We’ve just come back from a fantastic trip on Shoshone Lake. Many thanks to Pikabike for suggesting this when I asked for suggestions earlier.
We set off from Lewis Lake and passed up Lewis Channel which required some towing for a couple of miles. We then toured around Shoshone Lake, staying at a campsite for 2 nights. We took in the Shoshone Lake geyser basin, which was extraordinary. You could get up close to the geysers, no warning signs or walkways, you just had to be very careful where you were treading.
We saw moose, a bald eagle and beavers, but hardly anyone else other than some canoeists in the distance, and the local ranger who stopped for a friendly chat in his kayak.
We were very luck with the weather - sunny and light winds, because it can blow up in no time.
All in all, it couldn’t have been better for a first trip in the US and a first trip longer than half a day.
Now we need to plan the next trip!
Mark
Trip Report?
More? Pictures? You can’t just leave us hanging. 
Hard to follow up Shoshone Lake
Not many places where you can paddle to undeveloped geyser basins!
But for a future trip, maybe these would interest you:
- Day trip from Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake. Paddle along the West Thumb geyser area…view some of the cool stuff right IN the water, such as Fishing Cone (named for a time when you could cook fish right in the hot water spouting from it). Tourists on the boardwalks will gawk and snap pix of you, in envy of your proximity to the thermal features. You can (carefully) feel the varying water temperatures by sticking a hand by the side of your kayak.
- Day trip in Grand Teton NP, paddling String and Leigh Lakes. You have to portage your boat a bit between them but the views of the Tetons jutting right up nearby are your reward.
- For a multiday trip, Lake Powell’s midsection in fall (avoid summer crowds like the plague). We just returned from a 10-day trip there and paddled to this section, which we had never reached before. There is no road access to the midsection, so you HAVE to paddle a few days from either the southern or northern marinas. One narrow side canyon closed in so tightly we couldn’t even paddle normally (on both sides), and we had to back out. Too narrow for any motor-powered craft to reach!!! Lake Powell attracts lots of motorheads yet is still fun to paddle during its quieter seasons. The vertical rock walls of Navajo sandstone in some sections are spectacular (and dangerous if weather turns rough).
- I haven’t been there, but Pyramid Lake in Nevada looks interesting.