up the creek with a paddle
Below Lake Mead the Colorado River carves through Black Canyon for about 24 miles before entering Lake Mojave. The Nevada side is wilderness, and on the Arizona side there’s just one road about half way down that accesses a marina at Willow Beach. We usually paddle downriver, launching from Hoover Dam and taking out at Willow Beach or at El Dorado Canyon 12 miles further down near Lake Mojave. Having the current with us is fun, but it requires obtaining permits and using licensed outfitters to launch from the secured Hoover Dam site as well as arranging a shuttle.
To simplify things we decided to stay at the Willow Beach campground and paddle upriver and back, about 23 miles round trip. Figured we’d be good since in the fall the river current is reduced as a result of lower discharge from Hoover (less water demand for irrigation and less power demand for Las Vegas air conditioning). The weather is usually best in the fall as well, with temps in the 60-85
NOTE: This post was somehow corrupted (?).
Please see a similar post on Stand Up Zone: http://www.standupzone.com/forum/ind...?topic=22362.0
