Ugh, that was a beatdown yestaday, and I am in pretty sorry pedaling shape.
I planned on bailing early, but the trail and scenery just got better and better. I survived on the fruits and vegetables I ate for breakfast, one apple (plus a slice of apple - compliments of Dag Nabbit) one stale package of cliff blox, one gu, a handful of scooby snakes, and two handfuls of peanuts. Oh yeah, that I and shorted my camelbak bladder out of a good 30 oz, cuz there aint no way I drank 100. I actually had to crack open my 5 oz safety reserve bottle. No real cramps, but my quads were really tight.
Utter than that it was an ahsum day on the trail. Good company. Outside of Sedona, I think the portion of AZ trail we pedaled was the probably the most scenic trail I've been on.
Thanks everybody for letting me shove the camera in your face.
Nov 27, 2011
Nov 24, 2011
Apache Lake
So much to be thankful for, especially for the natural beauty that Arizona lakes have to offer.
I headed out to Apache Lake for nice little Thanksgiving day adventure out at Apache Lake.
I left my house about 5:30, and was paddling by 8:00. The waters were calm as the sun was coming up, but I as I experienced many times before that the winds usually pick up out of the east as the earth comes to life. Today played right into my plan, as I road the winds down the lake to the west.
I had a few things on my list to explore and see today:
1) See some bighorn sheep - CHECK
2) Find the canyon/cave/grotto at the Alder Creek Wash - CHECK
3) Climb up to the waterfall - CHECK (Well mostly, the spring wasn't kicking out enough water)
4) Find the Hermit's Cave - CHECK
5) See a bald eagle or two - DENIED to
I headed immediately to the north shore and had my eyes peeled for the sheep roaming around the bluffs. Before I knew it, I was at Alder Creek Wash (party cove) and I didn't see one stinking bighorn. I still had my hopes up and my eyes were still peeled.
I left my kayak down in the wash, and set out to find the canyon/cave/grotto, and I found it almost immediately. I saw a youtube video a while back that these doods shot of the canyon, and I've been intrigue to find it ever since. It was really kewl when I stumbled upon it. I found the trees that obscured it and the entrance to the cave had a RV sized boulder laying on top of two equally sized boulders. I was super excited at this point. The first room led into a second through a narrow passage. I had a scramble up to the third room and beyond that. I was a little on edge, cuz this seemed like prime mountain lion habitat, so I had my pepper spray handy the whole time. Really neato exploring. I did spot a few beer cans, so I knew this was pretty popular destination. I could have continued farther up the canyon, but opted to do that another day, and I didn't want to get hurt while traveling alone. I must have topped out about 100' vf, near the big obelisk that you see from the wash. There is no way to capture this grotto in video of neato it was, but I tried...
I scramble back around the top of the canyon, and then started my hike up to the waterfall. There was a little bit of water in the creek bed, but when I got up to the waterfall, and I could hear it on my approach, but the water coming down was hidden by the boulders. When the water is flowing from the spring, it is really neato, but today I was denied.
On my 1 mile back down from the waterfall, I saw a ram way up bluffs above me. He certainly saw me before I saw him. He was probably about 300 or 400 yards away, and about 400' up. The saving grace about my situation was that I wasn't forced to capture him on video from my boat. I am amazed at how stable the footage turned out, I also wish I was a closer. I am also amazed at how agile this bad boy was. I did catch on video, him scramble and leaping on the rock face above. Neato! On my way back down the wash, I spotted a second ram on the opposing bluffs. I bet these two have had some serious rutting battles, and I wish I could be there for that.
Once I got back down to my boat, the clouds were setting in, so I decided to call it a day. I did have one more stop, and that was at the old Hermit's Cave on the south shore. It is a couple miles west of Crabtree Wash, where I started my trip. This was a pretty neat cave. Inside, it a bulkhead built up and backfilled, for a level platform.
The only disappointment was not seeing any eagles today, but I did see a small tarantula.
Lotsa things to be thankful for in my life, but being in the moment, in such a neato place rules. I literally heard about 1 minute total of boat noise on the water, and that was about a mile away. The other thing I was extremely thankful for, was that my car started back up, cuz the battery was on its last throws. (It actually died the very next day).
Here is a video of the day:
Nov 21, 2011
Verde River (Novembe 19, 2011)
Not much of a post here, but I just wanted to jot down a few notes on my trip down Verde River on Saturday.
The pedal up from Beasley Flats to White bridge (about 10 miles) took me less than 50 minutes (I was on my mountain bike this time). The other times I've done this, it has taken me about a little over an hour, on my wife's cruiser .
The flow was about 200 cfs, the highest I had done it yet. Still far-far away from being a crazy float down the river.
It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to float the 11.4 miles from White Bridge to Beasley Flats.
The pedal up from Beasley Flats to White bridge (about 10 miles) took me less than 50 minutes (I was on my mountain bike this time). The other times I've done this, it has taken me about a little over an hour, on my wife's cruiser .
The flow was about 200 cfs, the highest I had done it yet. Still far-far away from being a crazy float down the river.
It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to float the 11.4 miles from White Bridge to Beasley Flats.
Nov 11, 2011
Oct 25, 2011
Daily Double - Mountain Bike Ride and Kayaking
What better way to follow a most excellent kayaking trip on Canyon Lake yesterday, but with a most excellent ride on South Mountain's National couple with a http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifselhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giff supported (bike shuttle) float down the Lower Salt River.
Knocking out two schweet adventures in a day is something you can do in Phoenix.
I split from Pima Canyon about 7:00 as the sun was just coming up, and the temps were primo for pedaling.
I actually had a pretty good climbing day up National, except I for being held back by a worn out cassette.
The ride back down I was just "feeling it" and the flow was good. It was so good, that hesitated to leave good flow to go find good flow, but I wanted to get some more water time in.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
So wrapped up my ride, headed home, unloaded the mountain bike, loaded up my wife's cruiser bike, loaded up the WW kayak, change my cloths and headed out to the Lohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwer Salt River. I dropped off my kayak at the Lot #1 at the top, then shuttle my car back down to Granite Reef Dam, then shuttled the bike back to the top.
I was on the water about 12:00, and the flow was of the river was good.
The temps were plenty warm.
On my way down I came across several raptors, and even an owl hanging out on the banks at Coon Bluffs. That was pretty kewl. I also saw the smartest heron I have ever seen. What makes this heron so smart? Well instead of getting spooked and flying down river about 50 yards like most stupid pterodactyls do, only to get spooked again, and again. This one actually double back and flew back up river. Never to be hassled by me again.
I saw a few horses, and the loads of big fish.
It took me about 3 hours to get down to Granite Reef, but I did spend some time getting vid footage.. I was pretty fatigued after 20 miles of flat water paddling yesterday, about 20 miles of biking today and 12 miles on the river today.
Here is a vid of the day:
And here are a few pics:
Knocking out two schweet adventures in a day is something you can do in Phoenix.
I split from Pima Canyon about 7:00 as the sun was just coming up, and the temps were primo for pedaling.
I actually had a pretty good climbing day up National, except I for being held back by a worn out cassette.
The ride back down I was just "feeling it" and the flow was good. It was so good, that hesitated to leave good flow to go find good flow, but I wanted to get some more water time in.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
So wrapped up my ride, headed home, unloaded the mountain bike, loaded up my wife's cruiser bike, loaded up the WW kayak, change my cloths and headed out to the Lohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwer Salt River. I dropped off my kayak at the Lot #1 at the top, then shuttle my car back down to Granite Reef Dam, then shuttled the bike back to the top.
I was on the water about 12:00, and the flow was of the river was good.
The temps were plenty warm.
On my way down I came across several raptors, and even an owl hanging out on the banks at Coon Bluffs. That was pretty kewl. I also saw the smartest heron I have ever seen. What makes this heron so smart? Well instead of getting spooked and flying down river about 50 yards like most stupid pterodactyls do, only to get spooked again, and again. This one actually double back and flew back up river. Never to be hassled by me again.
I saw a few horses, and the loads of big fish.
It took me about 3 hours to get down to Granite Reef, but I did spend some time getting vid footage.. I was pretty fatigued after 20 miles of flat water paddling yesterday, about 20 miles of biking today and 12 miles on the river today.
Here is a vid of the day:
And here are a few pics:
Oct 24, 2011
Kayaking on Canyon Lake
I had they day off and wanted to get some flat water paddling in, so I headed out to Canyon Lake. I've paddled this lake several times now, and it never gets old. While I was out there, I did a little scouting on a future adventure, which I kinda comes to fruition soon.
When I got to the lake, there was just a hint of daylight, and I dig this in time of the day.
My plan was to paddle up to the top of the lake; all the way up to Horse Mesa Dam (well to the barrier at least). I also hit the all the usual coves on the way.
The paddling temps were the most comfy I've had in half a year. I did have to battle a little bit of a head wind all the way up, but the nice part of this lake, is that all twists and bends give me occasional protection. Then again, the twist and bends also funnel the wind at you too. I did have a tail wind for a good portion of my return trip, so my wager was a push.
When I paddled off the main portion of the lake into the canyon, I had my eyes fixated on the cliffs; scanning for bighorn sheep. When I rounded the bend to Beer Can Point, I saw some heads with horns peering down on me. The problem with these dang old sheep, is that they like to sit way high on the bluffs, so you can't see them when you are directly under them. The best view I had is when I was about 1/4 mile away, as the sat perched on a sheer 400' cliff. Cross that off the list of things to see for the day. I was denied on seeing any bald eagles, drat.
Today's paddle was a solid 20 miles, with lots of close quarters maneuvering in my touring kayak. This left me pretty tired when it was all said and done at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Here is a video of the day:
And a few pics:
When I got to the lake, there was just a hint of daylight, and I dig this in time of the day.
My plan was to paddle up to the top of the lake; all the way up to Horse Mesa Dam (well to the barrier at least). I also hit the all the usual coves on the way.
The paddling temps were the most comfy I've had in half a year. I did have to battle a little bit of a head wind all the way up, but the nice part of this lake, is that all twists and bends give me occasional protection. Then again, the twist and bends also funnel the wind at you too. I did have a tail wind for a good portion of my return trip, so my wager was a push.
When I paddled off the main portion of the lake into the canyon, I had my eyes fixated on the cliffs; scanning for bighorn sheep. When I rounded the bend to Beer Can Point, I saw some heads with horns peering down on me. The problem with these dang old sheep, is that they like to sit way high on the bluffs, so you can't see them when you are directly under them. The best view I had is when I was about 1/4 mile away, as the sat perched on a sheer 400' cliff. Cross that off the list of things to see for the day. I was denied on seeing any bald eagles, drat.
Today's paddle was a solid 20 miles, with lots of close quarters maneuvering in my touring kayak. This left me pretty tired when it was all said and done at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Here is a video of the day:
And a few pics:
Oct 11, 2011
Kayaking down the Verde River
If been paddling a bunch lately, but I just haven't taken the time to document to post up my excursions.I did nice little self supported trip (bike shuttle) down the might Verde River on Sunday.This is pretty much the same trip I did here, so I won't cover the logistic details, utter than the river was flowing about 140 CFS.Here is a video of the day (please excuse all the vanity shots):
I also snapped a few pics with my phone, that was running a cheezy little camera app that simulates HDR.Here are some faux HDR pics:
I also snapped a few pics with my phone, that was running a cheezy little camera app that simulates HDR.Here are some faux HDR pics:
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