11/27/01:
The weather was just too cold at Zion National Park. The forecast didn't sound encouraging so I headed south first thing this morning. The drive along I15 into Arizona passed through the Virgin River Canyon for a couple of miles which was pretty nice. Then back out into open desert and lots of wind as I entered Nevada for the first time. I had to stop and get the Nevada Atlas out to see what was going on on the Nevada side of Lake Mead.
A couple of miles below Overton I made my first attempt at trying to get to the lake. A sign indicated 4X4s recommended for the dirt road I turned down but I went anyway. Driving 2mph it was 2 miles before I saw any water. Then I came to a sign warning the remaining 100 yards to the water was all soft sand and mud. I parked right there, got out and walked. I passed a spot a 4X4 had churned its way down into the mud for 2 feet or so. I wasn't disappointed in not being able to get near the water. A 20-25 knot wind was blowing anyway.
11/28/01:
Heavy winds last night but temperatures only in 30's. Not too bad. This area is seems to be all dried mud hills with pebbles and canyons throughout. This morning I went exploring a little. Thought I'd be able to spend some time in the Valley of Fire scenic area but they're charging $5 for a 10 mile drive. Instead I just did a 1.5 mile hike at the entrance and left.
11/29/01:
Heavy winds picked up last night but the temperature managed to remain in the upper 30's. Heavily overcast skies this morning. Nothing much to do but bathe. After a couple of cold days I was smelling a bit strong. Dumped some stuff out of the truck, fired up the camp stove and made out quite well.
It would probably be sacrilegious to be this close to Las Vegas and not visit, so I drove the 30 odd miles into town. I wasn't impressed with North Las Vegas. Wild looking blacks standing around on the sidewalks, derelicts asleep on the sidewalk, people walking down the streets screaming and cursing to themselves. Just like home.
Driving up Lake Mead Blvd I eventually came to Las Vegas Blvd and turned left. Soon I was passing wedding chapels, pawn shops, peep shows and strip joints. Eventually I got to the "The Strip", the main part of town with all the big name casinos, Sahara, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Frontier and another dozen or so. I had no desire at all to stop and go into one. I'll save my money and my addictions for something else.
11/30/01 Paddling Callville Bay (South):
I dunked the kayak in Lake Mead today. The heavy winds died down last night. This morning in the 40's with a partly sunny sky and little wind at 10am when I launched from Callville Marina. Tomorrow the clouds and wind are coming back.
I hadn't checked out Callville Marina before so was pleasantly surprised with what I found. Jagged, ragged mountain peaks, ridges, ranges or whatever rise hundreds of feet up from the water directly across from the harbor. Haze limited visibility to 1-2 miles but you could still see what was over there. Paddling out of the harbor, more mountains appeared stacked one behind the other, several deep.
Turning right I was presented with more of the same as I paddled into Boulder Basin. This is a big bay 6-7 miles across in each direction. Hoover Dam is somewhere on the other side of the Basin. I aimed at Rock Island, a large rock sticking out of the water 5-6 miles away. I thought if I could get that far I'd be able to see around the corner and maybe spot Hoover Dam. When I got there I found another dog leg and more mountains.
My right shoulder was bothering me pretty seriously so I turned around at that point. If the winds aren't too bad tomorrow, I'll turn left from the harbor and see what's down that way. I'll put in closer to the dam at Las Vegas Bay or a put in closer to the dam later on.
12/01/01 Paddling Callville Bay (East):
30's left a little frost on the windshield last night. Mostly sunny with 5-10mph wind from the north and east as I launched at 9am. 30 minutes got me out of the harbor. I had planned on turning north but headed across the lake instead. The haze obscured much of the mountains on the Arizona side of the lake but they were still quite interesting.
My right shoulder was kinda achy but not truly painful. Still, I didn't want to go too far in case it really started to act up. I got over to the Arizona side of the lake and just poked around a big cove and just sat and admired my surroundings the rest of the morning.
About the time I started back the wind came up. I had a two hour paddle ahead of me with the wind pushing from behind. My achy shoulder started bothering me as I tried to keep the kayak on course. Finally I reached behind me to release the bungee on the rudder and lowered it. In two years, this is the first time I've used the rudder other than to test it when I first bought the kayak. But this is why I bought the rudder, for emergency use when I'm hurt or tired.
One foot waves had me surfing along as they slid under me. Then it seemed every fishing boat on the lake started buzzing me. I don't know if they were coming over to see if I was OK or if it was just co-incidence or they were just being their normal thoughtless selves but they helped get things nice and choppy.
12/05/01 Paddling Callville Bay (North):
The other day was windy and overcast and I didn't feel like going out. Then I went to Bullhead City to drop off film to be developed and pick up mail. I thought it was only 30-40 miles away but turned out to be more like 120 miles.
I passed over Hoover Dam (formerly Boulder Dam) on the way to and from Bullhead City and encountered road blocks both ways. Obviously the result of the terrorist activities. Thinking about it, Hoover Dam would be a prime target. The dam itself isn't very attractive with power towers and such all over the place. Buildings and stuff are built into crags and ledges in the walls. Black Canyon is below the dam and appears spectacular. Next time I go over I'll stop and look around a little more.
The water in the water jugs was a little crunchy this morning. Temperatures in the lower 30's or so. Up in the 40's at launch time. Sun in the eyes and wind at back heading out of Callville Harbor. Lots of boats still in their slips at the marinas. I assume they remain all year. That would mean pretty fair weather during the winter months.
I turned north (more or less) towards the canyon walls I'd seen the other day. The lower part of the walls seem to have been whitewashed with a giant paint brush. The bottom 5-10 percent are all white while the upper 90-95 percent of the 300-400 foot walls are their normal brown. Evenness of the line suggests a waterline. Water apparently has a whitening effect on this type of rock.
I've been noticing the water is much warmer than at Lake Powell. I followed the canyons north for a couple of hours. Everywhere I looked were jagged ridges rising up from the water for 400-500 feet or so. Great stuff.
On the way back the wind was at my back at 5-10mph. Coming towards me every 2-3 seconds were little 1 foot swells. No boats, no wind, nothing to indicate where the swells were coming from. Maybe something from the dam? And they were consistent, they didn't stop. After a while they were building to 1.5 feet and then to 2.0 feet and still nothing to indicate their source.
A couple miles from Callville Harbor I finally hit some wind coming along with the waves. Then it got stronger and as I turned into the harbor some of the waves approached 2.5 feet. Again I didn't have my spray skirt on and didn't give any serious thought to putting it on. I didn't bother putting the rudder down either. My shoulder wasn't bothering me too much and the wind and waves were coming from the port side, putting most of the strain on my left arm.
I watched a power boat start out from the marina at full throttle as usual. He got about halfway out of the harbor when he hit a couple of waves. He had sense enough to slow down to a crawl but I had to snicker anyway.
12/07/01 Paddling Echo Bay (South):
The other night I was tucked away in a protected wash. In the morning I was heading for the Hemenway boat ramp when I got a rude surprise... the wind was blowing well above 20mph. So that was it for that day. I ended up back at the Overton Public Library to do some internet stuff.
This morning in the 40's with a 10mph wind out of the west as I launched from the Echo Bay Marina anyway. They use old tires from heavy equipment to form a breakwater, protecting the boat slips from heavy waves. A couple of blue herons were schrunched down on them as the wind buffeted them.
Echo Bay is a mile or so wide and less long. Halfway out I noticed 1 foot swells developing. These soon turned into 1.5 steep waves. I didn't feel like turning back and since the shoulder was feeling OK I continued. Before doing so, I wiggled into the spray skirt. I can do that because the wide body of the Perception Acadia has enough room and provides enough stability to slip the skirt over my feet and butt.
I didn't want to get too far away in case the weather deteriorated further. So, I paddled around an island just outside the bay. The wind and waves pushed me along the outside of the island at a good clip. Steep cliffs rise up from the water 50 feet or so. The bottom 20-25 feet are all white from the water. The top part appears to be crumbling lava crust. I wonder if that's where the white sands of Hawaii and other places get their white sands from... erosion of lava flows that have already been turned white by water?
Paddling back up the inside waters was a different story. The wind was still blowing 10mph so I was able to make progress. Not many waves in there so that helped a lot. I got back to Echo Bay with energy to spare so kept going right across the bay before calling it quits.
They've been patrolling Lake Mead with helicopters since I've been here. Their noise can really ruin a nice day as they fly very slowly, back and forth across the lake. This one finally flew directly overhead and I got a look at a shorter, squatter black monster. Protruding from the front was a long skinny object, a gunship with a 50 caliber machine gun?
12/09/01 Paddling Hoover Dam:
No paddling yesterday because of high winds. Drove the 240 miles round trip to Bullhead City to pick up developed film and do some food shopping. To get to Bullhead City I have to go across Hoover (formerly Boulder) Dam. To go across the dam you have to go through a road block. On the other side of the road block is a small ridge running parallel to the road. And there I saw my first big horn ram. Just a young guy but he still had some horns curving forward. Not very thick in the body nor the horns as a full grown ram but he still counts. (Actually as it turns out these are probably desert big horn sheep and appear to be smaller than the mountain type).
While sitting at Wal-Mart looking at my new pictures I watched a starling like bird. The wind was really strong and it was chasing something that looked like a piece of popcorn. It would run after it and lower its head to grab it. That slowed it down, however, and the popcorn would blow ahead. The bird would speed up, run 10 feet and repeat the process. Finally it got the popcorn.
A little nippy this morning but still above freezing. At least nothing was frozen. Saw 20 blue herons fly overhead during a morning walk. I've never seen that many at one time, on the ground or in the air. Wonder if they're migrating or something.
50's with a 5mph wind blowing from the NW as I headed in that direction from Hemenway, according the the map, the closest launching spot to Hoover Dam. This is a beautiful bay or cove at the lower end of Boulder Basin. On the right, a ridge rises up 50-100 feet or so. Another ridge rises up higher than that directly ahead while off to the left in the distance two different ridges rise several hundred feet. Several rock islands dot the area.
Once out of the bay I turned right towards Hoover Dam and found more of the same kind of scenery. I couldn't tell where the lake went from a distance but watched as what appeared to be just a crack, widened and there was Hoover Dam. I didn't realize it was that close. I had no reason to go down that way so just backtracked, enjoying the views on the way back.