Kayaking

[Sara]

Cavers,
Wanted to get some insight on a hobby that i love, and would like to do more of... currently i am stuck in Vegas, but will most likely be moving to the Indiana/Illinois area very soon, and am looking for some ideas on where to find a good place to go kayaking. We have a 3 year old daughter and i would like to be able to take her with me, so the water will have to be rather smooth...no rapids! lol Does anyone know of some lazy rivers that would be good for an afternoon kayak trip with a little one?

[batrotter]

We have lazy rivers in Indiana. No whitewater here to speak of.

[Grandpa Caver]

We have lazy rivers in Indiana. No whitewater here to speak of.

Make that LOTS of lazy rivers and then there's the creeks. Certainly no shortage of kayaking ops around here.

[Squirrel Girl]

So, Sara, have you gone down the Colorado below Hoover dam? I did that last Memorial Day weekend. I flew to Vegas to spend time in AZ mountain biking. But that kayak trip was better than any of the biking!!

[Sara]

So, Sara, have you gone down the Colorado below Hoover dam? I did that last Memorial Day weekend. I flew to Vegas to spend time in AZ mountain biking. But that kayak trip was better than any of the biking!!

Not by the dam, but actually in colorado a few years back the water levels were so high that a 3 hour trip took only 60 mins!! It was a blast! Actually we weren't even able to do the entire trip because the rapids were moving way to fast in some parts... but white water rafting there was such a rush!!! I love the water, so any water activity would be better to me then biking lol... but yeah i haven't done much here in vegas with hubby deploying constantly and our daughter being so little, but heading east i plan to get out a lot more, plus there is more family there to babysit for the more rough stuff

[Squirrel Girl]

So, Sara, have you gone down the Colorado below Hoover dam? I did that last Memorial Day weekend. I flew to Vegas to spend time in AZ mountain biking. But that kayak trip was better than any of the biking!!

Not by the dam, but actually in colorado a few years back the water levels were so high that a 3 hour trip took only 60 mins!! It was a blast! Actually we weren't even able to do the entire trip because the rapids were moving way to fast in some parts... but white water rafting there was such a rush!!! I love the water, so any water activity would be better to me then biking lol... but yeah i haven't done much here in vegas with hubby deploying constantly and our daughter being so little, but heading east i plan to get out a lot more, plus there is more family there to babysit for the more rough stuff

Oh man, ya gotta do that trip before you leave!

Check out these pix:
http://www.deepcaves.net/biking/AZ_2007 ... river.html

As I scan my pix, I realize I have concentrated on the "caves" (or at least grottos) along the way!

But there are general river pix, too. Some of the best parts were seeing the bighorn sheep. I didn't have my camera at the ready, though for when they were closest.

[Sara]

Those pics are so nice! That really does look like a lot of fun! If my house doesn't sell by mid summer i will for sure try to get out there and do that because that looks really nice... was it mostly calm waters?

[Squirrel Girl]

Those pics are so nice! That really does look like a lot of fun! If my house doesn't sell by mid summer i will for sure try to get out there and do that because that looks really nice... was it mostly calm waters?

Yes. I guess you for the wilder stuff, but it was a really pretty trip. Beware that it's hotter'n Hades down in that canyon in the heat.

[Sara]

Yeah I know all about that heat... and i wont miss it!I don't know where you are but I can't handle the heat here very much longer... the spring is beautiful and is fall and even winter, but summer forget it! When hubby gets home from Iraq and says its too hot here... you know theres a problem! lol

[wyandottecaver]

blue river in southern indiana is one of the best.

[Squirrel Girl]

Yeah I know all about that heat... and i wont miss it!I don't know where you are but I can't handle the heat here very much longer... the spring is beautiful and is fall and even winter, but summer forget it! When hubby gets home from Iraq and says its too hot here... you know theres a problem! lol

I had some work to do in Vegas a few years ago. I arrived early and went mountain biking in Utah, then returned to Vegas on Sunday late afternoon. The in-car thermometer said 113. Yep, it was a scorcher there.

I'm in VA. We have humidity, but it's OK. I hate winter. I'd rather have it at 113. Oh, then it was Monday morning, I went rollerblading at 6 am (when it had cooled off to 90), wiped out because I'm no good and can't stop, and ripped off a lot of skin. Made it hard to sit in front of the computer for 10 hour days.

(some of my memories of Vegas!)

[Sara]

LOL... well in VA huh? Well I have family that lives in Virginia Beach! Yup Yup, my uncle is in the navy there...But yeah, i used to feel that way about humidity, but after living in vegas for 5 years, I got wise... if you don't suffer from dry skin.... you will, and if you didn't have allergies in humidity... you will where it is dry! The air is not as clean, forget ever having clean floors from the dust and crud youbring in on your shoes because it never rains so the stuff on the streets never gets washed down... spiders that can kill you... you know the usual! lol No i do miss the midwest though, something terrible... i think my daughter and husband would love it there...

oh and i wouldn't mind living in VA either, its gorgeous there!!

[Squirrel Girl]

LOL... well in VA huh? Well I have family that lives in Virginia Beach! Yup Yup, my uncle is in the navy there...But yeah, i used to feel that way about humidity, but after living in vegas for 5 years, I got wise... if you don't suffer from dry skin.... you will, and if you didn't have allergies in humidity... you will where it is dry! The air is not as clean, forget ever having clean floors from the dust and crud youbring in on your shoes because it never rains so the stuff on the streets never gets washed down... spiders that can kill you... you know the usual! lol No i do miss the midwest though, something terrible... i think my daughter and husband would love it there...

oh and i wouldn't mind living in VA either, its gorgeous there!!

I hear ya. When I first moved out west to AZ, I got dry skin, dry nasal passages. Picked up allergies.

I don't miss the midwest. The winters were too harsh. Not enough topography.

Virginia is OK, but I want to move back to NM!!!!!!

[Sara]

My husband has mentioned New Mexico a few times... maybe this comes across to experienced cavers as a stupid question, but is there good caving there or something?

[Squirrel Girl]

My husband has mentioned New Mexico a few times... maybe this comes across to experienced cavers as a stupid question, but is there good caving there or something?

In a word.... YES!


No need to feel bad, cuz you're new. But Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a flagship of the caves in the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico. There's all the other caves in the Guads. Then there's the gypsum karst. Plus Ft. Stanton Cave. And a bunch of lava tubes. Woo Hoo!


(not to mention Green Chile Huevos Rancheros at the Pecos River Cafe!)