Kayak to Hawaii?

OK, so I mentioned crossing Utah lake recently. This trip seems like the next logical step, right?

In case you cant read it, this is google map's directions from Provo, UT, to Honolulu, HI. Step 17 recommends:

Island

So, I'm building an island. Pictures and details to come, lets just say it will be awesome. It will be a cool destination and I'm planning on making a pirate map to show how to get to it. Get excited, but not too impatient. It may take a couple of months to finish.

Vineyard

Saturday we took a trip out on the lake farther than I've been before. As you can see from my map we took off at a little park just north of Vineyard (a little community west of Orem and north of UVU). The park needs some green, but there are two picnic tables and a bike path to enjoy there. It is hiding down the hill from the road, so it can be easily missed even if you are looking for it. The bike path is paved and had a number of families enjoying the summer weather.

The park has a little bit of a beach right on the lake which is nice and a long stretch of shallow sandy water, but it wasn't my favorite park. I may be a little bias-my memories of it go back before it was a park to huge bonfire parties with truckloads of pallets. The fires have been banned now and replaced with a semi-manicured picnic area. Maybe if they could keep a little grass at least, but maybe the soil makes that unfeasible.

After enjoying the lake for a while we turned around to go back and found that we had drifted north (a common thing on the lake. I recommend looking behind you on a regular basis so you know where you are.) Thinking we had drifted south, I ended up missing the park and adding an unexpected loop to our trip. We ended up going nearly 5 miles in the end.

My review of the Vineyard area is pretty low. I would rather go south or stay on a river, where most of these posts are about, but if you live up north, or you want a quick way to get out on the body of the lake, this is not a bad option.

It turns out that crossing the lake is approximately a 5-6 mile trip, one way, if you go straight the whole time. Maybe that will happen next week...

Summertime!

I know summer is just beginning, but the allure of the lake is definitely back. I have been out three times already-I need to put up some pictures. I went with a friend today to the east bay marshes and saw a whole bunch of birds. I've never been one for birdwatching, but it was pretty cool to know what I was seeing. Although I'm sure there is more, here's the list that I can remember:

Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelicans (So amazing especially when they fly in a long chain together)
Beaver (not technically a bird)
Coots (my favorite because they can walk on water)
The state bird of Utah:Seagulls
Great Blue Heron
Night Heron
Paired off Mallards
Red-winged Blackbirds
Yellow-headed Blackbirds
Carp jumping fully out of the water (not very good at being a bird)

Unfortunately none of these are my pictures. I think I will start taking a camera and working on this list.