jordan river sup

Jonah had the idea that we should paddle the Jordan River from Utah Lake into the Salt Lake Valley and maybe all the way to the Great Salt Lake! It seemed like a fun go since we didn’t know much about it. Urban adventure!

River rats. We rented some inflatable SUP’s from the U of U Outdoor Rec Program and got dropped off at the bridge just past the pump house where Utah Lake becomes river.

6am temps were in the low 40’s at the put in.

We’d hoped the river might flow 2 or 3 mph. With completely still water we knew right away that we’d NEVER make the 50 miles to the GSL.

The birds were singing and the muskrats were swimming, it was beautiful out.

The SUP was chosen for it’s low profile and portability since we pictured ourselves jumping fences, ducking bridges, outrunning hobos, crossing streets and who knows what else.

The river was wide and slow, passing through pastures, riverside devilopments and golf courses.

A soft closure of  “no trespassing” buoys  meant we were near our first of many man made obstacles. We quietly paddled on.

Up and over!

The dam splits the river into two channels this is the left branch which puts you into the Jordan Narrows.

“The only way most people recognize their limits is by trespassing on them.”
-Tom Morris

Being raised to Choose The Right, we did so. It looked like smoother sailing.

Maybe too smooth. Still flat water and slow going around the gravel pit. You can see the I-15 billboard high and right above us.

Serious thickets slowed us down as we performed floating burpees to duck and dodge many trees and branches.

Lovely views of ugly things.

During our 5am departure I forgot to bring sunscreen. The many bridges and underpasses were welcomed escapes from the sun. Sorry for the poor picture quality. Everything was shot on the iphone housed in a waterproof case.

The watchtower was a sure sign we were off course. We hadn’t encountered any forks in the river, but we were heading east and the Jordan we wanted, flowed west of here down the center of the valley.

Never a good idea to break INTO prison.

Dead end!

We portaged along 146th South for half mile while taking on some heckling and uninformed jabs like “long ways from any water”.

We found a narrow canal that looked like it would save us some walking and almost intersect the Jordan.

Jonah was getting worked and loosing motivation. There still lingered hopes of making it to at least 90th south. We paddled on.

It turned out to be a good, but very short shortcut.

Some major obstacles between us and getting back on the river.

We hopped the rails, some fences and walked along Bangeter for a bit until we found the put in.

Unfortunately the river was now an actual river, not a canal. The tail fins on our SUP’s kept digging into the gravel and we’d have to hop off and walk often.

Huge mutant carp were thrashing about threatening to eat us alive if we went overboard! Ok, maybe not, but it would have made a very slow and boring river paddle more interesting if they were.

Things did get interesting however. Jonah caught his fins and got tossed into shallow rubble. I popped his dislocated thumb back in place. OUCH!

Riverbend Golf Course was off to our left. With a quickly swelling thumb and unknown takeout spots ahead we reluctantly bid farewell to the river at 126th South after paddling almost 20 miles.

We got some strange looks as we hauled SUP’s through the driving range. Jonah icing and elevating outside the clubhouse after 8 hours on the water.

Quite a fun outing and exploratory effort. I’d really like to continue on and see what happens to the Jordan as it seeps through the big city.  Keep an eye out for part 2.