Kayak Dillon Reservior

Our last day in Breckenridge was a little more tame than the previous days.  Tame in the way that we didn’t use the alarm clock to start our day, yeah.  We gave our bodies extra time to sleep after our huge hike up Quandary Peak the day before.

Our gloriously late sleep in was followed by a nice big breakfast.  Even our Marlee dog liked the slower paced morning.  We were not going to be hanging at the campsite all day though.  We had a date with a kayak.

Hiking Quandary Peak was the ultimate “leg day” workout.  Kayaking was going to be a delightful upper body exercise.  In a beautiful location no less.  We drove through the cute little town of Frisco when we got off I-70 on our way to Tiger Run in Breckenridge.  We couldn’t help but notice the lake, or correctly termed reservoir, in town as well.  A nice walk around it with a glass of wine sure sounded nice.

 

 

 

Sunday night we looked into activities at the lake and found a guided kayak tour.  Paddling around enjoying a sunny day and looking for wildlife was right up our alley.  Sounded like fun!  We booked with Adventure Paddle Tours run by Kyle.  We handled everything online and it was a snap to set us up for a trip on Wednesday, the day after our big hike.

After our leisure morning and breakfast we headed out to a small building by the docks for our tour.  It was a bright sunny day and would turn out to be a record day for heat as well.  Hats and lots of sunblock were in order. It turned out to be a full group for the tour, 14 double kayaks filled with all levels of paddlers.  Kyle handled us all with ease.

 

Along with the record heat we also had big winds joining us on the lake.  So windy there were white caps on the water in places.  It was definitely not good water to water ski on.  Kyle let all of us know that we’d paddle through the windy stretch to a little island that would shelter us from the wind.  We paddled out past the sheltered area of the docks and into the wind.  You know, the wind wasn’t all that bad.  I let out a squeal with each splash from the whitecaps though.  In the heat, the cold water felt good, after the initial shock of the splash.

 

 

Once we all got to the wind sheltered part of the island, Kyle told us the history of the lake, I mean reservoir.  This used to be the town of Dillon.  In 1961, the town was moved to its present location because construction of the dam had begun.  We were floating on an old town and a giant ranch.  All of these little islands were really small mountain tops. Wild.

Kyle took us around to many parts of the lake while he kept us out of the big winds.  We were hoping to see the mamma Moose and her baby that he’d seen for the last several weeks.  He hadn’t seen her for a few days and just our luck, she wasn’t in any of the places they’d been previously spotted in.  Instead of the moose, we came upon a family of Canadian Geese, complete with their babies.  We made sure not to get too close and upset them.  We also saw several Osprey flying high above along with a nest.

Then we reached the best part, an eagle’s nest.  We paddled through a tiny break in the reeds between two small islands.  We were first to go through.  Kyle told us it would be on our left once we got through.  We quietly paddled towards our left and there it was, high on a nesting pole.  It was a big nest.  And it was occupied.  We could see movement of cute little eaglets that were ready to eat the worm that was dangling in Mom’s mouth.  We moved around for a better look and I zoomed in with my camera.  There they were, two little baby eagles.  So very cool!

All through the tour, the views everywhere you look are so pretty.  Snow-capped mountains that look close enough to touch with trees as far as you can see.  For this desert dweller it’s a sight to behold.

Kyle successfully kept us out of the big winds while showing us around the northern part of the lake. Now came the time to paddle back to the dock.  Easy, because we paddled out into the wind so surely we’d have the wind at our backs, right?  Wrong.  The wind shifted so on the paddle back we were taking it straight on our right side, starboard for you boaters.  Again with the cold splashes but this time twice as much.  By the time we got back to the dock my lower body was good and wet.  Thankfully it was a hot day as they dried in no time.

Our kayak ride was the perfect last activity in Breckenridge before we headed to Moab.  As we drove by the lake the next morning heading out I looked for kayakers.  I smiled and thought to myself, we need to buy one.