7-27-2022 Flaming Gorge, UT

OK, I think we can do this...
(Look at the sign.)

There is not one molecule of ugliness in Utah, no doubt about it.  What a beautiful part of planet Earth.  The red rock mountains are spectacular against the cobalt blue sky.

 

Our first stop on the quest for a nice beach turned out to be a boat launch, sort of muddy and rocky.  That wasn’t going to work at all.  A fellow shopper at the True Value Hardware Store was admiring our Jeep and the conversation turned to good beaches on Flaming Gorge.  Turns out he knew the perfect beach at Lucerne Valley where there’s a swim beach around the point from the marina.  He was so right.  On Tuesday, we made that the beach de jour.  It’s a great big beach with protected coves and relative calms where vehicles can be driven right up to the waters’ edge.  Perfect! 

Gearing up.

 

Midday in the sunshine, we unloaded all the gear:  board, paddle, battery and pump, chairs, towels, umbrellas and coolers.  Time to put our aged balance and muscle skills to the test.  It’s even a good cardiac workout!  That damned board is all wobbly and tippy!  But like riding a bike (without training wheels), it is a matter of getting the feel for how to balance while doing a dozen other tasks like paddling and watching the waves, etc.  If you get good at it, you can even look up and enjoy the scenery:  mountains, sky, the glacier and distant, blue water.  Rob and I both gave it all we had for a couple of hours, laughed at each other when we ate it and had a little picnic in the sand and sun. 

 

Just enjoying the day on the dock
at Red Canyon Lodge Lake

I'm in this picture... WAY out there!

Paddling with the baby ducks.

Wednesday morning, we thought we’d try a different venue:  Red Canyon Lodge Lake.  It is a privately owned alpine lake property but we foreigners are welcome if we behave.  A short hike but there was no beach, just a dock with a shaded bench, which was fine enough.  The lake is small and surrounded by trees and reeds where egrets and ducks live and dive for treats.  Serene, calm and glassy, it’s perfect for paddleboard beginners but the launch area was narrow and the water got deep really fast.  I tried it a couple of times while Rob sat in the shade and enjoyed the fine weather and watched as a herd of bighorn sheep grazed nearby.  On the opposite shore I saw a log cabin hidden in the thicket.  The Red Canyon Lodge is a series of buildings, an A-frame lodge and restaurant with a nice deck and private log cabins on the water.  The whole shootin’ match is for sale by the owner who feels he is getting too old to manage it. (FYI, just in case you have an extra $3.4M laying around).

Bighorn sheep, just the boys.  Making
a comeback after near extinction
due to hunting for food and sport.

Fresh lake trout for dinner at
Red Canyon Lodge.  Yum!

 

        

Th   Thursday, it was back to Lucerne.  We’re getting to be so cool we can now identify our favorite beach.  Black clouds were moving in.  Westward in the sky above the hills, it sort of looked like an atomic bomb had gone off.  Not to be deterred, we unloaded and geared up and, defying the Wobbly Gods, gave it a couple of shots.  I did pretty well except for a few cg alarms that almost sent me overboard.  Twice, I even dumped on purpose in the deep part just to see if I could get back on.   Once I had to paddle all the way back in because my ankle strap became entangled in the rudder and I couldn’t untangle it.  Ugh.  So much to learn.  This all reminds me that I’m due for a few cortisone shots.  Rob is getting really good at the kneeling position and tried the standing position but wound up ejecting a few times.  He’s much better at getting back on because he has the arm strength.  We laughed.  We had another picnic.  The black clouds got downright scary.  Nope, let’s call it a day instead of acting as lightning rods.  They say that hurts.  We packed up and headed home to watch the storm hammer in;  hunkered down with a cold toonie, safe and dry in Noobee. 

So far so good.  Rob's getting it.

I gotta go see that glacier!

When you get really good, you can 
even let go and wave!  Hi Rob!

Oops.... crash and burn.

Rob paddling and ignoring the
on-coming atomic bomb.

Paddling with a glacier.

On the beach watching the
approach of the yellow and red cell.