Kayaking and Hiking Adventures

S5 - Kayak #2 Big Creek Reservoir, Newport Starting Location: Boat Ramp at start of Big Creek Reservoir #2 Point of Interest : flatwater, waterfowl, fishing Distance : Decent sized lake, narrow, just under a mile long. Time on float : up to you. Bathrooms : 1 port a potty Parking : Minimal, gravel EV Chargers : No  Rentals : No Big Creek road is just to the right as you are heading out of Newport to the North. If you follow it, you come to a dead end sign, and then a gravel road that heads off to the left along the reservoir. Yes, this is the right way to go. The road is gravel, but in good repair, but it gets narrow in places, where 2 cars going opposite directions would have issues. Eventually, after about a mile, you get to this small gravel boat launch area. We were here on a Monday afternoon, so not many people were here, no boaters, just a few fishermen. The lake is quiet (no motors), with lots of nature to enjoy. There are quite a few spots you could pull up to if you want...

  Moonshine Park Starting Location:  Our Campsite B6 Point of Interest  :   views, waterfall Length of hike:  .2 mile loop Level :  Easy - paved trail until going down to the river Bathrooms :  yes, flush, clean, with showers (free) Parking :  Day Use or at campsite EV Chargers:   No Firewood : yes $7 a bundle We returned to Moonshine Park right after the 4th of July weekend. We were lucky to get a campsite for 2 days, Saturday and Sunday. Last time we were here, we did not take time to try out the 2 swimming holes. That was our goal this time, and it was so worth it.  The water was cool, but we got used to it pretty quickly. It's an easy swim over to the waterfall, where you can get behind it a bit. There wasn't a lot of water coming down, but it was much colder than the river. There's another swimming hole upriver a short walk. Quite a few people were coming down river in tubes and floaties. I'm not sure where they were putting in...

  Season 5 . Yosemite National Park - Hikes # - 9 & 10 Point of Interest :  So much! Half Dome, El Capitan, Glacier Point, Mirror Lake, and more. Distance : How much time do you have? Hundreds of miles of trails. (Hiking Page) Difficulty : You decide. Some easy, some really difficult. Lots in between. Bathrooms:  Yes. Many, well placed, clean Parking : Quite a bit, but it gets really busy during the days Transportation : Hiking, Biking rentals, Park transit buses, YARTS buses to bring you into the park. EV Chargers :  Yes, mostly around lodging, level 2 Planning Wow. Where to start? How about planning to visit Yosemite. You have to plan ahead because it's so popular. Campgrounds and lodging go quickly. We ended up staying outside of the park at a private campground about 30 minutes away from the park, but then there's another 30 minutes to get into the valley. We spent 3 days in Yosemite. Days 1 and 3, we used the YART shuttles to take us to the park. ...

  Season 5 . Hike # - Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Starting Location:  parking lot near entrance Point of Interest :  Wildlife (birds, rabbits) native plants Distance : Variable (trail map ) Difficulty : Easy. Level packed trails that are maintained Bathrooms:  Yes, at visitor center Parking : yes (under construction while we were there.) EV Chargers :  No We actually walked here twice, on the way to and from Yosemite. We stayed in Willows, CA, and this is only about 6 miles from our hotel. The Refuge has walking trails that are well marked, and also a self guided Auto Tour, which was closed while we were there, due to construction on the parking lot and access road. The trails were still open, so we headed out early in the morning to beat the heat. The trails are well marked, and maintained. There were many rabbits running around, and a wide variety of birds. We saw bees and dragonflies as well. We did not take the auto tour, since it was close...

 S5. Hike #7 - Upper Table Rock Starting Location: Upper Rock Trailhead Point of Interest :  Great views of the valley and surrounding mountains, geology,  Distance : about 3 miles, depending on path at the top. Difficulty : Easy to moderate. Some rocky areas on the trail Bathrooms:  Yes Parking :  paved lot with decent amount of parking EV Chargers :  No I I've driven by Table Rock a lot of times in my life, always wondering what the view from the top would be like. We were in town for a wedding nearby, and had the time for a hike, so we headed up. We were staying in Eagle Point, and it was only a 15 minute drive to the Upper Table Rock Trailhead. Did you know that there are 2 Table Rocks? I did not know this until today. There is Upper and Lower Table Rock. Upper is to the East and is a bit taller. The views as you climb are amazing. We got there around 9am, and there were not many hikers, plenty of parking. The weather was perfect for hiking. The path i...

S5. Rafting #1 - Upper Rogue River at Shady Cove Starting Location:   Office of Rapid Pleasure Rafting in Shady Cove, Oregon - we drove to McGregor Park Boat Ramp to put in.  Point of Interest :  Upper Rogue River, wilderness, wildlife, class 2 and 3 rapids Distance : about 10 river miles. Time on float:  Just under 3 hours Bathrooms:  Yes, at rental office and portapotties at boat ramp Parking :  lots, with plenty of parking for trailers EV Chargers :  No Rentals:  Yes, at Pleasure Rapids, both guided and just equipment We were in town for a wedding this weekend, and one of the pre-wedding activities was a Rafting trip on the Rogue River. We were up for that! We had about 25 people from the wedding party and families together, including all 9 of our immediate family. The weather was pretty good. A bit on the chilly side maybe, but no wind. We had 1 official guide for our group, so the other boats had whoever sat in the back to steer. Our boat had...