I had to drive to a server farm in Grand Coulee which is about an hour away from my home in Moses Lake, Washington and adjacent to Banks Lake which is the main reservoir for the massive irrigation system built around Grand Coulee Dam in the 1930s. No use wasting an entire day working (on Sunday!) so I loaded the F-1 up and spent some time paddling one of my favorite areas: Eagle Pass near Steamboat Rock State Park. The central Washington area enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year so we get spoiled with good weather. No exception to this rule as I unloaded the F-1 at the launch ramp at the main park area. Banks Lake is about 30 miles long and there are RV parks and launch areas at several places. At Eagle Pass, named for an early road that wound through the area before the dam was built and the area flooded, there are three main launches. The main launch at Steamboat Rock State Park, a launch ramp at Northrup Point (with no campsites but a neat little rest area offering toilets and showers) and Jones Bay with more primitive campsites right on the water and pit toilets. I launched at the main ramp this time because the sandy beaches were just what I needed. This is an area of flat water rock gardens with hundreds of granite outcroppings that offer enjoyable paddling and even some stealth camping opportunities. Paddling north from the main park I passed the campsites at the north end of the peninsula and then north into the islets. With the largest fishing tournament of the year in progress there were some dicey moments paddlng across some of the channels. These boats often go 60mph and there were also some "muscle" boats going around and around. Then, of course, the jetskis. I have jetskis myself but see no purpose in just running the damn things in circles. I must be in the minority. At any rate the boat wakes offered some opportunities to surf and some of the more shallow areas around some islets even offered some breaking waves to play in. Tent cabanas lined the sandy beaches as I paddled back to the launch ramp with cute girls in bikinis throwing sticks for their golden retrievers to go fetch. It was all I could do to resist fetching one of the sticks myself. I could have used a scratch behind the ears from a cute girl in a bikini. Photos and more at my blog www.nwkayaking.net. So .... what did YOU do this weekend? Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Sep 14 2009 - 09:58:26 PDT
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