Category: Paddling

Black Canyon Paddle

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been down the Colorado River below Hoover Dam, but the trip is always a highlight and it never gets old. As in most of the downriver trips I’ve down, we launch from just below the dam and explore the sauna cave and surrounding…

Orthopaedic Surgery Interest Group Kayaking

Timing, they say, is everything. But that may not always be the case. It’s 4:57 pm—twelve minutes past the agreed-upon time, and only the few cars dot the East Campus lot without a stir. Jackson and friends are late. Bjorn and I had arrived ten minutes ago; we are now…

Lake Mead and Black Canyon

The slowly brightening sky casts an orange-pink glow on our campsite. After Brad, I’m the next to get up. Suddenly, the car horn wakes up the entire campsite. Max, who slept in the car, had set off the alarm; Brad, who held the keys, was off hiking by the lake.…

White Rock and Black Canyons

This trip was cancelled. It had been planned for several months, but because the government decided on a last minute paving job on the access road to the Hoover Dam launch site, they refunded all permits. I wrote everyone to give them other options, and Desert Adventures was graceful enough…

Channel Islands

Leaving early Saturday morning, a group of us took the ferry out to the Channel Islands. Kayaking around Santa Cruz Island was fun, especially with the excitement of immense swells. I brought my homemade tent out for the first time, and it withstood gale-force winds that night. The seas were…

Black Canyon Paddle

We had a really good trip this past weekend. It’s my sixth time to the Black Canyon below Hoover Dam, and some people’s first time. We arrived late Friday night after leaving from work. Brad arrived at the campsite first, and there were several more cars that came afterwards. Corey’s…

Black Canyon Kayaking

The past weekend was spent kayaking the Black Canyon just below Hoover Dam—the first day upstream for almost twelve miles and about four miles back to camp, and the second day all downstream pushed by a nice current and a tailwind.

Newport Beach Kayak

A group of us went on this kayaking trip, launching from under the bridge in Newport Beach. We all had a good time. The best part was that the two friends from Hangzhou, China, capsized near the end of the trip, spilling everything, including their digital cameras.

Black Canyon Trip

We left Friday afternoon and arrived at the Lake Mead campground. The next morning, we rented kayaks from Willow Beach and paddled upstream. Near our destination at Arizona Hot Springs, the flow was so fast that we were staying still even when paddling frantically. Anyways, we made it. I had…

Black Canyon Upstream

The kayaking trip to the Black Canyon was spectacular. The weather was perfect, and the hot springs were very nice. We arrived Friday night, stayed at Lake Mead, and then kayaked all the way from Willow Beach to Arizona Hot Springs. After dropping off our stuff, we proceeded to go…

Black Canyon Downstream

We just got back from kayaking the Black Canyon. It was with Alice, Wing, Alvina, Rosebud, and Ryan. Laisum and Jayce canceled because they were sick. This time, we started from Hoover Dam and visited some of the points of interest further upstream. The sauna cave was nice, but I…

First Time up the Black Canyon

I was nervous about this trip. Wendy from the OR had told me about it, and we decided to rent kayaks from Willow Beach. I’ve never kayaked upstream before, and leading up to the trip, I was rehearsing how to navigate and use eddies to hop upstream. It ended up…