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Lower Colorado River Water Trail, CA
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| Kayak | 35.64 Miles |
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| | Kayak | 35.64 Miles | 3 Days | | |
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| no partners | | January 17-20, 2025. Annual Lower Colorado River paddle trip from Walter's Camp, CA to Fisher's Landing AZ. This was my 10th year going with this varied group during MLK weekend. This year there were 6 of us. I've done the trip 5 other times as well. (All trips have been in the last 10 years.)
We call this trip "The MLK" and we look forward to it every year. Every year in November we are contacting one another, and inviting new people.
First day is always Friday. We met up at Walter's Camp, a fishing camp on a backwater of the river, about 35 miles south of Blythe, CA. We spent one night camping there. We enjoyed our stay there, had a campfire, played guitar, etc.
Second day Saturday morning we packed up our boats and waited for the shuttle people to come and get our cars. They live in the nearby town of Palo Verde, CA. It's a bit expensive, but so convenient. The price goes down a little if more people use it. For instance, to move 3 cars it cost each of us $85, plus a tip. It's 98 miles from Walter's Camp to Fisher's Landing by car, and then those people have to come back home, so a van also has to go with them. So that's 3 car drivers, plus the van & driver, and gas for the van. We have also done our own shuttling, but it's kind of a pain in the neck.
We launched and paddled about 15 miles to 4-S Camp on the California side, in Picacho State Recreation Area. Along the way, one of the things to see is the Draper Ranch cabin. I didn't stop there this year, but I often do.
This year, launching at the same time, there was a group of young teens, their leaders, and a Catholic priest, from the Federation of North American Explorers, a Scout-like organization which is not BSA-affiliated, but was originally founded in Europe by Baden-Powell. There were about 30 altogether, and they were the most organized (and quietest!!!) group of boys I've ever seen! They had big aluminum canoes. So, we saw these folks off and on, camping near them the next couple of nights. No problems at all with them, they were quite lovely people.
My friend, Helen, is very good at bird ID, both visual and aural. She was distressed at how few birds there were. She had already seen this at Bill Williams River bird count in December. The avian flu is especially hard on corvids (such as ravens) and herons. I saw NO herons. She saw only one. We saw quite a few bald eagles. Not very many songbirds. There were fewer coots and ducks than usual. We saw a few pelicans. Saw some grackles. You could go for miles and not see much of any bird life, other than bald eagles. It seemed like there was almost always one of those in view. 
Third Day Sunday we woke up at 4-S camp wishing we had a thermometer. It was cold! We dallied by a morning campfire. No need for hurry, because we had only 5 miles to get to the next camp, not counting all the side trips. The side trips added about 3 miles to the total. It was a gorgeous day, and we had fun exploring the backwaters. We camped at one of the group campsites at Picacho. The Explorers had the other site. There are showers, which are kind of a long walk, and if more than two people take a shower, the hot water will be all gone. I would have had a cold one, so I didn't go. We had a super nice time that evening, chatting by the fire. I played my little Martin backpacker guitar, and sang a few songs for them. The guitar fits nicely into a Jack's Plastic Welding tent bag. I strap it to the back deck of my kayak.
There are a couple nice hikes that can be done here, such as the Stamp Mill Trail, but I opted out this trip.
Fourth Day A big wind storm was in the forecast, and we took it very seriously, and so did the youth group. We all got up well before sunrise, packed up and everyone launched right about sunrise. The ramp is narrow. We had 6 boats and they had 14, but we made it work. It was COLD getting out of my warm cocoon! We guessed it to be about 29 degrees. This is fairly typical of Picacho in January. No time for a breakfast fire. We just had to eat and run.
We made it to our take-out ramp, Fisher's Landing (it's near Martinez Lake), at 11 a.m., just as the wind was really starting to pick up. We had been very concerned about the kids in the other group, because those big open canoes can be very dangerous in high wind and waves. But they were right behind us all the way, no mishaps. (Later that day wind gusts to 50 mph were reported at Blythe.)
It was a great trip! Can't wait to go again! |
| _____________________
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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