In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Monday 11 August 2025
Overnight, the wind calms and the air is still. We are up around 7; I make coffee while Gary cooks breakfast. We eat, get our stuff packed and are ready before 8:30. Jay and Jane have already left; Leslie has arrived; Jud and David are ready; I walk down to Karla’s site and she, too, is ready.
We proceed to the Dillion Pinnacles Trailhead, a ten-minute drive west along US 50. A rough road takes us the last quarter mile to the water.
The wind is calm, the water still, and the day warm. A nice change from yesterday’s wind. There is some haze in the distance due to the ongoing fire in Black Canyon to the north, but it is not extensive and the sky is blue. The water is crystal clear; the hills to the west are low and softly rounded.
We are ready. We do introductions and a safety review, then off we go!
We head west toward the hills. To our right are the outcrops of the Pinnacles. Below are piled layers of soft sandy soil which makes me think of ancient sand dunes, like the landscape around the San Rafael Swell in Utah. In no time we are at the entrance to the West Elk Creek arm. This is the shorter of the two arms, so we bypass it and continue westward to the Soap Creek Arm. The wind continues to be calm. David and I paddle over to the far bank for a quick break. Then, as we head back to join the others, we see Jud starting back. He wanted to take advantage of the calm waters, as the wind is due to pick up in the early afternoon.
We begin to think about taking a lunch break. Jane finds a sandy beach along a shallow bank. We have not yet reached the end, so I continue into the narrowing arm, bypassing skeletons of cottonwoods along the way. After 10 minutes or so, I come to the end where Soap Creek flows into the lake.
I turn back and see Gary joined me on this additional stretch. He turns back too. Once back with the group, I get out for a quick stretch and snack. Everyone is getting back in their boats and starting back. The wind has started to pick up, and we try to outpace it.
The trip back seems longer as it always does. Soon we are back at the beginning of the arm and turn eastward. The wind continues to increase but so far, it’s not too strong.
At the mouth to the West Elk Creek Arm, there is some discussion as to whether we should simply head back or explore this arm as well. Gary, Karla, Jay and I opt for the additional exploration. There is a remote camp setup on the west side, near the canyon mouth. It looks to be a good camping location, protected from the prevailing winds from the west and south. Like the Soap Creek Arm, this is a long cove running between rounded hills covered in grass, sage, scrub, and a sprinkling of pinons and junipers.
Karla and Jay stop about halfway and start back. It does not take long to get to the end, where Gary and I can see the flow of the West Elk Creek. We turn and start back and almost immediately there is a gust of wind that stops me in my tracks! Maybe this extra excursion is not such a good idea, but it turns out to be a single gust and not sustained, and we continue paddling.
Once out of the arm, we turn east. The wind is not directly at our back, coming from the southwest and we need to go due east. We zig-zag, paddling across the waves then perpendicular to them. Progress is slow, but progress is made.
I am surprised that the short distance this morning is stretching into a much longer return. We paddle past point after point. We can see the bridge. Our takeout is on this side of the bridge but the takeout itself is not in sight, tucked behind one of the points.
We continue. Suddenly I see cars at the access. I breathe a sigh of relief, but they still seem so far away! We do more zig-zagging and more paddling. We are make progress but there is still so much farther to go!
I look to my left to see Karla and Jay closer to the shore and slow up to stay with them but further out in the lake to not crowd them.
Finally, we are all in the small cove at the access point. Karla and Jay take out. Gary is ahead and finding a place where he can get out. Finally, I stick the bow of my boat up on the gravel bank and get out.
Tiring for sure, but a good paddle!
Other folks have loaded their boats and now it is our turn. Gary runs up to get the truck. Before leaving, Leslie asks about tomorrow. We decide to meet at 8:30 at our camp and our destination will be the Cebolla Arm, starting at the Bay of Chickens
Karla is only paddling today, so once loaded, she heads back home.
We load, tie everything down, and are on our way.
Back at camp, it’s windy but our tent is in place. We organize paddling gear and get ready for tomorrow. Gary makes Chicken Cordone Bleu in the Dutch Oven, an easy supper and good choice after a full day of paddling.
Jud and David come over and we socialize. They will leave in the morning, which is too bad since David thought the Cebolla Arm looked like a good destination.
Once the sun sinks and it gets chilly, I crawl into the tent. It does not take long to fall asleep.
Tuesday 12 August 2025
The wind calms overnight, and the air is still this morning. We are up around 7, prepare coffee and breakfast and are ready to go by 8:30. Jay and Jane have already left. Now, it’s only Leslie and us and we head over to Bay of Chickens, just west of the main Elk Creek area.
There is a wide beach here and only one other vehicle, so we have plenty of room to unload and prep though we do move the truck further up the beach so as not to block water access for others.
Before long, we are ready and on our way. We paddle south across the lake and then down-lake for less than a mile. We approach the Cebolla Arm, turn in and follow it as it angles back southeast. The wind keeps kicking up as we head into it the arm, and I wonder how strong it will get.
Unlike the Soap Creek and West Elk Arms, the entrance to the Cebolla Arm is lined with high rock walls. As the arm narrows, there are skeleton cottonwood trees, like those in the Soap Creek Arm yesterday. On one, is a large bird, perhaps an osprey. Gary sees a bald eagle.
We paddle on. It is not calm but also not very windy. We can hear rapids in the distance and before long I see water flowing from Cebolla Creek. I paddle up as close as I can.
Then, we head back, looking for a place to get out for lunch. We bypass a few spots that seem silty and muddy. Up ahead on the right is a patch that looks like a sandy beach, and we head that way. It looks like blue-green algae in the water, and we are careful to avoid touching it. After lunch, we continue back toward our starting point. There is a duck swimming by, perhaps a merganser, one of the few waterfowl we see.
The wind has shifted and now we are still heading into it. I wonder what the crossing will be like but as we approach the opening, it does not seem to be unmanageable and out of the arm, the wind is at our backs, and we are pushed across the lake.
Once back at Bay of Chickens, I realized how tired I am. We get out, quickly load up boats and drive back to camp.
I forgot to talk about paddling plans for the next day, and I am not even sure how the plan was hatched, but Wednesday’s plan is to put in at the Willow access at 8:45, paddle down-lake to the area west of the campground then back. But we need to inform Leslie, who has already driven off.
Once back at camp, I tried to text/email/call Leslie but found I did not have cell service. We drove over to the visitor center, but they did not have wifi. Next, I wandered over to Jay and Jane’s camp who had cell service and were able to email Leslie.
In the meantime, Gary started the coals and prepared the pizza for tonight’s supper. Very yummy! I think he should be the official pizza chef!
Leslie drives to our camp and we share plans for the next day were shared. All is well.
Toward sunset, we walked down to the walk-in tent area. I took photos of the setting sun and its reflection across the water. It is hazy and smoky today so I was expecting quite a show of color. A few boats motored along, and I tried to capture their wake, but they were too far away. We’ll see how photos come out.
Wednesday 13 August 2025
Again, the wind calms overnight, and the air is still this morning. We are up around 7 to make coffee and breakfast and ready to go by 8:30. Jay and Jane and Leslie are already there when we arrive.
I am taken by surprise by how tired I feel when I get out of the truck!
We unload, unpack and get ready to paddle. I take time to thank everyone for coming on this exploratory adventure.
Once on the water, we head west and down-lake and pass high rock walls like those in Cebolla Canyon. We are not that far from the marina, but I am wearing thin. Should I turn around? At the marina, I decided to simply wait there for Gary to come and get me. But it is hot and the marina seems to have an overabundance of people who cuss whoever is nearby.
After an hour, the group returns. I get back on the water and paddle back, quite a bit slower than the group but I persevere, paddling the 4 miles to the put-in. We are back in 90 minutes, load up the boats, and head back to camp.
It continues to be hot. We relax in the shade of the only tree at camp. Gary makes his chicken casserole for supper.
Toward sunset, we again walked down to the walk-in tent area but in a slightly different place where I can get closer to the water. I take more photos of the setting sun and its reflection across the water.
There is a ranger talk that we attended on the history of Gunnison, Blue Mesa, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. There is a town west of the lake named Cimarron that has displays of the narrow-gauge railroad they tried to build through the canyon.
It has cooled off and the wind has calmed. We sleep well.
Thursday 14 August 2025
Pack up and go home day!
We sleep late, till 8 AM. Then get up and make coffee and a breakfast of sausages then pack up at a leisurely pace. We are driving away just past 11.
Next stop is Poncha Springs to see Lori and her new home. She serves a good lunch. I feel like I really pig out, but I am sooooo hungry which took me by surprise since we ate well on this trip.
We are back at my place by 6. It takes 30 minutes to unload. Our adventure is topped of with a cocktail and tray of cheese enchiladas from the freezer.
Blue Mesa Reservoir and Curecanti Recreation Area
10 August 2025 to 14 August 2025
Gary and I organized an outing with the Rocky Mountain Canoe Club to Blue Mesa / Curecanti Recreation Area, a new destination for us, so we advertised it as an ‘Exploratory’. Signed up to join us was Dennis O, Jay G and Jane L, Jud H, David H, Leslie C and Karla T.
Since we went during the week, there were not many other people. The ranger warned us that blue-green algae was present in the Iona Bay area. It was very hot during the day, which was ok when we were on the water, but too hot to even think about hiking. The wind was up by early afternoon each day and mostly out of the west and southwest. The water was clear, and access points solid. So nice to not sink in during the launch! The landscape here reminds me of the Wyoming side of Flaming Gorge, except with more trees and less waterfowl. There are only a handful of arms and nooks for exploring. There are lots of rock outcrops, many layered and uplifted, with the rock seams are perpendicular to the water.
If I were to organize this trip again, I would have the next days’ plan scoped out at the end of the previous paddle so we could talk about it before everyone takes off. Each day was an early start due to the wind, but my preference would have been to alternate earlier and later starts. Also, I would organize a potluck for the evening of the first paddling day. Finally, the preferred camp would be at Dry Gulch, a much nicer setting in a grove of cottonwoods as compared to the Elk Creek Campground which had lots of sage but was treeless and felt very barren.
Sunday 10 August 2025
Our go-to preparation for out-of-town paddling trips includes loading the truck with boats and gear the day before and this trip was no exception. So, when Gary arrived on Sunday around 10 AM, we only needed to load the coolers and my personal items.
After a quick stop at Wholefoods in Longmont for supper (sushi, of course) we headed out of town just after 10:30 AM. Our driving route took us to Boulder where we picked up CO 93 and its views of open fields and peaks to the west as we head south to Golden, then C-470 to US 285 south. Once on US 285, we immediately begin to climb up and over the hogback and into the mountains with outcrops of rock both to the north and south. It's Sunday and there is lots of traffic heading back to Denver. There is an accident at Bailey, and we are lucky to be traveling in the opposite direction. Down we go into the open valley of the South Platte’s North Fork as it winds its way toward the South Fork. Then up and over Kenosha Pass and down into South Park where the wind starts to blow. Next is Johnson City, then Poncha Springs. We turn west US 50 over Monarch Pass. The wind continues to pick up as we drive through Gunnison and on to Blue Mesa Reservoir and the Curecanti Recreation Area.
We arrived at Blue Mesa around 4 PM, stopped at the boat inspection station then found our reserved campsite A37 in the Elk Creek Campground, and began to set up camp. I see Jay & Jane across the way in loop B. Soon David arrives then Jud and they work to get Jud’s camper set up. Leslie arrived yesterday and is staying at a nearby cabin. Dennis had car problems, so ended up cancelling. Karla lives in Fruita, only a couple of hours away, and her car is a few sites down from us.
It’s more than a bit windy and hot. The Elk Creek campground is very open, without trees for cover. Gary is concerned about setting up the big tent. But we use the truck as a windbreak and set the tent up on the lee side. Then take a break for supper.
Folks wander over (Leslie drives over) and we discuss the mornings’ plan. We decided to start at the Dillion Pinnacles access point and paddle the two arms, Soap Creek and West Elk Creek. We’ll meet at our campsite at 9 AM though Jay and Jane will meet us at the put in.
The wind continues so at least it’s not too hot. Once the sun went down, it’s cool enough to put on hats, slacks, and warm jackets. It’s still windy when we go to bed.