Getting Past Panic at Sand Hollow

Problems Loading the Kayaks...Again.

 

In my last post I ended with a brief explanation of the pressing problem my friend Des and I were having after kayaking at Sand Hollow and a promise to tell how we got out of it.

But I'd like to back up a bit to help you feel how scary it felt for us.

We had taken out the kayaks just as the sun was setting. It was getting dark fast. We were wet because the wind had kicked up late in the afternoon and we were paddling through white caps that splashed into our kayaks and all over us. We were cold and fingers felt frozen. We were tired from a full afternoon of paddling. The last boat had been loaded onto it's trailer and people had left the lake. Except us.

All of this would have been fine except we couldn't get the kayaks secured on top of my car.

Des and I had experienced what can happen if the kayaks aren't secure when we about lost one while speeding down the freeway on our way to Payson Lakes a few weeks earlier (you can read about that here). We didn't want to revisit that!

The problem was that the last set of J hooks that held one of the kayaks wouldn't screw down tight to the bars on my car. We tightened it until there was no more thread on the screws but the hooks still wobbled loosely on the bar. We knew we couldn't use them. We decided to tie both kayaks lying flat on the roof of the car. It seemed simple enough.

But, I had never carried them that way and I'm really new to strapping anything onto anything.

With cold fingers we got the first kayak tied down, but it was loose even after tightening the straps as far as we could. While working on the first kayak the second one fell off the car with a crash, scratching the side of my car (sorry Honey!!!). By this time we were alone next to a black lake and the sun was down.

We got both kayaks on and strapped but they both were loose no matter how we tried tightening the straps and configuring the knots. We were racing the darkness. I had tried everything I could think of.

I could feel my natural tendency to panic start to creep into my heart. The doubtful thoughts came, like, "What in the world did I think I was, Super Outdoor Woman? Who was I to think I could manage these kayaks in this strange place out on my own? What was I thinking? And what am I going to do?"

It took self control to stay calm and keep trying to think through the problem and find a solution. Even though Des was there I felt responsibile for making it work. And I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do.

I turned to Des and said, "I think....we need to....pray."

So we bowed our heads next to each other in the dark and cold and I said a humble prayer of gratitude and help. I thanked Him for the exquisite beauty that He created and that we were able to kayak in it all day safely. Then I explained our problem with the kayaks and our worry of being stuck in the dark. I asked that he would help us to be able to think clearly and find a solution.

We then got back to work on the kayaks. I felt a clarity of mind and a calmness that I didn't have before. One of us had an idea of a new, different way to tie the straps. And it worked! It only took that one more try to get them secure and we were safely on our way.

I was so relieved and grateful!

It was a good reminder for me that when I feel

• in the dark
• scared
• doubt myself
• feel out of answers
• have a problem
• feel grateful
• need help

....remember to pray!

As a side note, we did realize later that we could have just left the kayaks there and come back for them in the morning. Although that would have been the last thing we wanted to do. We weren't truly in any real danger. But it was a good test of our resilience and faith. It built my confidence in myself and in God. Even in something as seeming insignificant as tying down kayaks He was there for me. I'm never alone.

What times in your life have you felt alone, scared, and out-of-answers and help came through prayer? I'd love for you to share them with me here!

Please leave a message if you'd like and leave your email in the space above my profile picture to follow my blog by email. I'd love to connect with you here!

Keep padding!

LaRayne

 

 

 

 

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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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Kayaking in the Great Salt Lake

Paddling Through a Sea of Clouds

When I wrote this previous post about dreaming about kayaking, it was during a run of unusually warm, sunny weather in Novemer. I was dying to get out in my kayak but busy schedules and commitments made it feel impossible to go. I knew I was racing against the impending winter and knew that the coming weekend was the last of the warm days before cold would settle in for good. I so badly wanted to get out on the water somewhere!

 

I admit...I cried tears of frustration.

 

I was determined to figure out a way to go! I started making plans and a joyful MIRACLE occurred. My friend Des was able to work out her busy Mom schedule and could come with me! Not only to the Great Salt Lake on Saturday, but on an overnight excursion down to Sand Hollow in Southern Utah the following Monday and Tuesday! I was so GRATEFUL! I felt like it was a little gift from Heaven that things aligned that we could both go. Yippee!

 

I'll write about our amazing trip to Sand Hollow (in my humble opinion one of the BEST PLACES in Utah to kayak) in future posts.

 

But first...the Great Salt Lake!

Here I am with Des on the Great Salt Lake

 

I had never been to the Great Salt Lake even though I've lived in Utah most of my life (!) I know. I can't believe I have been missing out on this amazing place my whole life.

 

It was like paddling through a sea of clouds into a fiery sunset.

 

Here are the highlights:

• When Des and I arrived at the Visitor's Center at the Antelope Island State Park we found a ranger that directed us to a peninsula near the marina with a rocky shoreline as the best place to put-in. That ranger must have thought we were pretty awesome and could handle hard things because the rocky shoreline was tough to carry the kayaks down to the water. It took serious maneuvering and fancy footwork along with some muscle to make our way over the boulders. In the picture below the rocky descent started at the fringe of grass you see.

 

• Fremont Island was our steady friend to the right of us as we paddled west along the shore. It looked like a floating island in the sky. The changing clouds and sunlight created an everchanging picture. Every time I looked over at it the view had changed.

 

• Behind us to the east the Wasatch Mountains reflected in the lake. It was amazing to me that from that distance they would still be mirrored on the surface of the water!

 

• There was NO stink whatsoever! If anything, once we were on the water, there was a sweet musk smell, but it wasn't offensive. I can imagine in the cooking summer sun that smell could go bad, but in the fall it was not a problem. The temperature was about 55 degrees outside so there were no fly problems either.

 

The shore of Antelope Island

• Bcause the water is so salty (3.5 to 8 times saltier than the ocean) there is a different feel to paddling on it. It feels thicker, like paddling through soup. It wasn't clear, but the way the sky was mirrored in it it didn't matter. This view was about the panorama, not about the water that my paddle was pushing around. It fit the silent and surreal atmosphere. There was NO wind at all. The lake's surface was truly smooth and shiny like glass.

 

My cute friend Des!

• We arrived in the afternoon and took our time paddling the north shore heading west from the marina. We figured we only had about an hour and a half of daylight before the sunset. Our goal was to round the western tip and get a glimps of Egg Island. I had read about all the nesting birds there and wanted to see it. By the time we reached our goal, the sun was setting fast and we didn't have time to explore Egg Island. Or Bridger Bay. Next time.

As the sun set a golden light enveloped everything.

• The crazy thing was how ironic our view of the sunset was! We were most excited to get to see the the sun set over the Great Salt Lake. We paddled into the bright bold sun and its reflection off the water for the first part of our trip. When it was time to head back to make it to the car before it was dark, our backs were to the sunset! We were in a strange position! We kept turning in circles and stopping to look behind us. Each time we looked the sky became increasingly spectacular.

• When we reached the car and began tying up the kayaks the sky burst into glorious fire then settled into glowing embers over the lake. All we could keep saying to each other was how incredible and beautiful it was.

So our adventure to the Great Salt Lake ended with us driving home in the dark with a sense of awe at the beauty we'd been in that evening. That's the thing about kayaking. I don't feel like a spectator watching the beauty happen. I am in the beauty. It is all around me, engulfing me.

 

I wasn't disappointed at all and am already planning my next trip there. I know there is a lot more to see there from inside my kayak. I know that places have different personalities depending on the time of year and day. I am just getting to know the Great Salt Lake. I have a feeling we are going to be good friends.

 

Come back to read my upcoming posts: Kayaking Sand Hollow!

 

Until then, keep paddling!

LaRayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Paddling Utah Lake - Getting Un-stuck

Paddling Utah Lake

This is the view from my kayak overlooking the Wasatch Mountain Range reflected in Utah Lake. Do you see the Y on the mountain for Brigham Young University? It's off to the right and it's tiny!

I hadn't intended to get stuck. It hadn't even crossed my mind that the low lake level would stop me mid paddle! But it did and I learned some lessons about getting un-stuck in real life as I maneuvered myself off the mudbed.

In a recent post I described paddling the lower Provo River. It was beautiful! When I went a good distance up the river I decided to turn around and head back to where the river empties into Utah Lake.

 

I was eager to explore the clumps of reeds and get up close to the congregations of seagulls near the shore.

The water was so calm and brilliantly reflective of the autumn sky. I was delighted and breathless at the beauty all around me!

Notice the two black dots? Fisherman in the marbled lake...

 

 

 

As the river gradually became the lake, the water remained clear until I got out a little further where it took on it's notorious Utah Lake murkiness. I couldn't tell just how shallow the water was. I found out it was SHALLOW! Even though I was far out into the lake, the water level was low.

 

At one point just as I was maneuvering my way through clumps of stiff reeds and heading back towards the river, I began sticking to the muddy bottom. No problem, I thought. I began paddling hard to get some momentum, hoping to glide over the immersed bank I was paddling over. Nope. I skidded to a stop.

 

I began paddling fiercly, lifting my rear up off the seat of my kayak and laying flat across my kayak to displace my weight evenly. I'm sure I looked absurd! I bet the seagulls were laughing at me. For sure anyone on the shore watching me had a good laugh!

I dug my paddles into the mud in an attempt to push my way off the bank using sheer determination. I didn't get very far.

Even though the shore was within sight, and the water was shallow, I was still out in the belly of the lake (or so it felt like it to me) and I didn't want to step out into the water to drag my kayak off the bank. For some reason that made me feel dreadfully uncomfortable - mud squishing into my toes through my open water shoes, the cold water freezing me to my ankles. Just the idea of getting out of my kayak in the middle of that marshy wetland was unnerving. I didn't want to leave the comfort of my boat.

The truth was that I was STUCK and was not going to be able to continue on my way until I did something different than everything else I tried to this point. I eventually had to stand up, put my feet in that cold water, and step out of the boat. I had to leave the comfort of my kayak and move to deeper, flowing water to be able to make progress back up to the river.

After I was back in my kayak again and paddling happily upstream into the Provo River towards the boat ramp, I thought about how like life that simple, silly experience was:

1. Sometimes we are stuck in our lives. We are not progressing. We are not moving forward. We are not fulfilling our greatest potential.
2. We try to get moving again by shifting a few things in our lives. Maybe we make some little habit changes here and there. Maybe we adjust our priorities. But in some cases that is still not the change that is needed.
3. When little changes don't fix it, sometimes in desperation we frantically dig in, try to free ourselves through our sheer determination to make things better on our own.
4. There are times when a GREATER CHANGE is required to finally be free and able to move on. Sometimes we have to GET OUT OF OUR BOATS, get out of our comfortable places where we are stuck and drag ourselves to a completely different location.

Maybe it is a job change. Maybe it is deciding to go back to school. Maybe it is starting that project that keeps prodding. Maybe it is a move. Maybe it's seeking outside help for addictions or trauma.

Maybe it is something as simple (not easy) as a change in our characters or capacity through the enabling power of Jesus Christ's Atonement. The Atonement is all about change.

 

When I feel stuck in my life, when things aren't right, the one source I rely on is The Lord Jesus Christ. When I finally decide to stop my frenzied, lonely, ineffective efforts and step out of my comfortable boat into the Living Waters of the Savior I am given the capacity to make changes that lead to freedom and progression.

It's true.

The Savior's Atonement is my answer to getting un-stuck in life.

When have you needed to make giant changes in your life in order to progress? How do you get the courage to step out of your comfort zone and make the changes that you need to? I'd love for you to share your experiences getting un-stuck! :)

Please leave a comment and follow my blog by email if you'd like to join me in the conversations here on a regular basis. I'd love to connect with you!

Keep paddling forward!

LaRayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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