2013: A December Kayak

    Today my friend Joel and I went to Trimmer Springs, the top of Pine Flat Lake, for a kayak. My family went to the lake from the ‘60s until my parents moved up there in the ‘80s, so it was like going home. The weather in the Central Valley was in the very low 40s when we left, and to be honest, we both were considering aborting, but we had to at least check it out. 

Pine Flat Lake on the Kings River.

    Pine Flat Lake, a million acre lake, was, due to the drought the area has been experiencing, down to 16 percent of its volume. When we got to Trimmer we saw no lake but rather a wide shallow river. Once out of the car, we were amazed at how clear and calm the weather was. The sun was out, so that helped. 

    Without even talking, we offloaded the kayaks, put on our wetsuit shorties, and dragged the boats to the water. We quickly launched and marveled that, except for the numerous rafts of ducks that were idling in the water, we had the entire area to ourselves. 

Joel on a 1924 outing at Kaweah Lake, another chilly day. Unfortunately, no pics of the Pine Flat kayak when we used my sit-on-tops.

    To our amazement and glee, we soon saw a bald eagle fly overhead, something that in all my decades of going to the lake I had never experienced. 

1924 pic of me on another outing with Joel, at Lake Kaweah. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of our 2013 outing.

    We paddled past Sycamore Creek and up river until we ran aground on the sandy bottom. The water was a lot colder and the breeze was up, but the sun kept shining, making it rather comfortable if we kept paddling. 

    Heading back, Joel noticed what appeared to be a rather large piece of manmade foundation, consisting of native rock, some bricks, and cement, that was lying on its side, as if it had been undermined by the river. I finally realized it was a foundation of the old Sanger Flume. In the beginning of the 20th century, the flume took milled Sequoia lumber from Kings Canyon to Sanger—a 73-mile feat of engineering marvel in a time before trucks, helicopters, and bulldozers. Talk about discovering a lot of history! 

Joel, Lake Kaweah, 1924.

    By the time we got back to the launching area, we had counted one barge, hundreds of ducks, and two major smiles. In all, it was a great December day in the foothills above the Valley.
    So far this December we have recorded the coldest December, the warmest December, and the driest December. The weather, it is a changing.

                                                            —Doug