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For Spring break this year we decided to take a trip with the oder three kids, Ethen, Kyle & Rachel. The trip was first going to be a 3 day backpacking trip in the Supersticion Mountains, then it turned into a 3 day canoeing trip down the Colorado River, and that finally morphed into a Colorado River canoe trip with some hiking to follow. We had Mylinda & Sabrina watch our 3 younger kids for the 4 days to travel and explore.
We decied to take Ethen's car as fuel is between $4.5 - $5 per gallon. We ended up driving just over 1,000 miles and his car didn't let us down.
To start with we made a trip to some local thrift stores to find some clothing that was made of nylon, polyester or spandex to aid in quick drying in the event that it was wet. We also procured some water shoes to wear for the adventure. All of these items proved to work very well.
We rented some canoes and were put into the Colorado just downstream of the Hoover Dam.
We met the crew at 6:00 am and were on the river at 7:00 am. We were then to meet them at Willow Beach at 4:00pm. We weren't sure how much time to allow for the trip so we were quick to move downstream at first and missed exloring some of the hot springs along the way. There were at least 5 different hot springs listed on the map they gave us of the river.
We were talked in to exploring the Boy Scout Hot Springs by a passing river guide and we did. It proved to be very worth the effort. There was a few spots where the water cascaded down the rocks and you had to climb up the water fall. One such spot had a rope anchored for this purpose. When we reached the top the water was weeping out of cracks in the rocks and was in excess of 150 F. The water was hot to the touch and steaming in 55-60 F ambient temperatures.
For lunch we found a sandy beach and stopped for lunch. I showed the kids how to gunnel jump the canoes and both Ethen & Kyle were successful at their attempts to do so. Suprisingly no one ended up either falling into the river or tipping their water crafts.
Where we stopped for lunch Ethen, Kyle & Rachel all decided to jump off a rock cliff about 10 feet in height into the cold river below. They had a good time, but were very cold afterwards. The river is between 40-50 F year round. The neat thing about the river is how clear it is. The color is green tinted, but you can see the bottom of the river almost the entire way. I don't know how deep the river actually was, but it seemed to vary between 5 and 20 feet.
The second hot springs we explored was the Arizona Hot Springs. This was accessable by both the river and from hiking from Highway 93. The springs were elaborate with ladders to access the water falls and there was bags of sand to pool the springs into swimming pools. It was pretty neat. What we weren't expecting was some of the other visitors decided that they would try out the springs without their clothing. After meeting some people with these ideas we decided we had seen enough of these springs and we headed back down to the canoes to head farther down stream. They followed us and waved us goodbye riverside.
Some of the hot springs were flowing more than others, but in all of the ones we examined the water would seep out of cracks in the rocks. Here is one that was coming out of the rocks and falling into the river below.
Originaly we were going to borrow Sabrina & Braxton's canoes but the restrictions the company placed on us to get them to the base of the dam was almost the same as renting their canoes and that way we didn't have to deal with trailering them up to Nevada and back.
The canoeing was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated it to be. I really liked going with the current of the river. The weather turned out to be near perfect and camping would not have been too problematic. I would like to try another trip and this time go from Willow Beach to Lake Havasu. Since you don't need to access the base of the dam, no special permission is required. I anticipate this would take a 2-day trip to complete.
Near Willow Beach we found Emerald Cove. This is a cave like attribute of the wall at the water level. You could eaisly fit many canoes or kayaks into this cove. Since this is well known and near Willow Beach, there were many other adventurers that we had to wait for them to come out prior to our accessing the cove.
We found a slit in the rock miles up stream that wasn't as wide nor as tall, but is was almost neater than this cove was. The sun wasn't at the same angle to shine the cove green, but we could fit 2 canoes into the slit. I suspect at higher water flows, it would have been inaccessable.
We had a great trip. The majority of the way Ethen, Kyle and Rachel shared a canoe. It was hilrous to hear them bickering and trying to canoe in a startigh line. They would go from side to side of the river. Sometimes on prupose and other times they each had an idea of where the canoe should go and they did not share the same thought. They finally found the best sitting arrangements were to have Ethen in the back and Kyle up front and Rachel always stayed in the middle. Kyle then would annouce their destiantion. Most often they would like to attack our boat. Kyle would say "Full Speed Ahead." And then "Ramming Speed!" They would then attack our canoe. It was so fun to have Ethen back in the mix and hear the constant bickering and teasing that that would generate. Towards the end Rachel joined our canoe. This helped the boys fiugre out how to master canoeing. We unanimously decided that we would love to do this again. And we are working on obtaining our own kayaks. Anyone up for an adventure?
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For Spring break this year we decided to take a trip with the oder three kids, Ethen, Kyle & Rachel. The trip was first going to be a 3 day backpacking trip in the Supersticion Mountains, then it turned into a 3 day canoeing trip down the Colorado River, and that finally morphed into a Colorado River canoe trip with some hiking to follow. We had Mylinda & Sabrina watch our 3 younger kids for the 4 days to travel and explore.
We decied to take Ethen's car as fuel is between $4.5 - $5 per gallon. We ended up driving just over 1,000 miles and his car didn't let us down. |
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To start with we made a trip to some local thrift stores to find some clothing that was made of nylon, polyester or spandex to aid in quick drying in the event that it was wet. We also procured some water shoes to wear for the adventure. All of these items proved to work very well. |
| We rented some canoes and were put into the Colorado just downstream of the Hoover Dam. |
|
|
|
We met the crew at 6:00 am and were on the river at 7:00 am. We were then to meet them at Willow Beach at 4:00pm. We weren't sure how much time to allow for the trip so we were quick to move downstream at first and missed exloring some of the hot springs along the way. There were at least 5 different hot springs listed on the map they gave us of the river. |
| We were talked in to exploring the Boy Scout Hot Springs by a passing river guide and we did. It proved to be very worth the effort. There was a few spots where the water cascaded down the rocks and you had to climb up the water fall. One such spot had a rope anchored for this purpose. When we reached the top the water was weeping out of cracks in the rocks and was in excess of 150 F. The water was hot to the touch and steaming in 55-60 F ambient temperatures. |
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|
For lunch we found a sandy beach and stopped for lunch. I showed the kids how to gunnel jump the canoes and both Ethen & Kyle were successful at their attempts to do so. Suprisingly no one ended up either falling into the river or tipping their water crafts. |
| Where we stopped for lunch Ethen, Kyle & Rachel all decided to jump off a rock cliff about 10 feet in height into the cold river below. They had a good time, but were very cold afterwards. The river is between 40-50 F year round. The neat thing about the river is how clear it is. The color is green tinted, but you can see the bottom of the river almost the entire way. I don't know how deep the river actually was, but it seemed to vary between 5 and 20 feet. |
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The second hot springs we explored was the Arizona Hot Springs. This was accessable by both the river and from hiking from Highway 93. The springs were elaborate with ladders to access the water falls and there was bags of sand to pool the springs into swimming pools. It was pretty neat. What we weren't expecting was some of the other visitors decided that they would try out the springs without their clothing. After meeting some people with these ideas we decided we had seen enough of these springs and we headed back down to the canoes to head farther down stream. They followed us and waved us goodbye riverside. |
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|
|
| Some of the hot springs were flowing more than others, but in all of the ones we examined the water would seep out of cracks in the rocks. Here is one that was coming out of the rocks and falling into the river below. |
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|
|
|
|
|
Originaly we were going to borrow Sabrina & Braxton's canoes but the restrictions the company placed on us to get them to the base of the dam was almost the same as renting their canoes and that way we didn't have to deal with trailering them up to Nevada and back. |
| The canoeing was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated it to be. I really liked going with the current of the river. The weather turned out to be near perfect and camping would not have been too problematic. I would like to try another trip and this time go from Willow Beach to Lake Havasu. Since you don't need to access the base of the dam, no special permission is required. I anticipate this would take a 2-day trip to complete. |
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|
Near Willow Beach we found Emerald Cove. This is a cave like attribute of the wall at the water level. You could eaisly fit many canoes or kayaks into this cove. Since this is well known and near Willow Beach, there were many other adventurers that we had to wait for them to come out prior to our accessing the cove.
We found a slit in the rock miles up stream that wasn't as wide nor as tall, but is was almost neater than this cove was. The sun wasn't at the same angle to shine the cove green, but we could fit 2 canoes into the slit. I suspect at higher water flows, it would have been inaccessable. |
| We had a great trip. The majority of the way Ethen, Kyle and Rachel shared a canoe. It was hilrous to hear them bickering and trying to canoe in a startigh line. They would go from side to side of the river. Sometimes on prupose and other times they each had an idea of where the canoe should go and they did not share the same thought. They finally found the best sitting arrangements were to have Ethen in the back and Kyle up front and Rachel always stayed in the middle. Kyle then would annouce their destiantion. Most often they would like to attack our boat. Kyle would say "Full Speed Ahead." And then "Ramming Speed!" They would then attack our canoe. It was so fun to have Ethen back in the mix and hear the constant bickering and teasing that that would generate. Towards the end Rachel joined our canoe. This helped the boys fiugre out how to master canoeing. We unanimously decided that we would love to do this again. And we are working on obtaining our own kayaks. Anyone up for an adventure? |
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