Inflatable Kayak Blog

Recently a customer sent us some pictures they took while enjoying their inflatable kayaks on Hosmer Lake and Sparks Lake in Oregon. What a beautiful place! I always enjoy checking into great places to kayak and this looks like a place to add to our list of places we should explore.

Located about 26 miles west of Bend, Oregon, off the Cascade Highway, the lakes are accessible right from the highway so you get in and paddle without much difficulty. Both of these spring fed lakes are connected by short channels which you can paddle to get from one lake to the other. The water is crystal clear and not very deep, with the maximum depth of 8 feet. You can see fish swimming below your boat. That sounds awesome to me.

The scenery is absolutely beautiful as these pictures sent in by our customer show. Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and South Sister surround both Sparks Lake and Hosmer Lake. Broken Top and South Sister are all part of the Three Sisters Wilderness area. Ray Atkeson, a famous Northwest photographer refers to this place as the most beautiful place in Oregon.

Paddling the lakes is a delight with no disruptions from speed boats since gas motors are not allowed. The only motorized boats you will find on the lakes have electric motors.

You can kayak through the different coves and channels in search of wildlife. Some of the wildlife you might see along the shore line include mule deer and black tailed deer. River otters, California gulls, ducks and a great blue heron can also be seen. Overhead you may see osprey, red tailed hawks, night hawks, golden eagles and something I would love to see, bald eagles. Along the shoreline of Sparks Lake you will find lava formations that formed the lake and at Hosmer Lake you will see reeds and water lilies, always a favorite of mine to photograph.

This truly is a beautiful location to spend some time out in the great outdoors paddling and taking in the awesome scenery. Thanks Mick for sharing these gorgeous paddling locations with us.

We had talked about going to Hershey, PA for several years and finally made it there the week of Labor Day. As usual, we packed the inflatable kayak and all the gear hoping to find a relaxing river to paddle. When we checked in the gal at the front desk told us her friend went out paddling and enjoyed taking pictures just like we did and she would get some information on a good place to paddle. We did notice there was a Swatara River near where we were staying and thought it would make for a relaxing paddle if we could find a good launching location. We also looked forward to sharing our adventure in a blog post as we usually do.

However, the weather was just not going to cooperate with us. Sunday was cloudy and overcast and we really just wanted to stay near the resort after the long drive, so we took advantage of the Labor Day sales at the Outlet Mall right across the street. From then on, the weather went down hill fast.

Monday was even cloudier with scattered showers, so we couldn’t paddle. Tuesday was just plain wet with record amounts of rainfall. No paddling scheduled Tuesday either. Wednesday there were flash flood warnings out for the area and roads were closed everywhere. Some folks we met at the resort joked that we could paddle some of the roads. That got a quick laugh, but in reality that’s a sad thought.

Just a few miles from where we were staying, a Pizza Hut was flooded to its rafters and floodwaters had dislodged a cooler, causing a gas leak that was difficult to get shut off.  We watched a flash flooded road from the window of our room claim one vehicle and a passenger taken away in an ambulance. Thursday brought more rain to the already saturated area. A state of emergency had been declared. Water companies were asking people in the area to conserve water and the wastewater plant in Hershey was under water. It was time to get out of Dodge … I mean Hershey! If we stayed any longer, we just might be staying in the area for an extended stay as the rivers were still rising and there just might not be a way out on Friday.

So, our much-anticipated Hershey trip will go down as a memorable one, though not in the way we would have liked. We are sorry the people of that area have such devastation to deal with and we pray they will be able to recover quickly. Paddling our inflatable kayak in the Hershey area will have to wait for another time.

While looking into visiting “the Twelve Apostles” in Victoria, Australia, I stumbled upon information about the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Northern Wisconsin. Well, it’s not Australia, but it is closer to home and on one of my favorite lakes, Superior. This captured my interest and might just be worth a trip north this summer.

The Apostle Islands, as I said, are in northern most part of Wisconsin off the Bayfield Peninsula and consist of 22 individual islands. This area is part of the National Lakeshore with 21 of the 22 islands as well as 12 miles of the mainland considered as part of this National Park.

Being interested in kayaking, this would be an exciting sea kayaking adventure. The sandstone cliffs and caves provide great paddling opportunities and there’s plenty of wild life and natural beauty in this unique area.

If you plan to kayak, there may be a launch fee at some of the locations, but there are two free launch sites within the National Lakeshore area. Myers Beach is a popular launch spot to explore the mainland sea caves. There is also another free kayak launch site located to the west of the National Park Service dock at Little Sand Bay. Temporary parking for loading/unloading equipment is located to the west of the NPS visitor center.

Camping is also available in designated areas on 18 of the islands and on the mainland. If you plan to camp, permits are required in advance and cost $10.00 per site per night. They do have group rates available for 8 to 20 people costing $20.00 per site per night. You also need to be aware that campfires are not permitted on Stockton Island at Julian Bay, on Raspberry Island beaches or on beaches near campsites that have fire receptacles.

Because it is on Lake Superior you need to consider weather conditions. The lake can be unpredictable. A wet suit or dry suit is recommended when paddling, especially in the spring and fall when average daily highs are about 60 degrees in May and September. Summer months the average high is only 70 degrees. The average lows can range from 40 degrees in May to 50 degrees in mid summer through September. You can also expect windy conditions with average wind speeds from 5 to 20 knots producing 1 to 4 foot waves. On occasions you may even see 6 to 12 foot seas and winds of 30 to 40 knots. You need to be prepared for weather delays with extra food and also first aid supplies, rain gear, an extra kayak paddle, a cell phone or possibly a marine radio. The best time to kayak in the Apostle Islands is July or August.

If you are like me, you will enjoy the scenic beauty and wild life of the area. There is an abundance of migratory birds in the spring and fall. Deer, red fox, coyote, beaver, otters and black bears are some of the animals you can be seen on the islands and mainland. Stockton Island has an average of 35 bears in just over 10,000 acres making it one of North America’s most densely populated areas for black bears.

This area also has one of the largest collections of lighthouses in the country. With nine lighthouses in the area a lighthouse lover with have plenty to see and explore. There are two lighthouses that are no longer in service but have guided tours: Old Michigan Island Lighthouse and Raspberry Island Lighthouse. Four of these lighthouses are still in service and two of those have guided tours: Sand Island Lighthouse and New Michigan Island Light Tower.

With so much to see and do this is an ideal vacation destination, whether you are a kayaker or not. And before I end this adventure to the Apostle Islands I want to pass on one more little known fact about the area I found interesting. This was the last official trip President Kennedy made before he went to Dallas in 1963.

One of the most amazing places in the world to kayak would have to be the Galápagos Islands. The area is believed to have the greatest concentration and variety of aquatic wildlife anywhere. Located southwest of the Panama Canal and about 400 miles west of Ecuador in South America, the Galápagos isn’t an easy place to get to, but I’ve always had it on my kayak destination wish list.

I hear that after a few days in the area, it’s hard to decide which wildlife encounter should take up the most of your time. They are never ending. Sea turtles, sea lions and penguins are easily seen during the seasons they inhabit the area. The varieties of birds and fish are endless, not to mention the incredible scenery of the islands. I hear that it’s easy to get close to the wildlife, too, but that’s something you need to be careful about no matter how tame they seem to be.

Most tourists stay in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. The town’s resident population is about 15,000 but the area receives an estimated one hundred fifty thousand tourists a year. Authorities and environmentalists worry about the number of visitors disrupting the ecosystem, but hopefully the controls set up with the creation of the Galápagos National Park will keep the area a viable and abundant wildlife sanctuary.

I hadn’t intended to write this article but I was surfing the web for some exotic places to dream about paddling my inflatable kayak and happened to run across these two videos that I decided to share. One has some general information and scenery in the area and the other was taken by kayakers of a group of penguins.

Check them out and imagine paddling your kayak in this little piece of paradise. It has to be amazing!

We were in Michigan’s upper peninsula the last full week of May visiting family and friends. Their spring season was just beginning and although it was still fairly cold and windy most of the time, we did manage to get into our inflatable kayak a couple times and get in a little paddling.

Our first paddling venture was on Lake Superior in the bay below the statue of Bishop Baraga between L’Anse and Baraga. I’m working on a historical video feature about the statue and I wanted to shoot some video from out on the lake towards the bluff where the statue has stood for almost 40 years.

It was cold and windy day, much colder and windier than we usually paddle in, but I wanted to get that video from the lake and seeing we don’t get up that way very often, we decided to brave the cold … Brrrr!

We inflated the boat then got in the car to warm up before heading out to paddle. There were some small white caps, a bit choppier than we are normally in, but when you have a destination in mind, you just have to get out there and do it. And, we did! Got some good video for my story. Once we had the boat loaded in the trunk and back in the nice warm car, we both decided that it really wasn’t all that bad after all and will be a fun memory of our trip.

A couple days later, the temperatures were a bit warmer and we managed to put the boat in one more time. My sister, Gretchen wanted to go for a paddle, so once again we braved the wind and cold to put the kayak in the water. We were just a block away from the boat launch area in Hubbell, so we put in there. My sister had never been in an inflatable kayak and was surprised how easily it inflated and how quickly we could get it in the water. Once she got the rhythm of paddling we were moving along quite well, though she didn’t want to get too far out from shore. We were still in some choppy water, but she felt confident the boat was stable. We did cut the ride short because the wind was biting, but she did enjoy the paddle.

One thing that we did have another chance to try out was our Wind Paddle Sail. We’ve used it on a few occasions, but not always in the best conditions. The wind this week was probably the best sailing winds we have had. One of the tricky things to learn is folding the WindPaddle into it’s compact form. Recently I had gotten some practice getting it folded and connecting it to the boat correctly. Now I have it down to where I can confidently fold it up even while sitting in the kayak. With a little more practice and a few more windy days, we should have an even better feel for using the sail. I must say that having used it this last time, it was a nice addition to our paddling experience.

If you get a chance to travel to the Upper Peninsula, you will find so many great places to kayak. Or if you are simply looking for a great scenic vacation destination, the U.P. is someplace you should definitely consider.