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| Lower Salt River - Blue Point to PhonD, AZ | | -
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| | Lower Salt River - Blue Point to PhonD, AZ | | | |
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Lower Salt River - Blue Point to PhonD, AZ
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| Kayak | 6.56 Miles |
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| | Kayak | 6.56 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 3.51 mph |
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| no partners | | First paddle of the season on the Salt. A leisurely start since the temps don't yet demand a sunrise launch, meeting up at Phon D to find a handful of cars parked. While the river is still sorting itself out and flows around 700cfs, we decided to put in at the bridge, rather than launching from the top.
After consolidating vehicles, we headed up to Blue Point - there was one other car parked, and while we were getting everything inflated, another vehicle pulled up with a pair of hardshell kayaks. The walk down to the beach featured a whole bunch of desert evening primrose, but my hands were full so I didn't stop to take photos (shocker, right?) There were a few folks fishing at the bridge, and we saw a few others along the shoreline as we made our way down-river. The plants along the river this year are plenty green, unlike last year at the same time. Spotted a few saguaro with blooms on them already. Noted some changes in the river - some big gravel bars have appeared where there weren't any before, and some areas seemed narrower compared to what I recalled from last year. Was able to navigate fine, without scraping my hull or fin, though there were probably some places where it was close given how shallow the water looked.
It was a nice start to the season on the salt, a lovely day to be out on the water with plenty of birdsong. While there were plenty of small insects flying around, none seemed to be of the biting variety, and they also weren't terribly interested in pestering people.
Wildlife: It was a fantastic day for wildlife. We saw heron, egret, cormorants, ducks, cliff swallows, redwinged blackbirds, grackles, an owl, a hawk, and various other waterfowl and shorebirds. There was also a cottontail, an otter, a bunch of fish, and plenty of horses.
Other people: lost count of how many we saw along the shorelines, but only saw a couple groups of others on the water - one set near the mud cliffs area, and a large-ish group of leisurely kayakers further down river. |
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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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