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| Lower Salt River - Waterusers to PhonD, AZ | |
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| | Lower Salt River - Waterusers to PhonD, AZ | | | |
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Lower Salt River - Waterusers to PhonD, AZ
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| Kayak | 8.94 Miles |
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| | Kayak | 8.94 Miles | 2 Hrs 55 Mns | | 3.46 mph |
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| no partners | | With the forecast high temps hovering around 100 in the valley, I had been pondering driving north for a hike where I could also splash around a bit, but with the long drive to the Mount Graham area just the day before, I opted for something more local, but still involving water.
Got up bright and early to make my way to get the car shuttle set up and then headed over to water users. Was pleasantly surprised to find not very many cars in either lot when we got started. The dam release was at about 1100cfs, and the water level at the put in was near the high water mark. This is the highest the flow has been for my paddles on the lower salt this year so far. Having the water level this high made the run go quickly, even though the paddling was decidedly leisurely and lackadaisical. Took on a bit of water heading through pinball rapids, and still scraped in a few spots due to my failure to pick a clean line, but no real issues were encountered at all. Winds picked up a little in some areas, but not enough to be much of a nuisance.
Wildlife: the usual waterfowl (ducks, heron, egret, grebe), plenty of turkey vultures, including one that did a close flyover before landing in a tree on the shoreline (unfortunately, I wasn't ready for it and didn't get a photo), a number of cardinals, redwinged blackbirds, a bunch of other birds that I couldn't identify, a few wild horses, a variety of fish, and a river otter! Also heard some frogs.
Other Paddlers: less than a dozen others - some going faster, others going a bit slower.
It was a wonderfully relaxing way to start the week, even though it meant hitting the river a bit short on sleep. |
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Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually  |
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