Paddling Flaming Gorge

Anne was organizing a 4th of July sea kayak trip on Flaming Gorge reservoir, and I decided to join them.  The plan was to start in the town of Green River Wyoming, paddle down the Green River, and continue on into Flaming Gorge reservoir.   This turned out to be a small group.  Anne, Gary, and I in sea kayaks, and Ken and Jeanne in a tandem canoe.  Since most vehicles will not hold three people plus gear, I ended up driving alone.

On Friday we drove to the town of Green River, and then headed out into the desert to camp.  We had a 360 degree view, and could look down on Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

On Saturday morning, we packed boats with camping gear, and shuttled cars.  We left one car at Buckhorn Marina, and one car at Holmes Crossing.  I drove back to Green River with the drivers.   We planned to go as far as Holmes Crossing, but left the car at Buckhorn in case we made slower progress than we expected.

The Green River in that area is placid.  We let the current carry us into the lake, and then started paddling in earnest.  The upper part of Flaming Gorge reservoir has very little boat traffic.  I noticed that Jeanne's canoe tended to turn 90 degrees whenever she stopped paddling, somewhat typical of a river canoe.

Leaving the town of Green River.

We camped on the bank.  All in all a fairly quiet day.

Anne

On Sunday morning, we continued paddling south on the reservoir, where we ran into more boat traffic.  As Anne said, most of the boats stay within a mile of the boat ramp.   

Note the glassy water in the morning

It was all fairly routine until early afternoon, when the wind started to howl, pushing us towards a cliff. Those of us in sea kayaks had an advantage in the wind, as our craft are low profile. Ken and Jeanne struggled a great deal; the wind would blow them in random directions. Gary ended up hooking up a tow line to help them, a heroic effort on his part. After very hard work, and very slow progress, we finally reached the other side, where we were very happy to get out of our boats, and to find a place to camp.

Jeanne and her tiny guitar

We did in fact get on the water before 8 AM, not an easy thing for a group to do.  We dropped off Jeanne and Ken at Lost Dog around 9 AM, and paddled steadily and diligently until we reached Buckhorn Marina at 11 AM.   Shortly after we reached Buckhorn Marina, the wind started to blow hard.  Gary and I went to Holmes crossing to pick up his truck, and then I drove to Lost Dog to pick up Ken and Jeanne.  Ken and Jeanne were surprised to see me that early, and had set up a tent to get out of the sun.   By that time, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to hold onto their tent to keep it from blowing away, while they were taking it down.  Our plan to get off the water early turned out to be very wise. 

We all met in Green River, where my car was, the vehicles arriving within a few minutes of each other.  We loaded my boat and gear in my car, and we all headed home.

It was good to get out in my sea kayak, which I do not use too often.  Anne did a great job planning and leading the trip.   The scenery is beautiful, as you can see.  I hope to come back and paddle more of the reservoir, as part of my quest to paddle the length of the Green River.

As a result of the trip, I decided to work on becoming more flexible, so that I can sit up straight in my sea kayak while paddling.  I am now going to fitness classes taught by my friend Dora.