastic campsites. Big sandy beaches and rolling slickrock. But they were all taken by houseboats. Some of them were huge operations and massive groups of people. On we paddled until we reached no-boat land at the top of the canyon.
There was a massive debris and trash pile blocking easy access to the sandbar we hoped to camp on but we managed to break through and beach our boats. Here's Nate picking up speed after getting around the big log jam.
Success! Just don't touch the water!
We unloaded gear, stretched our legs and hopped back in the boats. There were huge fish jumping all over and I wanted to try to catch them. No luck but I later learned they were probably carp anyway. My friend JB over at Kraken Bass had set me up with some nice bass lures but I never tossed it where the bass were.
It was just nice to go and sit in the boats and drift around though.
Back in camp for the night looking over the funkified pool of nasty.
The joys of 'yakpacking'. Sure, ice would have been nice, but I can't complain.
The next day the water was glass as we started our way down the channel.
After a few bends the motor boats came out in force. There was one that slowed down when they saw us but the rest just slammed us with wake. Worse than anything we had experienced. I came really close to capsizing on the first round when I wasn't expecting it to be too bad. From there it just went nuts. In the very narrowest part of the canyon, we were coming around a bend just as three huge boats were heading straight for us. They all came at us at full speed dragging their water weenies and banked hard around the bend right where we were. The resulting wake was just downright frightening. Huge waves were crashing into the walls and refracting back at more huge waves. Boat after boat just amplified it all into pure chaos. It felt like nothing short of paddling for my life for about 15 minutes before we got out of that section and into more peaceful water. I wasn't wearing my gopro so no pics.
We finally made it out to the mouth of Moqui and a sense of relief washed over me. We paddled over to some rocks and got out and swam and relaxed. This probably sounds pretty dramatic, but I was very happy to be alive.
After our break we decided to paddle across the channel and start looking for some prime campsites on the other side. It was choppy with waves crashing over here and there but nothing like in Moqui. This was just fun now. I decided to put on my GoPro and have it take intermittent photos.
We found a choice campsite right across the channel and spent the rest of the long afternoon sitting out on the slickrock patio drinking beer and swimming. It would get hot, so we'd swim. We'd dry out, so we'd swim. A bunch of boats would cruise by and of course we would swim. The waves were actually fun!
A thunderstorm rolled through later in the afternoon but we stayed dry. The skies were neat. The motor boats just kept coming and going. Strangely I didn't mind them at all where we were. This campsite is what I came for.
Up the slickrock above our camp enjoying the late afternoon sun.
A rainbow over our little cove.
The evening light was just gorgeous from our spot.
A long day of drinking and swimming took it out of us and we were asleep not long after the sun set. We didn't bother with tents and just slept on the slickrock about 6 feet from the water.
We woke up in the morning to a very stormy, mostly overcast sky. When we left for the trip the chance of storms was very low. We packed up fast and started back to Bullfrog. The last thing we wanted was to get caught in a bad storm unable to paddle into the wind.
We did stop and explore a few side channels along the way though.
The wind was a little rough for most of the trip back but then with about 3-4 miles to go, it started getting pretty crazy. I was getting my technique down but it was still pretty intense.
As we got closer to Bullfrog, we were able to turn so that the wind was at our backs, making the waves a blast to ride through. They would swell up and I could almost surf them a bit as they rolled me up and down.
It got choppy enough that I ended up with a lot of water in my yak. I actually had to bust out the bilge pump and pump it out!
The last few hundred yards got really crazy. We were just b-lining for Hobie Cat Beach but the boats didn't care. I had a houseboat literally turn into me at full speed. Granted, that's not too fast so I was okay, but I swear they were trying to hit me!
Finally we made it to dry ground, just as the storm got completely out of hand. It was sideways hail with lightning there for a bit while I waited with the boats while Nate ran up to grab the truck. This pic is right before it hit.
We got the yaks loaded up and hit the road just as another wave of storminess appeared to be developing. Overall, I loved this trip. I hated paddling the narrow channels with all the motorboats but it was still an unforgettable experience. Part of me feels like I've kind of compromised something about myself by paddling Powell. It's no secret I hate this dam and what it has done to the landscape hidden under it's waters. If it were up to me, it would be drained immediately. But it's not, so I guess I'm going to try to enjoy it a bit. I might even do it on a motor boat sometime *gasp*. I've gotta admit... there's a certain appeal to having all the supplies and being able to just pull up on your own shore and have a nice luxurious campout. We'll see...
Here's a map of our tracks from the trip.
View larger map.
On the drive home, we noticed many of the drainages along the highway were flowing. This is what a 20% chance of thunderstorms looks like in North Wash. (predicted the day we left)
This is usually bone dry.
Featured image for home page:
