Chasing the Sun to Sand Hollow State Park - Day 1

My 2 Day Kayaking Adventure to "Little Lake Powell"

 

Just 2 days after kayaking in the Great Salt Lake my adventurous friend Des and I chased the sun and warmer weather to Sand Hollow State Park in southern Utah. Our original plan was to go north to Pineview Reservoir and Causey Reservoir, but as temperatures dropped to 45 degrees, we realized our race against the cold was lost. But down south the temperatures were still in the low 70's and only a 4 hour drive away.

Now, Des and I aren't usually ones to take off on overnight adventures without our families. We both have responsibilities at home taking care of our families. We both have younger children and regular life commitments. So to be able to just take off on a whim like this was new for us....and oh so exhillarating! Ultimate Girl's Trip!

The only way it was possible that we could go is that we both have AMAZING and SUPPORTIVE husbands. They picked up the slack for us while we were gone and, along with their work and responsibilities, took on ours too so we could go follow a dream. I'll actually talk about that beautiful thing called SACRIFICE that we do in families in a later post. For now, THANKS to our AWESOME HUSBANDS!

 

Back to Sand Hollow...

Sand Hollow State Park boat ramp where we put in. See that little yellow speck by the dock? That's Des waiting for me to park the car and join her so we could head out in our kayaks!

 

After a 4 hour drive full of great girl-talk and tears (great heart-to-hearts seem to always involve cleansing tears!) we arrived at Sand Hollow State Park about 3:00 in the afternoon.

I was literally shaking as we unloaded our gear and got our kayaks on the red-sand shore at the boat ramp. It was like Christmas morning! I was so excited!

I had never been here before. I'd only seen pictures of the red rocks in the water. Our family loves hiking thorugh the red rocks canyons when we vacation in St. George, just 20 minutes away from Sand Hollow. But (insert epic music playing in the background) to get to kayak through these red rock canyons would be...my ultimate-most-epic-favorite-thing-to-do!

 

 

Once out on the water I was not disappointed! All my hopes and expectations were exceeded. All my senses were alert and on fire. I could not drink it all in fast enough!

• red-orange rocks melting into aqua water
• light piercing into the deep water and glittering off it's surface
• huge expanse of blue sky above
• pull of the paddle through clear water
• monster red rocks plunging into dark depths beneath my boat
• flocks of birds (grebes) fluttering and splashing lightly as they run across water
• sun warm on my skin and washing everything golden
• liquid orange, yellow, and red reflecting onto the water
• glimpses of the underwater world where huge boulders rest and cliffs drop off into the watery canyons that we were kayaking over
• intriguing channels and watery pathways between red rocks begging to be explored

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first day was quite breezy with the wind picking up near evening. As we attempted to kayak around the red-rock island from the left, the wind was really blowing, creating white caps on the water. It was hard paddling! For a time there we felt like we were on a white-water river as we maneuvered between the red cliffs. The wind felt like it was howling and the waves were crashing against the shore. For a second or two it was a little scary. But mostly I was hooting and laughing my head off loving every minute of it! For sure my adrenalin was pumping good and hard! It makes me think I WOULD like to try whitewater kayaking sometime!

 

Check out the whitecaps! I know, not class III or anything, but they were pretty exciting to us!

Des laughing after rolling over that wave in the front of the picture. Yeehaaa!

 

 

One we rounded the island the giant red rocks protected us from the wind and the setting sun set everything on fire. The colors really came alive.

 

 

Hello! That's me waving. I wish my shadow hadn't been in the picture at all!

 

That golden light was soooo delicious and warm on my face.

 

We knew it was time to head in as the sun started disappearing behind the red rocks.

 

Last parting shot of a glorious day. Little did we know at that moment the struggle we would soon have getting those kayaks secure on my car!

 

It had been an amazing day and the best part was that we had the whole next day to explore the other side of the reservoir! We pulled the kayaks out of the water feeling so filled, invigorated, and satisfied.

 

It turned cold as the sun started going down, especially since we were both pretty wet from our white-water escapade earlier. We had to steady our freezing fingers to tie the kayaks on top of the car which proved NOT as easy as we expected. We were shivering. One by one all the boats emptied from the lake and we were left alone still trying to secure the kayaks on top of my car. In the dark. And nothing was working. It was a close-to-panic moment for both of us.

 

Next post I'lll finish telling how we got out of that unexpected scary moment - thanks to some greatly needed and appreciated help!

 

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your comments. If you would like to read my posts as they come please follow me by email! I love to have friends along to share my adventures with! :)

 

In paddling fun,

LaRayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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