In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Friday, 03 July 2015
We pop up the next morning, pack up and are on our way. It doesn’t take long to get to Buckboard Crossing. We unload gear and boats and proceed to pack and are underway by 10 AM. We paddle up-lake, past lots of folks in the dispersed camp sites along the west side of the lake, north of Buckboard.
In about 2 hours, we reach the junction of the Black’s Fork and Green River Arm and sneak into a small cove for lunch, which is actually the ingredients for breakfast, breakfast burritos but without the eggs. Yummy!
We finish up and start paddling, retracing our steps just a bit then turn and then head up the Green River Arm.
There is another launch up this way, Firehole Canyon.
For a while, we pretty much have the place to ourselves, as it is a somewhat of a distance to the various put-ins.
I am beginning to wear down, and we pull aside for a break. We are still below the Firehole Put-in and I eye an area across the lake that seems like it might have suitable campsites.
But we decide to paddle on and we pass the dispersed areas associated with the Firehole Area.
I decide I am done for and convince Gary to pull out, which we do and start looking for a place to setup camp. Nothing spectacular and it has the definite disadvantage of lots fof water scooters and noise and it seems like this is a very recent grazing area for cows.
After a rest we decide to continue up-lake. I slow down my paddling to a steady rate that is maintainable and am able to continue. We pass Firehole (finally!) and once past there is no more dispersed camping nor motorized water traffic. We continue on to a cove which looks like it may have camping possibilities and we get out to explore.
The cove is adjacent to a bench that comes down to the lake. Since the cove does not seem to offer the ideal spot we make our way over there and find a nice spot or two in amongst the grass. As we make our way down to the shore to mark a landing, we find an even better site then another that is even better . Gary ties his hat to a tree as our marker and we head back to the boats then paddle to the hat.
Once there, we rest then quickly setup camp, relax some more then make supper.
The time we landed was approaching 5 PM or so we’ve been paddling 7 hours with about 90 minutes of rest stops and breaks. I sleep incredibly well.
Sunday, 05 July 2015
The next day is Sunday. Seems like it is overcast and as morning approaches, it starts to rain. We hang inside the tent until it lets up a bit, then break camp and quickly are on our way, skipping breakfast (though I have those protein type fruit pouches handy as we do have a 7 hour paddle) and are headed back to Buckboard. We make good time, maybe 5 ½ hours overall. The last hour the weather deteriorated quickly and the wind cam up. I’ve paddled closer to shore and found easier water in an area protected by a cliff. The sheriff motored by and asked if we needed help and why we were out in these itty bitty boats. We are doing ok and could take refuge at the bank and if needed walk back to the marina and get the truck.
We persevere, land and take out just as the skies opened up.
A wonderful trip!
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
4th of July 2015
Our Holiday excursion this 4th of July holiday was to Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Southwest Wyoming / North East Utah.
We had done an outing with the sea kayak club a couple of years ago where we explored the Utah end of the lake but we have long been curious about the upper reaches.
Thursday, 02 July 2015
Our plan was to leave Lyons around noon on Thursday, spend the night at or near the Buckboard Marina, launch on Friday and take out on Sunday.
We reached Buckboard Crossing Marina around 8 PM, having left Lyons at 2 PM with a stop at the Whole Foods in Ft Collins for our traditional sushi dinner fixings then north on hwy 287 to Laramie, west on I-80 with a gas stop at the Flying J just west of Rawlins, and on to Green River Wyoming.
After checking our the launch at Buckboard we head back to the highway and head north to road 11. After a short distance on road 11, we take a left on a good 2-track and find a fairly level spot where we setup camp for the night (bivy sack only this time) and sit down to a dinner of sushi and saki.
We have a nice view from our perch: We look over and see what we expect is the put in at the end of Lost Dog Road. Someone is setting off a nice display of fireworks.
It’s a treat to bivy only: Each time I opened my eyes, the sky, stars and moon were there to take in (even if I had to put on my glasses). I slept really well or at least good enough for the first night out.
Saturday, 04 July 2015
Next day, we set up for another outing, planning to continue up lake to the inlet of the Green River. Along the way we run into a group of 3 canoeists who put in at Green River, Wyoming. We stop and chat for a bit. They have been paddling for about 5 hours on a very straight-forward run: no dams, no weirs, no portages. But they are disappointed to hear that the Lost Dog access area is another 5 hours.
We continue upstream. It’s really pretty here, with the lake being surrounded by typical high and dry Wyoming benches and cliffs, covered in sagebrush. We are also well beyond motorized boat traffic. We paddle and paddle.
After about 2 ½ hours, we start thinking about lunch and look for a place to pull out. We find a nice grass covered shore and notice that the water is definitely flowing. We’ve made it to the mouth of the Green!
There was a mouse incident on the way back: Every once in a while, I had the sensation of something on my leg, almost like my Chodas were ‘burping’. I thought it might have been a bee so I pulled the spray skirt and was astounded to see a mouse in my lap! Poor guys got thrown overboard in my surprise and your would have thought is was a lion or lake monster based on my whoops and hollers.
I forgot to mention that we packed up all our gear thinking we would paddle out some and find a camping spot closer to Buckboard Marina. But we are both tired and decide to reclaim last night’s camping spot where we re-setup, relax, and make supper.
I sleep well again.