Author Topic: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic  (Read 9155 times)

levity

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up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« on: October 26, 2013, 07:18:12 PM »
Below Lake Mead the Colorado River carves through Black Canyon for about 24 miles before entering Lake Mojave.  The Nevada side is wilderness, and on the Arizona side there’s just one road about half way down that accesses a marina at Willow Beach.  We usually paddle downriver, launching from Hoover Dam and taking out at Willow Beach or at El Dorado Canyon 12 miles further down near Lake Mojave (see other posts in this section). Having the current with us is fun, but it requires obtaining permits and using licensed outfitters to launch from the secured Hoover Dam site as well as arranging a shuttle.

To simplify things we decided to stay at the Willow Beach campground and paddle upriver and back, about 23 miles round trip.  Figured we’d be good since in the fall the river current is reduced as a result of lower discharge from Hoover (less water demand for irrigation and less power demand for Las Vegas air conditioning).  The weather is usually best in the fall as well, with temps in the 60-85° range and usually less wind.

There’s a well-developed campground with full hook-ups in the hills just above Willow Beach.  We usually paddle our inflatable SUPs on rivers, but we took hard boards since we would have to work more paddling upriver.  Jill took her 12’2” PSH Gun, and I took my 12’6” Hobie.  Here’s our rig:




Wednesday morning dawned beautiful, and we were at the marina just after 8am.
A view from shore looking downriver.




and a view upriver where we’d be paddling… sweet!




It was nice to head north with the sun behind us.  Conditions were perfect – there was only a slight current and little or no wind so we often had beautiful reflections of the sky and mountains on the water.  I’ll let the pictures tell it.






















A little after 11am we rounded a bend and could see the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (Hwy 93) crossing the river at Hoover Dam.
We decided to paddle on as far as allowed and return to this nice beach for lunch.




Just below the Dam there’s a cable across the river and a sign restricting access:
 “HOOVER DAM – SECURED AREA – DO NOT ENTER”.




We turned around and headed back to the beach area for a lunch break.  Here’s a view down canyon,




and here are some shots paddling back, the current with us this time.













Just upriver from Willow Beach there’s an old gaging station where the canyon narrows.  Here’s a view approaching the gap and a closer shot showing the cable and and hanger used to take water readings.







From there it was a short distance downriver to the Willow Beach Marina.







Then it was back to camp, a shower, dinner and sunset.



 
Just another day on the river enjoying the magic of SUP.  8)
« Last Edit: October 26, 2013, 07:25:46 PM by levity »

supthecreek

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Re: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2013, 07:49:14 PM »
Once again you have given us a superb tour. Beautiful.... my kind of glass.
I love the way you 2 incorporate travel and paddle.... true inspiration.
Perfect. Thanks :)

SeaMe

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Re: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2013, 08:11:50 PM »
Looks like it was magical, and your photos are beautiful! :)
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TallDude

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Re: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2013, 09:09:15 PM »
Hey guys. Looks beautiful. Love the desert in the fall.
It's not overhead to me!
8'8" L-41 ST and a whole pile of boards I rarely use.

Chilly

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Re: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2013, 02:37:38 AM »
Nice pictures and description of the canyon. Thanks for posting them.
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lucabrasi

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Re: up the creek with a paddle – Black Canyon magic
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2013, 05:54:50 AM »
Nice. I like your posts and with much credit to your previous posts about here and also the Green River we are going to be staying in that area this spring a bit downstream from Willow Beach. The Green River float sounds wonderful but less rustic overnight facilities seemed to win out for a spring trip with everyone involved but I do think we will check the area out on the way down. 

 


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