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.

Saquaro Lake

Here is a little vid for today's paddle on Saguaro Lake:

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:

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:

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:

Horses of the Lower Salt

Here are a few pics from this mornings paddle down the Lower Salt.

I think every time I been down the Lower Salt, I've seen the free roaming horses.

Today, I lost count on how many I saw, but there most have been about 30 soaking up the goodness of the river.

Here a few pics:

A day at Sunrise Lift Area for some DH

I was feeling more inspired to ride than shoot video, but I did get a few clips. Nothing special.

Man, did it rain. I've been sweating the heat and wishing for rain all summer, and I got more than I wanted in relief. A 12:00 thunderstorm rolled through Sunrise, and we got completely soaked. The put a lightening hold on the lift for about 45 minutes.

Once they started the lift back up, cold and wet, we froze at the top. Then about an hour later, we go another storm. At that point I was super muddy on top of being cold and wet, so I called it a day at about 2:45. 6 runs in, but I certainly didn't ride very aggresively. Good bye Sunrise DH riding for another season. Booo!

Thanks to Gnar Gnar Tours for organizing the trip up and back.

Here's a littl vid of the day: