Question for Wade about Kayaking

[_Blixa]

From your avatar it seems you enjoy kayaking. I don't know if you are in Utah or not. If not, then my question is probably moot.

I'll be in Utah for several months over the summer and into the fall. I would love to kayak on the Great Salt Lake. Do you know any commercial rental places you would recommend for this? Or any kayaking advise/suggestions in general?

[_wenglund]

From your avatar it seems you enjoy kayaking. I don't know if you are in Utah or not. If not, then my question is probably moot.

I'll be in Utah for several months over the summer and into the fall. I would love to kayak on the Great Salt Lake. Do you know any commercial rental places you would recommend for this? Or any kayaking advise/suggestions in general?

I would suggest REI for kayak rentals. Sid Sports and Wasatch Mountaineering may also have kayak rental--though I am not sure.

I have kayaked alot on the GSL, though in my own kayak, and I have enjoyed it very much. The only suggesting I would have is that you use the GLS Marina (see also: GSL Yacht Club) for departure and arrivals, and the only concern I have to proffer is that mid summer is not the best of time to kayak because of the mild niuscence of the brine flies (it isn't so much a problem when you head out of the marina and into the wind, but more on the return trip when the flies land on you boat and ride it in), and I would be cautious of storms-particularly those coming from the West or SouthWest because of the possibility of a wind effect called the Tooele Twister, where the winds get compressed against the West side of the Oquirhh Mountains and burst out across the GSL, tipping over sail boats and other small craft.

If I am available when you are here in SLC, I would be pleased to go kayaking with you.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[_Blixa]

Thanks for your thoughtful advice. And thanks for the offer! Who knows, maybe I will take you up on it!

I haven't made my plans yet, so I don't know the date of my arrival or even how long I'll be staying. I'll be in town to do some research---both locally and using my parent's home as a base from which to travel to a few Southern California libraries---and so I'll probably stay as long as I can. Probably somewhere like July through October.

I've never boated on the GSL, and only have minor kayak experience from upstate New York. I have spent a lot of time around Antelope Island (I hope to hike Farey Peak when I'm home), but more recently I've been checking out the northern part of the lake--specifically the area around Promontory and Rozel Point. I've found a herd of wild horses in that area that I might be able to introduce you to!

Ideally, I'd like to be able to get to Fremont Island and poke around there and my dream would be to reach Gunnison Island (although I know its off limits as a bird sanctuary, I'm wondering if I could get whatever official permission I might need to visit it. I'm interested in a Mormon writer who once built a cabin there ala Thoreau).

Anyway, thanks again and once I've made my plans I'll PM you to trade email.

[_Polygamy Porter]

Wade, you call that "mild niuscence of the brine flies"?!?!?!

Your tolerance for tha bagillion tiny gnat like flies must be higher than mine.
And the gawd awful rotten tuna oder from the dead brine shrimp!!!

I grew up in Centerville and got many a wiff of the nasty lake... However, my brother now lives in Syracuse (UT) and OMG!! the odor out there is like no other... you can almost taste it at times.... each exhale almost has an after taste...

Walking out on the shores of Anetelope island, the flies were sooo dense on the shore that there was a literal WAVE of black that moved with you..

[_Blixa]

Hey PP...

I'm originally from Utah, so I know from brine flies!

I honestly don't mind putting up with some of what you mentioned because my love for the lake is so great, they're just an inconvenience, but nothing more. And while the brine fly life cycle phenomena is endemic to the lake (you should read some of the double takes early explorers---way before BY and co. showed up---did when they saw discarded fly shells littering the banks) a lot of the troubling smell and such is the result of local mismanagement of the lake. The SLC authorities have thought fit to use it as a sewer dump is unforgiveable.

Try the Northern lake sometime. Less flies and the water's red.

[_Blixa]

Wade, the artist/author I mentioned who lived on Gunnison Island is Alfred Lambourne. You can find a very interesting account of him/his painting/his stay on the island in Dale Morgan's wonderful history of the lake, The Great Salt Lake. I strongly recommend that book to anyone interested in Utah history. And the rest of Dale Morgan's works as well.

PP: here is view I grabbed off someone else's website of the "pink" colour of the northern lake. Also Gunnison Island is on the horizon. I've seen it be a much much deeper shades: crimson, mauve and tomato-soupy. Maybe I'll post a few of my shots---especially some I did on an aerial photoshoot in 2002, if someone can tell me how to embed images not from a website but from my computer.

[_Blixa]

Ok that didn't work. HELP!