River Euphrates

Last night we took an excursion out onto Utah Lake. In case you didn't know there was a Utah Lake, there is, it's about an hour's drive south of the Great Salt Lake, it's freshwater, covers 96,500 acres, about 6 miles wide (east-west) and 30 miles long (north-south). The average depth is between 10-14 feet. It is the WORLD'S LARGEST PUDDLE. It has one outlet at the north, several marinas, a few hot springs, and a bunch of rivers and creeks that flow into it like the Provo River, Hobble Creek, American Fork River, and Spanish Fork River being the larger ones.

The water was a nice temperature but the color was a brownish green (probably from sediment stirred up by the winds and storm the night before). It was fun to swim in anyways, even Grace took a stint in it with me, Emily, and Grandpa or "Papa." Where we stopped out in the middle of the lake was beautiful, quiet, and amazingly peaceful. There weren't even any of the lake flies that were all over in June (they look like ginormous mosquitoes but didn't do anything except hang out). I dove down and in 10-12 feet could grab handfuls of the clay-like mud from the bottom. Emily put some on her face until she noticed the smell (I couldn't smell anything different from the water).

Easily one of the greatest things about this valley and the region is this underused and misunderstood lake. While Jordanelle Resoivoir up the canyon is overcrowded, Utah Lake is so large and sparsely used, it's not hard to get a chunk of lake to yourself (just drive out a couple miles). What I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish I had is a standup paddleboard. I emailed several companies and a few stores about supplying at least one to the school to start a club here on campus. No dice. I got one nibble, but they didn't seem to want to help out much. Bummer. The woman in charge of BYU's property at the lake was encouraging but she can't do much either. The one club on campus who would help out the most won't respond to my emails. The only way to get a cheap paddleboard or two are to buy old windsurfers and used ones, both are in SHORT SHORT SHORT supply around here (nonexistant, really). I even put a great deal of thought into building one, but don't have the cash, tools, or storage/shop to do so. I'm stuck. If anyone had any ideas, I'd be glad to listen.

My goal is to get a paddleboard and paddle across the lake and back. If I had the time and practice, I'd even try to paddle longways across the lake. That'd be sweet. We could have races with canoes and kayaks in the mix as well. There's this guy in Saratoga Springs who ran across the lake while it was frozen during January 2007. Read over his website, he's got some great pictures and good stories about his runs across the lake.

There is a coalition where representatives from each community in the county get together and discuss the lake and what needs to be done to make it nicer. They're trying to promote the healthy use of the lake and make people more aware of it. This is my two bits to add to their efforts. Mike and Kitye's friend is the rep from Woodland Hills and he and I talked a great deal about the lake.

I've got several pictures of the lake in the winter, but I'm at work and they're at home. Here's an awesome web cam of utah lake that you can control and everything, way nice.