Our Own Kayak Adventure

 

Last weekend we hung out with our houseguests, Brian and Louise Hogan, who were here to speak for the Backpackers DTS.  They had gone out on the trail with the DTS and Brian had injured his knee hiking in the snow.  We thought a visit to Gold Fork Hot Springs might be just the thing for that knee (which it was), so we drove out there Saturday evening.

On the way out there, at times the road paralleled the Gold Fork River.  Steve remarked that it looked like a great river to paddle in our tandem flatwater kayak.  So we asked about it at the Hot Springs.  They informed us that there was a dam on the river, but couldn't describe exactly where, although they said there was a short 1/4 mile spur road that leads down to the dam.

So on Sunday afternoon, we got onto Google Maps and zeroed in, using satellite view, on what looked like a likely spot for the dam.  After a few tries on some back roads, we found our way there.

Just a nice little dam out in the middle of nowhere.  An irrigation canal forks off of it below the dam.

 

The stretch of the river that we had admired was upriver from the dam.  Was it safe to put in right next to the dam?

We were a little nervous, but the current didn't seem too strong right there.  We had to think about getting back out at the end of our paddle as well. Steve seemed fairly confident we could do it, so I trusted him.  It was only AFTER I got in the kayak, that he said he was mildly concerned what might have happened if I'd fallen in while boarding the kayak from the muddy bank. The water was fairly deep, probably over my head, and might have swept me directly towards the dam.

 

Fortunately, we embarked safely and docked safely at the other end of our trip.  The current was flowing much stronger further upriver and we finally gave up after paddling with effort for 45 min or so, stopped for a picnic lunch, and floated back downstream in about 10 min.

We are so blessed to be able to jump in the truck and be paddling on a beautiful mountain river or lake in less than 1/2 an hour!  Steve just keeps the kayak on the truck, so we're ready to go at a moment's notice.