Emerald Cove Stand Up Paddle Trip / Leaving Las Vegas!

As the weekend approached, it was time to start putting together our next adventure. I have a long list of paddling, cycling, and backpacking adventures that can be fit into a weekend, within a few hours of where we live in Arizona. I knew that there was a chance that I was going to have a window of a day or two off at the end of the week in addition to the weekend, and wanted to be prepared.

As luck would have it, I was able to confirm that I was going to have a four day weekend! Score! Bianca and I mulled over our options and she came up with what turned out to be the perfect idea.

We'd head out of town on Thursday, after her work day, and spend the night in the hamlet of Kingman, AZ. We'd get an early start on Friday morning and point the car toward Willow Beach Marina and Campground, which is in the Black Canyon section of the Colorado River. This area is a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona, and less than an hour from Kingman.

After a day of paddling the Colorado and exploring Emerald Cove, we'd head to Las Vegas for some more paddling and fun. We'd plan on staying at the Westin Resort in Lake Las Vegas and paddle that Lake on Saturday. On Sunday we'd paddle a portion of Lake Mead, before heading home Sunday afternoon. 

The last few hours before getting on the road always seem to drag on like Christmas Eve when you're a kid. Soon enough the car was packed and we were on our way. We pulled in to the Springhill Suites in Kingman around 10:30. I quickly scouted out the area where the breakfast buffet was to be served the next morning. 

To my horror, we were informed that the buffet was closed due to Covid. Well, crud. Not ideal!! I felt like Clark Griswold in the original Vacation movie, who pulls into Wally World, after a tortuous drive across the country, only to discover that the park was closed for repairs. Things would get worse. The next morning, I did see that they had a coffee bar, but they had the effrontery to only offer powdered creamer!! Seriously, Springhill Suites, you've got to up your game.... 

Maybe we should have stayed here instead? We ended up leaving town before we got our kicks, sadly. We got on the road by 7:30 and after a brief stop to grab some mud and a few breakfast sandwiches we were on our way.

In seemingly no time, we were approaching the entrance to Willow Beach. We made a brief stop at the "Scenic Overlook" and took a few pics. I couldn't wait to get on the water.

We pulled in to the entrance station and renewed our annual "America the Beautiful" pass which for $80 grants the holder free entry into many National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and National Forest Service sites. Just on this trip alone we made up $50 of it. Since we have a tendency to frequent these areas, we save a ton of money by buying this annual pass. I digress.

To my surpise, Willow Beach turned out to be a really big area. The parking lots and facilities were expansive. There was a large marina and plenty of space to launch boats. It was quite the oasis in the middle of the desert. We found a water source and filled our hydration bladders and bottles. The air temperature was well over 100 degrees.

We found a parking spot where we could spread out a bit. We always lay a tarp down to protect our boards from getting scuffed up on the ground. We attach our inflator pump, set it for 15 psi, and get the rest of our gear ready to go. It's probably a 30 minute process, but when its 105 degrees out and you're excited to begin paddling, it feels like hours!

With the pre-launch prep work completed, it was time to get underway! The sun was hot, but the water was nice and cool. There was a bit of a breeze and some boat traffic, but the water was still relatively smooth. Those first few paddle strokes always feel like Christmas morning when you first get a gander at your stocking, and you were good that year! At that point, I just start ripping strokes and have to remember not to take off on Bianca. 

The Willow Beach Marina on your right as you head upriver towards Emerald Cove.

Bianca

Crystal Clear Waters

It was nice to get into this little cave and escape the sun for a little while.

Emerald Cove, AKA The Main Event!

We hung around Emerald Cove for a while, soaking in the sights and exploring some of the other features in the area. We decided to head upriver and seek out some hot springs that are a few miles further than Emerald Cove. We thought that it would be fun to soak in the hot springs for a while.

It was about that time, around noon, when we got a nice tail wind pushing us further upriver. We pulled into a nice beach for a bit of a break and noted an excellent primitive, river side campsite.

A beautiful spot to camp. Couldn't imagine a  much better place to camp. It is about 30 degrees too hot for me to want to camp there right now, however.

Some cat sailing a small catamaran upriver. Pretty cool. He was steering with his feet and laying in a prone position.

In the end, discretion was the better part of valor. We turned around as I was extremely leery of the increase in windspeed. As much as I wanted to continue on to the hot springs, I knew that it was going to be a slog back to the marina, battling what was shaping up to be a nasty headwind. 

After an hour of battling the headwind, I was starting to flag. I realized that I had been neglecting my hydration and nutrition. I was all of a sudden famished and thirsty. I pulled into a small, peaceful cove and pulled out a snack and my water bottle. After a few minutes Bianca pulled up and we took a nice break. 

This little rapscallion crawled right up to me. I gently urged him to head in another direction. Didn't want him to take a chunk out of one of my toes.

Is it just me or do Go-Pros make you look like a total badass?

After battling the wind for quite a while, we finally made it back to Willow Beach. We were worn out. The distance of over ten miles of paddling, combined with the epic heat, and the gnarly headwind, made for one of the toughest days of paddling I've had. We deflated the boards and packed the car as quickly as we could, as we knew our room at the Westin was waiting for us, what with cold beer, hot showers, and some delicious Mexican food. 

We pulled into the Westin Lake Las Vegas around 5:00, starved. What a classy joint. Wouldn't you know it, that that area has almost no gas stations, no grocery stores, pretty much nothing. Not sure what the folks do that actually live in that part of Henderson. We had to drive 8 miles from the resort, to a decidedly less classy area, to pick up some beer. The store sold liquor, tobacco, CBD, Pornography, and cold beer. What else is there? I'm pretty sure that the proprietor was stationed behind a wall of bulletproof glass. We picked up a case of Modelo.

We next headed to the Walgreens to get some snacks. I've never seen a Walgreens that had a security guard stationed inside. This one had not one, but two security guards. Not bad. 

After finally returning to our resort, we headed to the local Mexican restaurant, which had incredible food. If you happen to find yourself in Lake Las Vegas, I'd advise you to head to The Sonrisa Grill. The Chimichanga with carnitas is particularly appealing. 

It was all we could do to make it back to our room. With a heavy load of chips, salsa, the aforementioned chimichanga, a shot of tequila, and a couple of cold brewskis on board it was time for bed. We were exhausted and knew that we had a relatively early day the next day. I was asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

Our rooms came with a free breakfast. Sadly, that did not include a buffet. Happily, bloody marys were on the menu. The food was delicious! The cream, was real... !!

After breakfast, we decided to rent some bikes that were at the resort. We thought we'd pedal around for a couple of hours and explore the area before beginning our paddle. The bikes were rubbish, but fun nonetheless.

We rode around for a couple of hours and had fun. It was thirsty riding. A very hilly area, so we did a lot of climbing. We headed back to our room for a cold beverage before hitting the lake. That's our resort on the right.

Our room didn't suck.

In the end, we decided to use some of the boards that belonged to the resort. After the heat of the bike ride, we didn't feel like going to all of the trouble of inflating our boards and then having to deflate them and repack everything. We paddled around the entire lake for a couple of hours and covered over 5 miles. It was fun and a great workout, but pretty pedestrian as far as paddling locales go. We were there, so we paddled, but would not ever really feel compelled to return.

After we finished we walked by one of the pools and were waylaid by one of the poolside cocktail waitresses who had a tray full of delicious looking drinks. We decided to order just one. 

Some length of time, and some number of drinks later, we were back in our room ordering pizza. Well, it is Vegas, after all. Needless to say, we slept in a tad on Sunday morning, before firing down another delicious breakfast, sans the bloody mary.

We packed up our gear and made tracks for Lake Mead. I was stoked to get on the water. We arrived at Lake Mead, which is pretty big. We tried several access points and they were all rife with power boats, and the water looked pretty choppy. Furthermore, the area just wasn't very visually appealing. Somewhat reluctantly we decided to move on. I'm sure that the area must offer something for paddlers, we just weren't able to find out what it was.

We climbed back in the car for the long pilgrimage back to the Phoenix area. It was a great weekend. The highlight for me had to be the paddle through Black Canyon, and sharing Emerald Cove with Bianca. That is something that I'll definitely do again!