Wanna Go to Horseshoe Bend? Day 2 - Backhaul and Kayak the Colorado 05-02-2022

[@bertsadventures9974]

Envious of this incredible opportunity you guys had and can’t wait to see more videos of your awesome adventure!!!

[@wannago9879]

Thank you! Can't wait to share more! 🐾🐾🚣‍♀️🚣‍♂️⛺️🛻

[@TxBoxerLover72]

I know they are enjoying the cold water.

[@wannago9879]

They certainly had a great time splashing around in it

[@wannago9879]

Day 2 of our 30 day Sabbatical The morning was so beautiful. Watching the sun slowly rise above the canyon on a beautiful calm morning. We knew it was going to be a great day. Today instead of enjoying the view of Horseshoe Bend from the top, we would be enjoying Horseshoe Bend kayaking around it from 1,000 feet below! We loaded our two kayaks and camping gear into a backhaul boat. Our boat captain dropped us off at mile 16 at Glen Canyon Dam. We were 16 miles from Lee's Ferry and our truck. Now it was time to load up the kayaks and enjoy the journey! While Matt loaded up the kayaks the dogs had fun chasing each other around the kayaks and into the water. As the sun began to rise over the canyon the water began to shimmer a beautiful emerald green. The water was clear as glass. Not only did we have the most stunning scenery we've ever seen, we also had hiking trails throughout the river at miles 14,10, and 4, allowing us to take in more nature and really interesting Petroglyphs drawn on the canyon walls by people more than 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. Kayaking around the iconic Horseshoe Bend was so fun! We could barely see the people looking down at us from the overlook at mile 9. There are campgrounds located along the river that can easily accommodate up to 30 people located at miles 14, 9, 8, and 6. Each campground has a pit toilet and fire rings scattered throughout the camp. We camped at mile 6. There was a heavy wind advisory for the next day beginning at 11:00 am. Our boat captain recommended we be back to Lee's Ferry by 10:00 am. When we arrived at the mile 6 campground we were greeted by 17 teenagers plus faculty and camp counselors on a river rafting trip. They adopted our dogs and called them, "The Camp Dogs". The teenagers even took the, "Camp Dogs", on a hike. The Youth Group invited us to join them for dinner. They made Pork Pozole and cheese Quesadillas. After dinner we all enjoyed watching the stars and listened to one of the camp counselors who pointed out constellations in the night sky and shared stories about them. After an amazing day and evening we all went to bed! We knew we needed our rest as tomorrow was another big day!

[@simply_the_dev7588]

is that green algae or moss around the 3 to 4 min mark? Blue green algae will kills dogs. Here in austin tx we get alerts when its present in the river downtown because there is a large dog park right on the river. btw: I bought a blackfoot 130 from aquaglide and really enjoy it but it's been 105 outside lately and too hot to breath.

[@wannago9879]

Excellent question and concern ❤. The Colorado River below Glen Dam gets its green color from a form of algae called cladophora. Cladophora is non-toxic and is an important source of nutrients for many species living below the dam. We discussed our trip with our vet before going. His biggest concern was leptospirosis so we vaccinated our boys to protect them from that. I can report they were both fine after our trip.

[@wannago9879]

I hear you on those temps. We're hitting the 115° range here in the Phoenix area now. We're done taking our boys to our local lakes and rivers for the summer season.

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

I did wonder if you worried about your dogs claws, then I saw they had booties on.

[@wannago9879]

The booties are for our desert landscape, not the kayaks. These kayaks are very durable, and their claws have not been a problem at all. I've heard some people kayak with their cats, and those claws would make me nervous.

[@jasonjones6385]

Great video. Did you use a skeg on your kayak?

[@wannago9879]

Yes, we did put the skeg on our kayaks. I wonder on the following day when the wind really kicked up if we would have been better off without it.

[@thomaslangdale4915]

Do you find the dog booties necessary to keep from damaging the kayak? And are they from Ruffwear?

[@wannago9879]

The dog booties are primarily to protect our pupps from our harsh desert environment. They are not necessary to protect our kayak. We've had them out many times on our kayak without shoes and have not had any issues with their nails. I'd be a little more concerned with that on a low end inflatable. Yes, they are wearing Ruffwear GripTrex shoes