Not really a wilderness question, but can anyone recommend a nice kayaking lake within about 5 hours of the SF Bay Area that has lakeside glamping tent-cabins? The only one I know is at Lewiston Lake (near Shasta), and it’s nice. But I’d like to try someplace I haven’t been before.
By nice kayaking lake I mean a lake that has inlets and coves and maybe islands (in other words, not just a big oval) without much motor boat or jet-ski traffic. I’ve paddled and camped on a few really nice ones in Northern California, but my sleeping-on-the-ground days may be coming to an end so I’m looking for a lake I can glamp on. Again: glamping, non-oval lake, without much motor traffic.
I get where you are coming from. After decades of year round wilderness backpacking and paddling trips, as I get older that becomes less comfortable. I’m in the Northeast so I can’t help you with locating the kind of lake you desire but I can offer some tips.
The kind of meandering shoreline that you describe tends to be a feature of lakes created by natural or manmade dams, so you might start doing map searches for dams and see if you can find impoundments that spread into that “spider-like” pattern. My largest site for that sort of kayaking here in Southwest PA is Lake Arthur.
And for adding some creature comforts to overnight paddling trips, you might want to consider renting a small motorhome, like a Class B (the compact van type units that are perfect for one or two people) or Class C (the larger ones that can sleep 3 to 6 people). The one drawback is that those don’t offer an easy way to transport non-folding or inflatable boats. But if you can bring two vehicles, the RV and a car with roof-racked boats, you can also extend your options on a very large lake by setting up a shuttle. If you have a tow hitch on your vehicle you can also rent small tow behind units like A-frames or teardrops. It costs around $300 to have a hitch that will tow some of these lighter weight units if you don’t have one.
My ex boyfriend and I started doing this (renting smaller RVs) for trips out west and found it so enjoyable that we bought a used 17’ towable with compact kitchen and bathroom and would take it with the canoe or kayaks on his truck roof rack for extended travels locally. Having room to also haul a couple of mountain bikes also gave us ways to do downriver trips, since we could leave a bike chained up at the day’s end destinations and then one of us could pedal back to the car and camper and drive back to where the other was waiting with the boats.
After selling my share of the towable camper to the ex, I eventually bought a box truck that allows me to “glamp” anywhere I can park it. Since it still has the full cargo overhead door in the rear, and the full bed inside folds up Murphy-bed style against one wall, I can load one to 4 boats inside for easy transport. Having it has really simplified and expanded my opportunities for paddling adventures. I don’t need to seek glamping facilities – I bring my own.
While I will always have treasured memories of my wilderness tent camping experiences, the last one being 3 years ago, the challenges of being a septuagenarian (not the least of which is a more urgent bladder) make me grateful for being able to utilize my ever-dwindling stamina for actual paddling rather than setting up and striking camp, wriggling less flexible joints in and out of small spaces and sleeping bags, and wrangling fussy cookstoves to produce a hot meal.
I confess that I was long one of those hardcore backcountry packers and trippers who scoffed at RVs and teased those who used them. But there comes a point in life when we should all be 'forgiven" for seeking a more manageable way to enjoy being in the wild places that are such a necessary part of life.
You’re right, Willowleaf – our favorite lakes for kayaking are reservoirs and have spider-like shapes. I hadn’t really thought about a small RV, but I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for the idea and the thoughtful comments.
Willowleaf, we seem to share a similar outdoor life experience. I too was a hardcore backpacker. Used that experience to combine hunting with a longbow and fishing in wilderness areas out west. As my knees started complaining I concentrated more on canoeing and sea kayaking. I still sleep comfortably on the ground and like my sleeping bags, but realize I am aging out of all these activities. Last time backpacking was also 3 years ago. Yesterday we had good winds, and 82-degree summertime temps! The sailboat racing was a blast. We got 3 races in. I had made plans to sail my Scamp after the races, but my body told my mind to go home. The mid-seventies is a trip for sure. I do envy your box truck camper, but we do have a 17-foot Casita travel trailer and generally have a canoe or kayaks on top of the car when pulling it. But please don’t call me a glamper!!
Casitas are so cool! They were at the top of the list when we were seeking a compact tow-behind but none turned up within reasonable distance. The more conventional metal sided Road Runner we picked up for $4200 turned out to leak horribly through the rear window frames and roof seam during heavy rains (soaking my side of the dinette conversion bed) — I was acually relieved to unload my share of it during the breakup and it is probably still sitting rotting from the inside out on his hoarded up acreage up in the north woods, though I explained to him how he should pull the window frames and re-goop them and slap Eternabond tape over that wonky seam.
Fiberglass bodies are the way to go with camper shells. Does your Casita have a toilet ? I recall that being a rarer option in them when I was searching for one and would have modified one with a cartridge potty if necessary had we found obe . The older I get, the closer I want to keep the “loo”. Guys have that situation a lot easier.
And there are definite advantages to having a separate trailer. In my case I did not own a vehicle with sufficient towing capacity, and also knew that hook up and set up of a towable is a lot of effort when done solo, so the motorhome option was more practical. my travels often include visits with friends in urban and suburban areas and the little yellow box truck so far has never attracted undue attention parked on the street (now that everybody is so accustomed to delivery vans everywhere.). Due to the massive side mirrors and short wheel base I can actually parallel park it on the street more readily than I can my 6 speed maddeningly egg-shaped Mazda CX5.
