THE PLAYFUL PAYETTES

Yay! Amy is back in action- at least for some river running! We had a blast up on the Payette rivers in Idaho.

We did the Old Swirly run (class 2-3)...

... and the Carbarton run (class 3-4) in our inflatable kayaks!

We sat in some amazing hot pots!

Here is Amy trying out the slack line. We need to look for a cabin up there! We LOVED it!

SEVIER WITH THE GIRLS

RIVER RUNNERS: Amy, Kristi & Kim

WEATHER: 80, partly cloudy

BIKING TIME: 55 min.

RIVER TIME: 1 hour, 10 min.

KIM'S NOTES: I had such a great time on Saturday I wanted to do it again, so Amy and I packed up Kristi and off we went. We had a nice ride up the canyon (the temps were still in the 70's for the ride) and then we all had a clean run down the river (no one swam). The water was a bit lower than Saturday. I think they are shutting it down while all the farmers cut their hay.

Lunch at the Big Rock Cafe at the BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN was a great way to end our trip. (What is it about water sports that make you starving?) All, in all, a perfect girls day out!

SUNNY SEVIER

RIVER RUNNERS: Kim and Cory

WEATHER: 95 f, hot and sunny

TIME: 50 minutes on bike trail, 1 hour 20 minutes on river

KIM'S NOTES: This is such a fun river for me. I know it very well, it is an adventure without being too scary. Cory and I rode our bikes up the 6-mile bike trail that follows the river to Big Rock Candy Mountain where we had left our boats hidden in the bushes. We left our bikes and floated the river. The water is fairly warm this time of year and it was a good, clean run for us both. I highly recommend it!

GREEN RIVER DAILY

AMY'S NOTES: A beautiful weekend on the Green. Ran from Buckley Wash to Swazey's a couple of times with bike shuttles. Forgot the tent, forgot the bike seat, forgot my paddle, lost my wallet... Slept in the tandem inflatable, borrowed a paddle, got the wallet back thanks to the honesty of strangers... it all worked out. The cottonwoods were brilliant yellow, the beaches were empty, the sun warm, and the nights cool. A handful of rafters came down from Desolation but it was otherwise empty. Sad to see summer go. Oh yeah, and I forgot the pan to cook dinner in. :-)

THE MIGHTY WEBER

KAYAKERS: Amy, Brooklyn
WEATHER: 75 F
FLOW: 510 FT
RUN TIME: 1 hour approx.
CLASS: II
PUT IN: Henefer, Weber River access turnoff
TAKE OUT: Taggarts

AMY'S NOTES: After hearing about the Mighty Weber for what seems like eons, I finally got to run it. It's a great narrow river that winds it's way through Ogden canyon. Stretches of calm interspersed with rock gardens, eddies that swirl in all directions, a very good surf wave, one really fun drop, and steel bridges that crisscross the river in multiple places. I took the bandit and Brook was in a hard shell. A beautiful warm Saturday afternoon with hits of fall foliage and very few people on the river.

ONEIDA NARROWS: BEAR RIVER, ID

AMY'S NOTES: Spent Saturday and Sunday running the Oneida with Virg and friends. Took both a hardshell and the new bandit. A fun Class I float above Redpoint Campground and a mellow Class II section below the campground with a couple of rock gardens to play in. About a 4.5 hour drive from home. Reminder to head up during the week to avoid the crowds and road dust.

PROVO RIVER: LOWER TOWN SECTION

DATE: Monday, June 22, 2009
PADDLERS: Kim, Amy, Virg, Mark & Son
PUT-IN: Fire Station, Columbia Ln
TAKE-OUT: Utah Lake State Park
TIME: 2 hr (approx)
DISTANCE:
FLOW:

AMY'S NOTES: This section of the Provo really should be called the bushwack-swift-river-jungle-slalom run. This was the christening run for my new inflatable kayak. Unsure of how wet I would be getting, I opted not to take the camera so there are no pix of the river. But the first section was defined by a swift current moving through a winding landscape with several low bridges and branches for ducking, followed by a slow wide almost swampy section reminiscent of deep south places I've only seen in the movies.

SAN PITCH RIVER

"San Pitch Gothic" ©Jason Stevens

KAYAKERS: Noah, Cory, Kristi, Little Kate, Emma, Kim, Virg, Jake, Amy, Jason
DATE: Thursday, 5/21, evening
LOCATION: San Pitch River, west of Manti
WEATHER: 70 F, Sunny

AMY'S NOTES: An exquisite golden sunset evening on a slow meandering river though green saturated meadows against the backdrop of the snow peaked Central Wasatch. Good people, great conversation, and much laughter. We lingered. Doesn't get much better.