Andy's Wednesday Night Paddle (Tulsa area)

[n2outdrs]

September 17th....

Hello,
I would like to explore the upper part of Claremore Lake this week. I have not ever made it all the way up to the headwaters so that is what I will be trying for. Put in will be the upper parking lot by Happy Lake that we used the last time we were there. Let me know if you need directions. I will bypass the Happy Lake tour this time and head directly up the lake and see how far we can go before having to turn around.

Andy
abwilmes@peoplepc.com


Trip report from Wednesday September 10th:
Eight kayakers meet at the Sand Springs take out and after loading boats onto my trailer headed up to Swift Park for our Arkansas River adventure. We had an owl swoop across in front of my windshield on the way to the put in. He was almost close enough to count his tail feathers. I took this as a sign that it was going to be a good night. We started paddling about 6:30 with the dam shutting off the water through the generators at six. There was still enough water to fill the river bank to bank, though at times it was shallow enough to drag a paddle across the bottom. We hadn't paddled the first mile and Kirk was very aware that he had a problem as he was sitting in a boat full of water. We found a place to turn it over and discovered two cracks directly under his seat where the boat joined together. Some duct tape helped slow the water intake down enough that he could finish the trip without too much difficulty. This section usually has lots of bird life and it didn't disappoint as we say herons, egrets, pelicans and one immature bald eagle. We all took the Shell Creek loop and hit the fast water section as the river formed two channels in that area. It did sprinkle some on us at that time and as we came out of the loop and formed a big river again, we had a cloudy rainbow to the front of us and a gorgeous painted sky behind as the sun sunk through the clouds. The sky was so bright that even some of the water was painted purple and pink. We carefully worked our way towards river left as darkness settled upon us, hoping to find the take out ramp in the darkness. There was fast water at the ramp, but a good eddy right below that all make it into for the carry up.