In The Shadow of Longs Peak
31 August 2020
We are up and hiking by 6:30. It is not dead calm as I had hoped but the wind is pretty light, only 4 mph on the ridge, nothing daunting. We start down the other side of the ridge and soon I see the boats! Woo-hoo! We continue down, taking Gary’s route and start unloading the gear. But first I take a picture. The hike back to the boats took about 45 minutes.
Before long, we are suited up and ready to paddle away. Like I mentioned its not dead calm but nothing like yesterday. It takes about 15 minutes to round the cliff then another 15 minutes to camp. We land and start the tasks of packing up and driving out.
Both boats get loaded unto Gary’s truck as I have decided to not take mine on to Oregon. I get my gear reorganized. Soon we are driving out to the highway. I have no trouble negotiating the 4 steep hills, which really are no steeper than Gary’s driveway and not nearly as rough. We head into Green River, get breakfast at McDonalds, gas up and go our separate ways.
Gary heads home, arriving safely on one tank of gas. I head west for a planned camping outing with my daughter Kari, this time at Magone Lake which is near John Day Oregon.
A good ending to this story! Whew!
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
29 August 2020 - 31 August 2020
Our plan is to give the inlet of the Black's Fork Arm another go.
30 August 2020
Today we plan to paddle, so I need to get ready! We are up at 7:30, Gary makes breakfast, I drink coffee, do a drawing and write in my journal.
Gary wheels the boats down to the water; We gear up, hop in, and start across the lake. There are a couple of coves on the east side I wanted to check out. It is warm and calm as we start. We dip into a couple of coves but with the low water level they are not very big.
We then turn up lake and head for the Black’s Fork Arm. We are not too far past Lost Dog when the wind comes up. It is not a gradual build up but an immediate wall of wind. At least we are heading into the wind and pretty much perpendicular to it. There are 2 coves coming up and we duck into the 2nd one and catch our breath. We get out and decide to wait a bit and see if the wind dies down. Coming into the cove, I clocked the wind at 18 mph … and we already in a protected area!
We wait. After a time it seems like it calms down for a bit so we begin the trek back but in no time the wind picks up again but now it is at our back. Time and again a wave overtakes us but we keep our paddles in the water, preserve and more importantly stay upright. There is another cove coming up on our right so we head into that. Our idea is to wait till the next lull but even in the cove we are getting slammed with wind and waves. I am thinking I will get out and put on my nylon top and rain jacket since I am just a bit chilled. The wind does not abate so we both get out and pull our boats out. There is a nice log to sit on so we take refuge there. And wait. Looking up the Black;s Fork Arm it seems there are only white caps coming toward us. And since we are about 1/3 of a mile above the confluence fetch definitely comes into play.
But doing that last 1/3 in these conditions may not be the best idea so we sit. There is also a tall rock cliff between us and the main lake, towing our boats is not really an option. So we sit. I am hoping that by 5 or 6 PM it will be calm enough to paddle.
Gary gets tired of sitting and hikes up the bluff to explore. I am happy just sitting and waiting, a surprise since I very rarely just sit at home. After a bit I look at my watch and decide if he is not back by 4 I will go looking for him.
I am just about to do that and there he is!
He hiked up to the top of the ridge, found a road and could see the general area of our camp.
We decide to wait till 6 to see if the wind dies down. Its light till 8:30 and there’s a full moon so event waiting till 7 to start back would work.
But at 5 we get tired of waiting. We pull the boats way up out of the water, stow them behind the log, all the gear into the hatches and hike back to camp. I do take my deckbag/backpack with devices and rain jacket with me. Gary leads the way, following his scouting route. I am getting my hiking fix in! And I am glad that Gary’s foot is not bothering him. This would have been a trial for him when his plantar fasciitis first set in.
It’s a hump, but before long we are at the top of the ridge. There is a road and we take that even higher. And we took a wind reading: 40 MPH!
There is another track headed down in the direction of our camp so we take that and before long we are at the 4 trailers park to the north of our camp. We head to the shore and in a minute or so, our cars are in sight.
We have supper, a cocktail and plan for the morning: up at first light, hike back up and down to the boats and paddle back.
I might mention, the wind does die down but not till 8 PM or so.
I sleep soundly to start with to start with then fitfully for the remainder of the night. And, though the wind calmed down, it seems like it kicked up once or twice during the night.
And I sleep in my boating clothes: one less thing to deal with in the morning. And repack my daypack with water, snacks, and devices: GPS, anemometer, camera and binoculars.