Thursday, December 2, 2010

Canoeing Utica Reservoir, July 2010


Kathy and I took another trip to the Sierra Range with the canoe in July of 2010. Different location this time, Utica Reservoir. It's quite a bit less remote than Hell Hole Reservoir. Hell Hole is probably 35mi off the nearest main road (Wentworth Springs, not even a highway), while Utica is only 6mi off of CA-SR4.


It's also quite a popular destination for kayaking and canoeing. So there were a lot more people to be seen at the put-in both coming and going. I had a little bit of trepidation about the popularity of the place since due to a rough few weeks at work I was seeking some serious alone time with Kathy. As it turned out my fears were unfounded, we hardly saw anyone all weekend. Not much story, but here are a ton of photos.




Our campsite was on a small peninsula at the Northernmost end of the lake. This side was the inlet of the lake that leads to where the largest creek feeds the lake.


On the other side was a small lilly pond that made for a nice landing point for the canoe.





The pond also made for a easy place to practice some solo paddling. It's a lot harder to solo paddle a tandem than I'd thought.


Kathy snapped a pic of me blissed out on silence, wine and chicken kabob.


The wind never blew hard, but there was a light breeze from 10-4 each day. Once that calmed down the lake just got right and truly stunning.









On the second day we took a hike up to a tarn to the north of the lake.



A family paddling by while we ate dinner just after sunset.


Thinking about a potential future return trip we spent a bit of time checking out other campsites on our way back to the put in. Here is a look at the main body of the lake.


Kathy didn't know I wasn't paddling.


Loaded up and heading home. The VW TDI Jetta got 37mpg on the trip with the canoe on top. Nice.



For more information and forums on Canoeing in Northern California visit: www.norcalcanoeing.com

1 comment:

  1. I am curious about best day(s)to get a camp site. Do folks tend to come and go on certain days? Also, what was the name of the campsite in your photos? There appears to be 2 different sites. Which ranger station did you enter from? Thanks in advance for your help.

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