Reflections on a Self-Support SUP Adventure: Paddling Lake Powell
Thunderstorms in the desert can be extremely unsettling. Desert landscapes are devoid of the dampening effects of forests. Rain runs off quickly and sometimes with devastating impacts like rockfall and flash floods. When you’re lying in a tiny one-person tent, after 35 miles of grueling paddling in every weather condition imaginable… a thunderstorm can be downright scary.
This is where I found myself in the last week of April 2024 along the shores of the San Juan River in Utah where the river meets Lake Powell. Also laying in tents several feet away was my business partner and co-founder of Badfish, Zack Hughes, and our good friend and longtime Badfish ambassador, Guillermo “GMO” Loria.
The three of us were on night one of a four-night/five-day 100+ mile self-support adventure. The goal? Paddling down the San Juan River into Lake Powell—and the canyon was coming alive.
Self-Support Paddling Is a Backbone of Badfish
Self-Support paddling is as much a part of the origin story of Badfish as river surfing.
As soon as Zack and I were first exposed to stand up paddling, Zack saw the potential to use the paddleboard as a tool for paddling and camping. He had done some sea kayaking trips in Baja and had a love for desert river camping, as well as a love for exploring Lake Powell.
In 2013 Zack set out to build a board that he could use to paddle the entire length of Lake Powell, self-support. That meant bringing everything he needed for the entire 150 miles, with him on the board.
The board he built is truly a work of art. This piece of history still hangs in the Badfish Surf Shop in downtown Salida, Colorado. Imagine a paddleboard with tall gunwales to contain a load. This paddleboard was coined the “Busito” after Zack’s modified minibus he drove around Honduras running rivers in the ‘90s.
The Busito is truly an impressive feat of board building… what it didn’t turn out to be was terribly enjoyable to paddle. Zack and our good friend and team rider Mike Tavares paddled the length of Lake Powell on the Busito, but when Zack got home he was driven to build a new self-support board that was more efficient.
The next round of boards he built was called the Selfie 16. He built three of these boards; one of which also hangs in the surf shop. A couple of years later, Zack, Mike T, and Bradley Hilton returned to paddle Lake Powell again. This time they paddled down the San Juan, paddling into Lake Powell, and across the lake for a total of 260 miles on the Selfie 16.
The Selfie was a major step forward in efficiency. However, Zack still felt that what was truly needed to make self-support paddleboard adventures accessible for more people was an inflatable board.
The Selfie 14 was born.
The Ultimate Adventure Paddleboard Platform
The Selfie 14 combines all the advantages of an inflatable (durability/portability) in a remarkably efficient platform that paddles impressively well while loaded down with multiple days of food and gear.
The initial trips on the Selfie 14 proved that Zack had landed on a board that did the job it was designed to do.
Even more importantly, Zack had created a shared experience around a product. That’s always been what Badfish is all about. Creating something that allows us to have incredible experiences with our friends and family, then sharing that product with the world so others can go have those experiences for themselves.
A (Not So) Leisurely Adventure Paddling Lake Powell With Friends
This past winter Zack conceived of a new adventure in Lake Powell. This time the route would be “mellow” as Zack pitched it to G-Mo and me.
Only 100 miles or so over five days from Clay Hills on the San Juan to Halls Crossing Marina in Lake Powell. 20 miles a day. Plenty of time for fishing and lounging at camp…
You know what they say about best laid plans.
Adventuring Amongst an Unpredictable Landscape
Putting in at Clay Hills in late April meant we would ride the runoff down the San Juan. We hoped we’d make good miles with the current before the San Juan succumbed to the backwater effect of Lake Powell.
As the water levels in Lake Powell have dropped over the past decade the San Juan has tried to reclaim its channel. However, years of sediment deposits have wreaked havoc on the streambed. The first anomaly was several miles down from Clay Hills—an 18ft high waterfall that formed when the lake dropped and the river found a new channel over a rock ledge.
On a paddleboard, this is a mandatory portage.
The closer you get to the Lake the river is hemmed in by large deposits of sediment that act like quicksand if you try to walk along the banks. We were essentially confined to floating along this landscape until we reached the lake.
Making matters more exciting, the desert surprised us with a choose your own adventure thunderstorm. We paddled hard against 30mph headwinds only to suddenly reverse into a magic carpet ride tailwind and rain.
It had been a pretty long day of paddling when we realized that camping anywhere in the lower San Juan would be impossible.
We kept our heads down and paddled for the lake hoping that once we hit the San Juan arm of Lake Powell there would be ground suitable for a much-needed night of rest. As dusk descended on the canyon we finally found solid ground to camp on. We made camp, ate a hasty dehydrated backpackers dinner, and crawled into our tents, totally beat. We settled in just in time for a legitimate desert thunderstorm to unleash on our little crew of weary paddlers.
Give it your best laid plans, the desert will laugh.
Low Water Levels but High Hopes
Over the course of the next four days, the weather improved and as we paddled Lake Powell proper.
A magical run of paddling ensued. Lake Powell has incredible clear water. The sediments of the Colorado and San Juan Rivers settle and soaring red sandstone cliffs plunge into the water making for a surreal desert paddling experience.
The further we traveled away from the San Juan, the camping improved. We found slick rock terraces where you could sprawl out your gear and sleep under the stars. The smallmouth bass were biting at camp and we found the solitude and peace we were searching for in a lake that was not yet crawling with summertime boaters.
Inflatable Paddleboards Are for More Than Day Trips
Traveling and camping off a paddleboard is an incredibly unique way to have a backcountry experience. All of your gear is easily accessible on the deck of your board and loading and unloading gear is an easy process. Long haul paddleboards like the Selfie 14 are intentionally designed to be stable and well-balanced while loaded down and prioritize a smooth glide, making long miles paddling feel relatively easeful.
A short trip out to a lake to paddle and camp overnight on a secluded island or a escaping for a weekend trip on a river is all it takes to get away from all the stress of our modern lives. You don’t even have to suffer to enjoy a self-support adventure on a paddelboard. The sufferfest we faced on the San Juan River isn’t a prerequisite. It was simply the toll we paid for taking on the notoriously unpredictable desert landscape and climate around Lake Powell.
This mission didn’t quite fulfill the promise of easy miles and a lot of time lounging in camp like many longer paddleboard camping trips do, but Type 2 fun is still fun, right?
If this story has you dreaming up your own plans for a self-support paddling adventure, you can check out the Selfie 14 here.
One things for certain, no matter what mother nature threw our way while paddling Lake Powell, the Selfie 14 held up its end of the bargain.
