Kayaking trip Northern Lake in April

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shifty

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Hello again everybody. I have to say with input from everybody on this board our kayak trip out of Bullfrog last year went very well. It was amazing seeing the lake from a kayak and even though the fishing was dismal the scenery more than made up for it. This year we are planning another kayak trip but planning on heading further north. Ultimate destination will probably be Good Hope Bay and surrounding area. It will be a five day trip towards the end of April.

This leads me to a couple of questions for the group:
The maps I have show that it is possible to launch from Farley Canyon or Blue Notch, does anybody have first hand knowledge if this is possible with kayaks? Or is the lake level to low and we would be better launching from Hite? Is the drive worth it to save the extra 10 miles launching from Hite?
Also I've read a couple of reports about wind in April and wind is the devil when it comes to long distance kayak trips. Is it bad towards the end of April? Right now we are looking at the 18th through the 22nd for our trip, should we re-think this based on the wind?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice. The knowledge that is shared on this board is impressive and I really wish I had more to contribute. Maybe someday I'll make more trips and have more to offer.
 
Sounds like a fabulous trip time. I've seen ugly wind anytime throughout the year, and serene calm any time, so you really just have to make your plans and hope for the best but be ready for the worst. Since the water is liquid snow in April, big wind makes it somewhat less comfy than monsoonal big wind. I'm sure you will have a lovely time, even if you have to hunker down for a bit whilst the wind blows.
 
Sounds like a fun trip. I can’t help with the uplake launch question, however April is one of my favorite months at Powell weather wise, but we have had some trips with wind. Depending on the spring warm up and runoff, I have been far uplake early season in a powerboat where it was necessary in spots to go almost wakeless to negotiate the floating logs and debris. I’m guessing at a certain point that would make paddling a PIA.
 
Shifty, I take a canoe to Good Hope several times every year. At this water level you've got to search a little to find a place to drive to the water. I don't spend a lot of time searching.(There's to many fish to catch.) I just park as close as I can and pack it the rest of the way. Usually not more than a hundred yards. The road through Blue Notch is FUN. Sometimes they even send a grader down there. I will never pull a trailer down there again. Some people do. Good Luck.
 
RE your question on WIND during late April, obviously there is no way to really tell how windy it will be, but generally, in my experience, the month of April and early May are windy - not storm windy, just steady obnoxious 24/7 wind.

EXAMPLE to put what I'm talking about in perspective - in March, before the winds start, it can be 50-55 degrees and no wind and you can sit outside on the beach or on the deck of your boat in a tshirt and shorts comfortably; in April, it can be 65-70 degrees but steady 10-15 mph wind non-stop, and it's not comfortable to sit outside even in the bright sunlight unless dressed properly.

I would not cancel my trip plans if I were you, but definitely prepare accordingly just in case. (unless there were storms forecast, then I would cancel an early season kayak trip)
 
Bugle1965 said:
Shifty, I take a canoe to Good Hope several times every year. At this water level you've got to search a little to find a place to drive to the water. I don't spend a lot of time searching.(There's to many fish to catch.) I just park as close as I can and pack it the rest of the way. Usually not more than a hundred yards. The road through Blue Notch is FUN. Sometimes they even send a grader down there. I will never pull a trailer down there again. Some people do. Good Luck.
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Bugle1965 where do you normally launch from?
 
Shifty,
I drive as close as I can get to the water in Red Canyon and launch from there. There's a lot of little two tracks. It's anew adventure every time. :)
 
We sometimes boat up from bullfrog and meet another truck with people and gear that come in the Blue Notch road. It’s like Bugle said and fairly easy to hand carry a rig to the water after you find the right access.
 
Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. Ryan, we didn't even realize it was Easter weekend until we had already started making plans. This whole moving Easter by almost a month is really messing with my head. But if it's anything like our trip last year up to Forgotten Canyon it will definitely be an epic trip! Something about those towering canyon walls and sitting right on the water in a kayak makes the area even that more breathtaking.

Has anyone tried driving down Farley or White canyon roads? The distance traveled on dirt roads looks to be a lot shorter than Blue Notch and Red canyon would be a lot longer drive coming from the North. We may have the Kayaks on a trailer and arriving in the dark, so I am not sure I want to try and tackle Blue Notch this go around.
 
The road to White will not get you very close to the water at these levels. And Farley is not connected to the main lake right now (someone posted photos a few months back of the mud bars around where the confluence of moving water enters right near White Canyon, I imagine it is worse now that the lake is lower). The Blue notch road will take an hour or so, but is a better road.... That is where I would go taking Kayaks, if you can avoid the trailer that would be better. As far as the wind, you should have a good idea what to expect from the forecast, but just plan on a few windy days that you will want to stay in protected areas. The fishing should be good then!!!
 
shifty said:
Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. Ryan, we didn't even realize it was Easter weekend until we had already started making plans. This whole moving Easter by almost a month is really messing with my head. But if it's anything like our trip last year up to Forgotten Canyon it will definitely be an epic trip! Something about those towering canyon walls and sitting right on the water in a kayak makes the area even that more breathtaking.

Has anyone tried driving down Farley or White canyon roads? The distance traveled on dirt roads looks to be a lot shorter than Blue Notch and Red canyon would be a lot longer drive coming from the North. We may have the Kayaks on a trailer and arriving in the dark, so I am not sure I want to try and tackle Blue Notch this go around.
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If you are not excited with launching at Farleys, there is another option. There is a raft retrieval access area right across the river from the Hite cement ramp that is out of the water. You could launch at the raft takeout and kayak through the river current down to the headwaters of the lake which may be a mile or more if the lake level stays low or a few hundred yards if the lake comes up in April.

My suggestion is go up to the scenic overlook and look at the lake, cement ramp, and debris in the water water. If there is too much driftwood then drive down the Blue Notch Road to avoid kayaking through timber. It is easy to launch a kayak at Blue Notch.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Farleys canyon but you can drive to and launch in the little lake there and then paddle down to Lake Powell where you have to paddle or lift the kayak over into the river before you can go to White Canyon, Trachyte and beyond.

Good Luck!
 
From the launch across from Hite to the lake, it is currently just a little over 7 miles!

Shifty -- have you looked at the photos posted by Pegasus? Pegasus flight over LP

Look at photo #21. Pegasus photo #21

What you see in this picture (top = south) is the river (middle), the mouth of Farley (middle-left / cut off from lake), White Canyon (top-left / river oxbow in mouth of Farley), and the former bay in front of Trachyte (middle-right).


I don't know anything about kayaks. With that in mind, I wouldn't want to attempt to drag anything across the mud separating Farley from the river.

I would launch where Wayne recommended: from the concrete ramp on the side opposite from Hite, accessible from highway 95. But, I'm assuming that you would need to return to your launch site at some point (what goes down, must come up?), which might not be an easy paddle back upstream for 7 miles.


You'd be much better off heading to Blue Notch / Red Canyon. (unless, of course, kayaking upstream for 7 miles isn't as hard as I think it could be).
 
I'm not sure where you want to spend a majority of your trip but if it helps Executive Services out of Bullfrog can transport kayakers at a rate of $200 per hour. Dock to Dock (Leaving and Returning). It's a bit pricey, but if you have a couple guys splitting the cost it's not bad. Would save you a bunch of trouble trying to figure out where to launch and and how to get back to your launch site. It's usually about 3 hard kayaks per boat though so if you are traveling with all hard kayaks it could require 2 boats at $200 an hour for each boat depending on number in the party. They can only transport 6 people at a time, but if you had 3 guys with hard and 3 with inflatables it could be doable with one boat.

You could have them take you to Good Hope and then work your way back to the marina or you could be dropped off and picked up at whatever locations you need. You would just have to be very precise on the pickup location. Depending on the runoff it they might be able to get you to around the horn, but I would definitely think a drop off in Good Hope Bay would be doable. Just trying to give you options. I would estimate at least a 2 hour charge for a drop off at Good Hope depending on how long it takes to unload your gear. They do have a landing craft boat that makes it pretty easy if you find a nice sandy beach to approach.

For more information you can call Exec. Services at 435-684-3062
 
PBH paddling up-current for 7 miles would be a nightmare!
Docker thanks for tip, I hadn't even thought about using the shuttle service. Might be worth a look. We will probably have 3 of us and 3 hard kayaks so would need to ask if that would be 1 boat or 2.
I'm starting to think I just found a great excuse to come down to LP in March. Need to do a little scouting before the trip in April and find the best place to launch. At least that's what I'm telling myself.....
 
Shifty, I was just looking at doing the same kayak trip with my kid. We were wanting to start in Farley and head over to Trachyte and back. Loking at those plane pics I see it's probably not happening. Would still love to hear how it goes for you though. To plan for future trips.
 
Just show up at Bullfrog on a Saturday with $$$ and take your chances. Look for a big boat/houseboat and give them money to take you wherever they are already going. Most houseboats would love to have someone give them money for gas to wherever they are going anyways. Then kayak back. It’s an adventure.
 
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