Chuck, Norma, and Pam pose for a quick group selfie.[photo by Norma]

Except for sunny skies, today’s weather forecast for the Lake Pleasant area is almost a carbon copy of last month’s forecast for Canyon Lake: light winds and temperatures in the mid to upper- 40s for most of the day. What the heck happened to our normally warm and dry winter months in the desert? For the past month or more our weather pattern has been more like that of the Pacific Northwest. And for that reason Norma and Pam have both requested that we meet at the lake at Noon instead of 9:00 AM, as originally planned.

Chuck and Pam take a break from paddling.[photo by Norma]

I agree to the change in plans, and at High Noon three of us meet at the Castle Creek boat ramp, located at the north end of Lake Pleasant in the Castle Creek/Fireman’s Cove area. We unload our kayaks and gear at the water’s edge and by 12:45 start paddling toward Castle Creek. The temperature has already warmed up to about 47 degrees under clear and sunny skies. One of the first things that we notice today is how murky the water appears, followed by the low lake level, roughly 25 vertical feet below full from looking at some of these pictures by Norma and Pam.

Norma in her new Sojourn 126 kayak.[photo by Pam]

These murky water conditions, as well as all the floating wood debris on the lake, are pretty convincing indicators of recent winter storm activity pouring large quantities of muddy water into the lake from the Agua Fria River, flowing into the north end of the lake, and countless running washes and creeks scattered around the lake. And we surmise that the low water level, compared to this same time last year, is most likely due to Arizona’s more severe Tier II water cutbacks from the Colorado River. Other than the Agua Fria River, the majority of Lake Pleasant’s water now comes from Central Arizona Project canals, delivering Colorado River water via Lake Havasu.

Norma is checking out some interesting rock formations.[photo by Pam]

Pam in her new inflatable Challenger kayak.[photo by Norma]

Scenic view from Lake Pleasant.[photo by Norma]

And, despite the latest Windfinder weather forecast I pulled up just before leaving this morning, predictions of winds peaking at 10 mph by Noon and then gradually tapering off are already proving false. Rather than tapering off, the winds are increasing in speed as the afternoon progresses. H’mm—seems like we ran into this very same issue just last month on Canyon Lake. As we make our way further up the lake’s long and narrow Castle Creek arm, the winds gradually do begin tapering off and the lake’s surface starts to calm down—for all of about 15 minutes. Then the winds come roaring back, and the calm lake surface quickly reverts to its angry, roiling self once again.

Is this kayaker asleep at the paddle?.[photo by Norma]

At about 3:00 PM we decide to turn around and start paddling back to the Castle Creek boat ramp. At the same time, the winds shift direction almost 180 degrees, and we’re now paddling directly into the face of 15 to 25 mph cold and gusting winds, creating increasingly choppy conditions with angry waves cresting into whitecaps. Cold spray hits us squarely in the face, and we’re forced to paddle even harder just to maintain position and keep from getting blown backward. We also have to be wary of some of the larger waves slamming into our kayaks broadside and capsizing us. An unintended swim in these cold waters (or an underwater tour of the lake, as John S. describes it) is certainly not an inviting prospect at this point.

Lake Pleasant has a long way to go before reaching capacity.[photo by Pam]

So we soldier on, digging our paddles even deeper beneath the surface to maintain and hopefully even gain speed, slowly working our way back to the ramp. It’s almost 4:00 in the afternoon before all three of us finally reach the Castle Creek ramp. But, before we can even manage to disembark from our kayaks, as if to add insult to injury, a series of waves, seemingly coming from nowhere, starts slamming into the sterns of all three kayaks, getting us wet one last time. What the . . . ?? Let’s get the heck off this lake and out of here, people! So concludes yet another wonderful kayaking adventure on the always interesting and always unpredictable lakes of Arizona. What the heck—it keeps us challenged and on our toes. Right?

Expansive view across the lake, [photo by Pam].

The lake’s surface gets increasingly choppy. [photo by Norma]