Kayak Blogs

August in Oklahoma tends to be very hot and dry.  This limits our paddling to long road trips or lake paddling.  Lake paddling can be fun if you know where to go and you get out when the light it good near sunrise or sunset.  To the left you see Lake Eufaula in a shot taken from Gentry Creek Campground.  As you can see, it is at a very wide and wavy part of the lake. This makes Gentry Creek popular with Jet Ski and wakeboarding fans.

This week Oklahoma canoe paddlers caught a break.  An unusual week of Summer rain has graced The Sooner State raising the level of the Illinois River. It won't stay at this exciting level for long I'll bet.

The Kiamichi River and the Glover River also appear to have caught a little rain.

In nearby Arkansas, the Ouachita River, Buffalo River and the Caddo River have been benefiting from the recent rains. Oklahoma paddlers...start your engine...less...ness!

The Mulberry River at Turners Bend appears to be moving up slowing, but it was still too low when I wrote this blog posting.

Who’d a thunk a person could go kayaking in town on a Saturday morning?

               
Sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Commission, that’s exactly what happened on July 26, 2008. Hats off and kudos to Christine at Parks and Rec. for coming up with the idea and huge huzzah’s to Matt and his crew for taking their Saturday morning to share their time with us.

Lowering clouds, high humidity and a few rain drops could not dampen the spirits of first time paddlers or old hands at the craft.

            
Life vests donned, a few basic paddling skills adeptly taught by Matt from Sunrift Adventures under their belts and their favorite boat chosen, a small but ready group of intrepid adventurers set out for a morning paddle on the small lake at Cleveland Park right here in the city.

            
While I did not man a boat on my own, I had as much fun snapping photos and talking with folks both before and after their paddles. The turn from nervous excitement to thrilled experience was heartwarming to this relative newcomer to kayaking.

            
Even though we’ve only been flatwater yakking since April, my Handyman and I are vocal advocates for getting out on the waters that abound in this county. Yakking…gotta luv that term. We’ll talk to anyone anywhere anytime about our own adventures and encourage them to give it a try on their own. If, at 57 years old, we can learn kayaking…our view is that anyone can learn. We're hooked and determined to share our addiction.

As a long time, non-native resident, I am so proud of our city officials, our county administrators and the County Parks Commission, in particular, for the things being done to encourage outdoor activities right in our own back yard. I see it as a very positive sign for this city and its citizens. Between the programs being offered by the Commission and the new Lawson’s Fork Greenway Preserve project, people have reason to stay and play in their own county and visitors have a reason to come back.

             
With both lakes and rivers to be paddled, we have water to play on and we’re willing to share it.

evolutionary stumblings ehhh?? run for the water thats what i say whatever else the world throws at you run for the water,how come the world only makes sense to me from the deck of a boat i sit out in the rassay sound watching the faces of the people im guiding and am constantly reminded of why im so in love with boating not anyone aspect of it just boating....sea river surf its all good here in the north west highlands we just float along almost oblivious to whats going on south of the mountains ive been reading down the river by edward abbey awesome book about the kind of characters you encounter on the water and i can honestly say that i feel like ive met a lot of the people he writes about yesterday i took a family out the father had a quadruple bypass last year but wathcing him in that sea boat youd never have guessed..in fact he looked fitter than me hmm time to lay off the peanut butter so yeah theres no real point to this post im in that kind of peacfull state where everything just floats past you working to much this week wich means ill probably miss all the dam releases maybe we should just blow the buggers up and see how often the rivers run then still hit the moriston last week and a fun time was had by all although im finding myself a convert to the idea of elbow pads...........oh did i say i working ..im a sea kayak guide ive never worked a day in my life..hehehehe Meta Loading...

no seriously where have all the buggers gone that said the otters been about loads of late i love it when im out on the water with clients and they see the ocean life up close the sense of amazement they feel is so infectious youd have to be stupid or numb not to get caught up in it each time you look at peoples faces when they realise just how big seals are or how fast otters can move or they see dolphins and porpoises sometimes just watching people relax and unwind as they move on the sea is enough..man im such a hippy its ridiculous but like said seriously when the biggest decision you make each day is wich boat and where....still it would be nice if there were more seals about im kinda worried about them..

What do two old duffs do with a warm, summer Saturday morning when the kids and grands are all busy living their own little lives? Well….if you’re us…you go yakking.

After a previous weekend’s recon we were itching to get the yaks on a stretch of the Broad River not too many miles from the NC/SC border. Boats loaded on the roof rack, lunch, water, big brimmed hats and sunscreen packed in our little Pontiac Vibe; we headed out for a day’s adventure on the water.

Our favorite place to be.

Paddling from Pick Hill Landing on the Broad River in Cherokee County, SC is an easy up/down a lazy river paddle on flat water dotted with beckoning leafy tunnels created by Birch, Alder and Dogwood branches bent to the water’s edge. Seeking respite beneath their welcoming arms became part of the play in the burgeoning heat of our Saturday paddle.

The drone of Dragon Flies and bird call pepper the air as you meander up or down the stretch between the top dam at Cherokee Falls and the bottom dam at 99 Islands. There is not much fall to this stretch the water thus it was plenty deep even in the heat and drought of this year’s southern summer. Dragon Flies seem to love my blue boat and I finally caught one on camera. He wasn’t the most beautiful to ever land on the deck, but he’s the only to hold still long enough to get the camera out of the dry bag and snap his photo.

 

Rounding a bend past the gauntlet of mid-river moored equipment and lines belonging to the sand dredging plant to a Y in the river a choice needed to be made whether to paddle left or paddle right. The sand bar on the North bank has a conveniently placed weathered and battered bar-b-que as a landmark. Not being sure about the end point or water depth to the right, we chose the more inviting path to the left.

 

Even though there is not much fall to this section, some of the path takes you along rock lined bluffs particularly on the South bank of the river. Being amateur (really amateur) geologists (in the broadest sense of the term) seeing the rock strata up close tickled the imagination as to how old they might be and how they were formed. (Did I forget to mention early in this blogging that we’re kinda nerdy as well as…uh…well aged?)

 

Heading back to the Pick Hill landing, howsumever, brought us the most entertainment of the day. A group of rescue divers from Cherokee County practicing their craft came upon a downed car in the mud and silt at the end of the boat ramp. The landing was covered with cops, locals, one big-rig wrecker and a roll-back car hauler. The rail thin driver and his young assistant (who was much stronger than his wiry teen body gave hint) nearly exhausted themselves in the heat trying to hoist the soggy mess out of the water.

With nothing better to do with the waning afternoon we watched along with the rest of the grockles (a Scottish word for tourists) as the rig’s boom brought up bits of the car one piece at a time struggling not to join the waterlogged wreck in its muddy home. We gave up 2 hours later as it became obvious they were not going to free the wreck from the ledge of the ramp in a foreseeable future. Despite having camera in hand, I couldn’t bring myself to photograph the badly choreographed, but valiantly attempted effort to pull the vehicle from the river.

The round trip paddle is just a shade less than 8 miles from dam to dam. In the day’s growing heat we managed a click or 2 over 5 of it. Not too shabby for two old farts only 4 months into yakking. A cooler day and the whole length would be doable with a stop for lunch on one of the sand bars.

 

And, since there are a number of nooks and crannies yet unexplored Pick Hill will remain on the list of places to return.

 

Ahhhh….so much water…so little time.

This weekend, I let the honey-do's cut heavily into my paddling time and the weather was no help either.  However I was seriously in need of a paddling.  I finally gave up on the skies clearing and took the kayaks out to Paradise Point on Lake Eufaula near Checotah, Oklahoma.   Even in bad weather, the time on the water does me a world of good.

It remained overcast all day, but we never got rained on. Paddling on Lake Eufaula is fun if you like kayak fishing or riding boat wakes.  The massive Eufaula Lake is like a superhighway for ski boats, wakeboards and jet ski enthusiasts.  To avoid them, I look for narrower sections of the lake and follow the shoreline into into its little bays and feeder creeks.

Anoter great float trip is to paddle down the north Canadian River into Lake Eufaula. You can take the kayaks out at Jack Frisbee Boat Ramp, which has a large asphalt parking lot and cement boat ramp.  For More information on Lake Eufaula kayaking visit the OklahomaRoadTrips.com Lake Eufaula webpage.

hi all,well i am going to be putting some of my best photos of my trips around the algarve and etc.i am planning a trip around the islands of the algarve "ria formosa" and will keep the page as up to date as possible;)

keep kayaking

Heavy everything in Tacen - the rain, the competition and naturally the party.

Sonja Korelc

In the middle of June, river Sava hosted an international freestyle event Duem stuff-freakstyle rodeo. And everything that happened that Saturday in Tacen could be described as… heavy! There was some heavy raining, there was some heavy and tense competition and the last, but not least, there was some crazy heavy partying after Janez Čižman won on the course that’s standing practically in front of their family house in Tacen.

The fans were in sheer heaven – the last five finalists that stayed in the race after the preliminary round were namely Slovenians. First and second place was reserved for inseparable Duem Frestyle Team duo Janez Čižman – Čiži and Luka Štricelj - Štricko. Andraž Krpič made it to the third place, another Freestyle Duem Team member, Andrej Bijuklič, was forth while fifth place went to Jure Šošterič.

The interesting fact about rivals Čiži and Štricko who fought for the victory in Tacen is that they are not only friends, cousins, neighbors and sparing partners that try to spend every free minute on the water paddling, but were also a part of the organizing crew of Duem stuff-freakstyle rodeo.

The last round of tricks really got the crowd (and what a true supportive crowd that was, considering it was raining, pouring) really excited. People were cheering, chanting, drinking beer, dancing to the loud music that was coming out of the speakers and chilling. They enjoyed every bit of the tight and suspense race between Čižman that paddled with slightly injured shoulder, and Štricelj. At the end Lady Luck was kinder to Janez Čižman, who won only 30 points ahead of the latter.

The atmosphere was fantastic, so it was no big surprise that, after the official part ended, a spontaneous celebrating started. Afterwards the victory celebration turned into a relaxed party full of fun in the garden of the two mentioned neighbors Čižman and Štricelj. »It was unbelievable! Just simply great! Winning in Tacen has a special meaning for me, since I was actually thinking of saying goodbye to rodeo. Now it’s like I’m reborn, I got my motive back, so now I want to keep up with good work. The race was great, but the party afterwards was even better,” Janz Čižman said after winning, happy to be finally able to drink his well deserved glass of beer.

Since the party lasted until pretty late (or pretty early if you prefer), organizers returned to the course jet once again the next morning to finish cleaning the shore, to pick up the trash, remove the sponsor signs and commercial posters…

»It was s pleasant surprise for me, when I saw how many people have turned up, to watch the race. They had a good time, not paying any attention to the bad weather. They didn’t seem to mind the rain. They just let go and enjoyed the moment. I’m really glad that we managed to organize this race on such a high level, and obviously the word gets around – I mean every year more and more people show up to watch the race and every year there are more and more new contestants that come to Slovenia to check out what’s going on here. That’s an uplifting feedback for us, organizers, and because of that we are even more eager and determined to make the next race even better,« was pleased Luka Štricelj, who already proved himself this season by winning the Tagliamento kayak sprint.

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June 21st my wife, son and myself drove up the Pineville, Missouri for an 8-mile float trip on the Elk River. I decided that the clear, cool Class I water of that Ozark river would be perfect for Dylan's first kayak paddling trip in current.

To save a little money we decided to wake up early for the drive, paddle the river and head straight home. This is a bit of a shame since there are loads of great paddling resources in the area. We rented an Old Town Typhoon Sit-On-Top Kayak for Dylan to paddle. He enjoyed paddling it, once his mother traded the extremely heavy outfitters kayak paddle for her lighter Carlisle Kayak Paddle. Outfitter paddling gear tends toward ruggedness more than comfort or features.

Our outfitter was Big Elk Camp and Canoe. Their store is at the put-in for the 8-mile trip down to Shady Beach Campground in Noel Missouri. Big Elk is open all year long renting canoes, rafts and SOT kayaks. They are pretty easy to find right off Highway 71 and they had a wide selection of kayaking t-shirts and other paddler goodies. We grabbed a cool shirt with an Elk River map on the back (pictures on our Elk River page). You can find contact info for Big Elk Camp & Canoe plus other Elk River outfitters in both Pineville and Noel on our Elk River Float Trips page.

Although we scraped the gravel in a couple places, the water level and flow was enough to ensure no dragging was required. We even enjoyed temps well below 90, a great gift at the end of June. Sadly, the weather turned to rain about halfway through our voyage. We all arrived absolutely soaked to the bone, but laughing all the way. Dylan paddled quite well. He never flipped the kayak or fell off, but still found enough riffles and obstacles to make it an exciting run.

This part of the Elk River offers clear water, a few scenic bluffs and numerous gravel bars. There are riffles and pools on this float trip, but no dangerous rapids. The water is more cool than cold much like the nearby Illinois River and Spring River. Another thing that makes Missouri's Elk River similar to Oklahoma's Illinois River is the large amount of weekend paddler traffic. Dodging beer barges presented the main obstacle of the day. We launched around 9am and we shared the waters with hundreds of people. Although we often cringed at the saucy language and consumption patterns of this wild morning crowd... we saw no nudity or violence. Still, we advise trying to visit this river on a weekday during the prime summer months if you want a float trip with more solitude.

In addition to having a large number of canoe liveries the Elk River is a fairly short drive from some other great spots for paddlers in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. In fact, our outfitter offered three other tempting float trips on nearby Big Sugar Creek. I really enjoyed paddling this great little river in Southwestern, Missouri and my family liked it, too! We will definately be back soon.