Parker Dam • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Mar 05 2019

azbackpackr

Guides 27
Routes 518
Photos 5,861
Triplogs 883

72 female

Joined Jan 21 2006
Eagar AZ

Bill Williams River & Lake Havasu Kayak Camp, AZ

Kayak		Mar 05 2019
		azbackpackr • Triplogs 883

Kayak	13.06 Miles

Kayak	13.06 Miles	1 Day 4 Hrs 46 Mns

Linked

linked

Parker Dam

Bill Williams River NWR

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge

Partners

none

no partners

This paddling (see GPS route) was over a couple of days. I went on a very relaxed two-night campout on the lake with a friend, who turned out to not be feeling very well, and wasn't up to doing much kayaking at all, just wanted to sit in camp and read a book. So, after setting up the camp in one of the "boat-in only" BLM campsites on the lakeshore, ($10 a night, paid in an iron ranger) I paddled up to Bill Williams River by myself on the first day, the 5th. On the second day I paddled the opposite direction with the idea of inspecting all the other BLM boat-in campsites nearby, to see which ones were particularly nice. I also spent a lot of time reading a book and playing my ukulele in camp. Very relaxing and enjoyable, except for the lack of shade. We put up a tarp, which helped a lot. We had a nice time, it just was not as active as I would have preferred.

Here's the hike I took on the second day of the camp-out: [ photoset ]

Bill Williams River is part of the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. People do rave about the place. (If you know me, you know I'm usually immune to other people's ravings.) If you are a very serious birder, have oodles of patience and very good binoculars it is worth visiting. Many, many species have been seen there. But as a pure paddler's destination, it's way too short. It's pretty, but nothing to really rave about, in my opinion. There's nowhere to get out of your boat and stretch out on a beach, unlike the rest of Lake Havasu. No place to park the boat and go for a hike, unless you want to crash through a whole bunch of mud and brush. And a serious paddler is going to say, "is this it?" because it's only two miles long!

And calling it a "river" is a misnomer, really. It's an arm of Lake Havasu. There used to be a small desert creek which flowed in that area, called Bill Williams River. But the lake has drowned it. Further upstream, you can backpack down the Bill Williams River below the Alamo Dam. They let water out of the dam at a steady rate to create an unnatural riparian area that would not exist if it weren't for the steady stream of water. But further down the drainage that water seeps underground. The two areas, upper and lower Bill Williams River, are not easily connectable, even on foot, because there is a ranch in the middle.

Wildflowers Observation Light

_____________________

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.

2 archives

Dec 26 2016

SkyIslander18

Guides 4
Photos 4,732
Triplogs 2,605

55 male

Joined Sep 29 2004
Small Town USA

Alamo Lake State Park

Northwest, AZ

Alamo Lake State Park

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Dec 26 2016
		SkyIslander18 • Triplogs 2,605

Hiking	10.00 Miles	1,000 AEG

Hiking	10.00 Miles
	1,000 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

11 linked trail guides

Alamo Lake State Park Campground

Lake View Loop - Alamo Lake State Park

Bill Williams River Gorge

Buckskin Mountain State Park

Lightning Bolt Trail

River Island State Park

Wedge Hill Trail

Parker Dam

Cattail Cove State Park

Whytes Trail

Lake Havasu State Park

Partners

partners

AddSanz

3 day 2 night road trip up to Alamo Lake State Park with Addie to visit our friend Lauren.
I first headed up a couple days earlier solo to Chandler from Safford to spend Christmas with my family.
Met up with Addie in Chandler on the 26th in the early am and together we made the long drive out to Alamo arriving at 4am.

12/26 - 4am arrival at Alamo Lake State Park. We pulled into the first electric campsite we could find in the dark, ran a small heater into the car and got a couple hours of much needed sleep. The park was very dark, quiet & cold!
Morning came and we spent it just checking out the entire park. We drove all the roads up to the dam, down to the lake & through the campgrounds ..... Alamo is a big place!
10am we met with the asst Manager and got checked into our cabin for the night (Largmouth Lodge) then hiked the short Lake View Loop. That afternoon we met up with our friend Lauren and the 3 of us got the VIP tour of the area from her BF Ron who is a Ranger at the park. He took us beyond the locked gate behind the dam for a short hike down the Bill Williams River Gorge that was just Awesome! If ever I come back, this is what I'll come back to see more of. We then left the park for a late evening/sunset drive out across the desert to an upper river view before returning back and calling it an early night.

12/27 - 5am meet up & start of day #2. With Ron as our driver & tour guide, we departed Alamo Lake for a road trip out to and up the Parker Strip. The plan was to hit all of the State Parks along the strip and end back at London Bridge for dinner. Ron assured us we could get it all done in a day ..... and we did!

#1 Buckskin Mountain State Park - Small park with good Colorado River bend views. We hiked up the Lightning Bolt Trail for the excellent overlook views of the park & river.
#2 River Island State Park - 1.5 miles down the road from Buckskin. Very small camping park along the river. We hiked the Wedge Hill Trail up to the overlook.
#3 Parker Dam - Quick stop and drive over the dam into California.
#4 Cattail Cove State Park - Another small park along the river, my favorite of the 4 we visited. Walked the small white sand beach & park before hiking the Whytes Loop Trail. The trail follows the shoreline with great views of the river/lake and I spent a little time following a very cool slot canyon down to the water.
#5 Lake Havasu State Park - Basically just a huge parking lot with lots of beach. We walked it a bit, got our lake pics then head back to London Bridge.
#6 London Bridge - Dinner was first had at Barley Brothers Brewery with a window view of London Bridge. We then spent the rest of the evening with a walk over the bridge and then down and along the Shoreline Trail out to the Colorado River view. It was a very nice ending to the day along the Parker Strip!

We then made the long drive back to Alamo Lake State Park arriving back well after dark. Unpacked into our 2nd home for the trip in one of the parks resident mobile homes. Bed again came early ending a great day #2!

12/28 - 6am rise for an early start to the long drive back home to Safford. Lauren followed us out from Alamo in her car to Yarnell to hike the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Trail with us (separate triplog for this one).
After completing the memorial trail, we said our goodbys, Lauren headed back to Alamo as we headed back to Safford.
Arrived back into Safford at 9pm ending another great time spent with my 2 outdoor adventure girls + 1 new friend!

Thank You Ron for the excellent tour service!
Thank You Addie & Lauren XOXOXO

1000 miles
6 AZ State Parks
2 States
2 Rivers
2 lakes
2 Dams
1 Bridge
:y:

_____________________

https://www.instagram.com/skyislander22/

Apr 20 2015

azbackpackr

Guides 27
Routes 518
Photos 5,861
Triplogs 883

72 female

Joined Jan 21 2006
Eagar AZ

Lake Havasu 3-day Kayak Trip, AZ

Kayak		Apr 20 2015
		azbackpackr • Triplogs 883

Kayak	24.07 Miles

Kayak	24.07 Miles	2 Days 1 Hour 39 Mns

Linked

linked

Parker Dam

Bill Williams River NWR

Partners

none

no partners

This was pretty close to being an epic trip--a three-day kayaking adventure along the south end of Lake Havasu. It was really fun. This end of the 45-mile-long lake is far less developed than the northern end. From Parker Dam up to Rotary Park is about 18 miles but we poked into many deep coves, bays and canyons which added to our mileage. We camped on a white sandy beach the first night, and on an island the second night.

We saw many water birds, plus a big horn ram. We saw many beautiful bays and little hidden coves with beautiful red cliffs. A few flowers were in bloom, also. I did a little swimming, although the water is a bit chilly this time of year. I also took several strolls to the tops of dunes to see the view.

We started at the south end and paddled north, crossing the lake a few times. This can be dicey due to speed boats in the middle. We did the trip in this direction due to the prevailing wind, which was from the south. Sometimes it was pretty breezy. A couple of times we had heavy chop, white caps, and some one and two-foot swells to contend with. I was glad to have brought a spray skirt, but my friend didn't have one. But she was okay.

Many boat-in campsites have been developed by both the BLM and the AZ State Parks--I think the total number is about 100 sites. BLM sites were MUCH better. AZ sites were dirty and shabby, and cost 4X as much if you believed the signs. BLM wants $10 per night per group of 6 or fewer. AZ State Parks wanted $20 per vessel. So, if you interpret that literally, two little kayaks, two people, one campsite, $40. How dumb is that? And the AZ Parks don't take care of their sites very well. BLM is out there with more than one boat every day doing maintenance. The BLM's pit toilets were amazingly clean-they even smelled sweet! Lots of extra TP. Trash has been emptied, etc. Sites are very clean. AZ sites had a lot of filth left over from spring break madness, but some of it seemed older than that. Just icky. Dirty pit toilets, dirty everything. Picnic tables sometimes at a huge slant in the AZ sites, also, which they could fix with some labor, but they don't send people to do it.

Both agencies might want to consider a sign which says: "Leave this site cleaner than you found it." An effort to educate the boating public will eventually pay off.

This trip marked the completion of another dam-to-dam section of the lower Colorado River for me. This section is Davis Dam (near Bullhead City) to Parker Dam. It includes the Topock Gorge. It's a bit under 90 miles between these two dams, and I completed paddling it in quite a few day trips, plus this three-day trip.

This is the end of my 6-month season down in the desert. I'll head for the high country this week to spend 6 months in Williams. So, this winter I completed paddling this dam-to-dam section of the Colorado River. Plus I completed Parker Dam to Headgate Rock Dam, and Imperial Dam to Laguna Dam. I am not finished with my project of paddling the entire lower Colorado River and its reservoirs, but I'm glad I have something to look forward to next winter! Next winter I hope to complete Lake Mohave, plus Headgate Rock Dam (in Parker) to Blythe, and also Yuma to Morelos Dam. What about Lake Mead? I'll start working on that monster, too.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bighorn Sheep

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Copper Canyon Parker Dam

Lake Havasu

76-100% 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.

Mar 24 2015

azbackpackr

Guides 27
Routes 518
Photos 5,861
Triplogs 883

72 female

Joined Jan 21 2006
Eagar AZ

Colorado River - Parker Dam to Headgate Dam, AZ

Kayak		Mar 24 2015
		azbackpackr • Triplogs 883

Kayak	12.79 Miles

Kayak	12.79 Miles	4 Hrs 35 Mns	3.18 mph

Linked

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Parker Dam

Partners

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no partners

One more link in the sausage! This is a beautiful section of the Colorado River. While the Parker Strip is developed there is still a lot of natural beauty. I may spend a winter here sometime. It really was a very pretty run in the kayak. I went with a couple of women from an outdoor group based in Bullhead City.

I will probably go back to where we put in and paddle up to Parker Dam. Otherwise I'll be missing a small section. But we did paddle down all the way to the cables barring boats from getting too close to Headgate Rock Dam.

The river is very wide in this section, with a bit of current, but not a lot. There were a lot of motorboats due to the warm weather. It was gorgeous. The river is running pretty high right now due to irrigation needs.

Lots of pretty red cliffs, palms and other vegetation. Of course there are also lots of RV parks, homes, restaurants, and mobile home parks. There is one place where a cliff is expected to give way. A road which runs underneath it has been closed. I would not want to live in those park models right across the river! When that huge thing gives way it's likely to make the national news and will cause a small tsunami up onto the other shore. (See photos.)

Moovalya Lake

76-100% 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.

Apr 14 2012

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,760

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Parker Dam

Northwest, AZ

Parker Dam

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Apr 14 2012
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	0.50 Miles	10 AEG

Hiking	0.50 Miles
	10 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

On my way to Bill Williams NWR, I stopped to check out the Dam.
They do not let you walk across the Dam and it is closed to all traffic every night between 11pm and 5am.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Great Blue Heron

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Parker Dam

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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