DESTINATION Generic 107 Photosets
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| Kayak | 9.40 Miles |
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| | Kayak | 9.40 Miles | 4 Hrs 28 Mns | | 2.72 mph |
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| no partners | | After doing a three day kayaking trip in Black Canyon, Hoover Dam to Willow Beach, I decided to get a motel room at Lake Havasu, which is quite a ways downriver. Same river, the Colorado, backed up behind Parker Dam.
There's a motel 6 right by the lake which is not very expensive, and I had stayed there numerous times before. I first stopped at Windsor Beach State Park, but the campground was full. It was spring break, after all, but I was told that the worst of it was over. At the campground there were mostly only families. When I went for a walk that evening, I saw only very few college students.
Under the London Bridge that evening I sang my jazzy version of "Summertime" while an old man played it on a soprano saxophone. It was a wonderful experience.
After having found out a good place to launch the kayak, I decided on a route. I started at North Mesquite Bay, which has a kayak launch. You have to go down a different dirt road to get to the kayak launch than you would to go to the motorboat dock. This is within the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. It's a very good place to launch, with plenty of room to park, and a good enough beach on a cove. I set out from here.
My goal was to paddle upstream to Castle Rock Bay. This is the take-out point if you want to paddle down Topock Gorge in one day. I am very glad I did this, because the entrance to Castle Rock Bay is very narrow, one of those pathways through reeds which are so common further downriver. If I had not had my GPS I probably wouldn't have found it. The GPS showed me that I was opposite Castle Rock Road. I had seen the narrow entrance but had figured it was nothing. I went back and went through, into the little bay. Very pretty place!
Out in the lake at this point there is river current. You are getting close to Topock at this place. One thing about Topock and this whole shoreline, there is NO camping allowed. The first place it's allowed is at Windsor Beach. And you'll need reservations to camp there.
After I had finished the up and back route, I packed up my gear and boat and went to have fish tacos at Humberto's Taco Shop, which is right next door to Filiberto's Taco Shop, and the Burger King.
Then I drove to Cattail Cove, another state park camping area, and to Parker Dam and Take-off Point. I learned a lot on this trip about boat-in camping on Lake Havasu. There are 88 BLM campsites on the Arizona side of the lake, south of the busy London Bridge area. So, if you were paddling from Windsor Beach campground, you would not have far to paddle until you started getting to these campsites, all of which have pit toilets, picnic tables, BBQs, and a ramada shade structure. And at Take-off Point, near Parker Dam, where you have to take out, there is free 10-day parking. What more can a paddler ask?
This was a scouting trip, since my goal is to paddle the entire length of the lower Colorado River from upper Lake Mead to below Yuma. I'm doing it in sections. It's maybe 450 miles of river and lakes, with 7 dams. I've so far paddled about 77 miles of it this year. So, I am looking forward to doing Topock Gorge and Lake Havasu. |
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Lake Havasu |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | This lake always seems to be full. | | _____________________
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life. |
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