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Published: April 13th 2013
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Willow Beach Campground
A very barren landscape - full of 1,000's of grasshoppers! On April 7th, Kris and Ed joined us at Willow Beach Campground which is located in Arizona , just over the border from Boulder City, Nevada. The campground is a striking one with spires raising up from a high desert floor. The beach part of the name refers to the shoreline of the Colorado River which flows out of Black Canyon. The campsites are a steep 7/10 of a mile up from the river.
We had three days packed with adventure. Day one was a visit and tour of the Hoover Dam. This is an amazing structure. The base of the dam is 600+ feet thick and narrows to 45' at the top. If you visited the dam before 2010 there has been a major change. The road across the dam is not used for through traffic anymore; a new bridge has been opened that spans the Colorado River from one side of Black Canyon to the other -this bridge is pretty impressive also. In the evening we introduced Kris and Ed to the dice game called Farkle - by the end of our visit Kristin was named the Farkle Queen!
On day two we hiked a canyon called
Colorado River in the Black Canyon
Our campground was right down there. if you enlarge the picture you can see some of the marina. White Owl Canyon which is accessed from 33 Hole Picnic spot in the Lake Mead Recreational Area . As we parked the truck Kris spotted a barn owl flying passed and we knew we were in the right place. This is an amazing little slot canyon with all the things in it that make Ron happy-lizards, bat caves, bat guano, owl roosts, owl pellets and thousands of tiny bones from former owl meals.
On the third day we met the outfitter Evolution Expedition Kayak Tours at the trail head to White Canyon - the name for the canyon comes from huge white granite boulders that were washed down from way up stream. Maria was our guide and we hiked 3 miles down the canyon to where the Colorado River formed a small bay and was also short hike to 3 hot spring pools. We stowed our backpacks and hiking boots and got into 18' single kayaks and set off down the Black Canyon section of the Colorado River. According to Maria the water was faster than usual since water had been released from a dam up stream, but everyone seemed to be comfortable in their kayak in no time
Hoover Dam
Ron, Kris, Ed, Tam at all. We paddled 8 1/2 miles to Willow Beach stopping along the way for lunch and stretching. It was a perfect weather day for hiking and paddling and as a bonus we saw three groups of Big Horn Sheep. I must say I was apprehensive about this kayak trip, but it was perfect. We have to give credit to Janis for alerting Ron to the Black Canyon paddle experience years ago - it has been on his bucket list ( Ron actually has a barrel list , not just a bucket! )
After a great visit, we said goodbye to Ed and Kris on Thursday morning - they headed to the Grand Canyon and we headed to Gallup, New Mexico. We've been trying some of the local food here- fry bread, Zuni sourdough bread and two things wrapped in corn husks - blood sausage and cornbread. I really liked the fry bread!
We're on our way home now but plan to make several more stops to break up the long miles ahead of us. One more blog for this trip when we are closer to home.
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Janis
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Paddle
Oh man, I can't believe YOU got to paddle the Black Canyon before I did!! Sounds great though.