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Scenic Kayaking on The Kiamichi River in Southeastern Oklahoma.
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The Spring River - Paddle from Kansas to Oklahoma! A river offering camping spots and numerous 'honey-holes' for fishing.
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Urban Lake Kayaking on Santa Fe Lake Near Wichita, KS
Plus, I heard Wichita has good steaks. Wichita Kansas Road TripThe drive to Wichita, Kansas from Okmulgee, Oklahoma is less than
four hours long, but it can seem like five hours. I am more accustom
to making road trips into the Ozarks, where the roads are spiced
liberally with switchbacks, rollercoaster hills, saucy roadside
attractions and the occasional near-miss with a logging truck to
keep your attention. Driving to and from Kansas is much less
white-knuckle driving and much more red-shoulder driving.
Thankfully, they have very good roads in our neighbor state, so we
made pretty good time driving to Wichita. I recommend some good
'road games' to keep your mind alert while driving through the
plains. Road Game
The game started when Dylan asked about
the VFW sign that we passed and I told him it stood for
a Visual Fart Warning device that was manufactured at that location.
Dianne quickly assured us that the acronym actually
stood for Voluptuous Fishing Women, a local special interest group
that campaigns for shadier hats and better fitting
lifejackets. We didn't manage to convince Dylan because he was
pretty sure he saw a Vibrating Ferret Weapon advertised on a
billboard a few miles back. We don't keep score in this game. Lodging in Wichita
I enjoyed the short, but lovely walking trail around a small cement pond behind the Marriott. However, I was the only one to enjoy it, Dianne and Dylan didn't sleep very well that night and had some trouble waking up the next morning. Luckily, the breakfast buffet was able to revive them in time for some lake paddling. The Wichita Marriott is just off Kellogg Road, the highway that leads to Santa Fe Lake between Andover KS and Augusta, KS. Why Kansas? For the Kayaks, Of Course.
Brooks Canoe & Kayak is unique, in that they offer the Hobie Mirage kayak for rental. It takes a cool kayak rental opportunity to draw me to Kansas because my favorite thing about kayaking is shade trees. Finding shade in Kansas is a bit more challenging than in my neck of the woods here in Okmulgee. Also, I had planned to take a more scenic route home and scout some of the cool kayaking locations listed in Paddling Kansas. Unfortunately, I got a little lost and the route we took home didn't prove to be very scenic. I had hoped to check out Fall River, Fall River Lake and Toronto Lake. I have heard that the most scenic paddling spots in Kansas are in Southeastern Kansas. The Hobie Mirage KayakHobie Mirage kayaks have a pedal drive feature that
propels the boat with small flippers, under the hull, powered by
foot pedals in the cockpit. The pedals move back and forth rather
than in a circle bicycle-like pattern. A rudder controls the
direction of the kayak. The rudder is operated by a cool little
lever on one side of the kayak. On the other side of the kayak is a
similar lever that deploys or retracts the rudder for shallow water
kayaking. The Mirage Drive moves this big, wide Sit-On-Top (SOT)
kayak forward quite fast, but you do need a paddle for bracing and
for moving the kayak in reverse. One of the Hobie kayaks was the inflatable 112s and the other was the hard-shell Mirage SUV. Both Mirage kayaks pedaled at least as fast as the Otter could be paddled even though they were much larger. These big old SOT kayaks are VERY stable, making them ideal for Santa Fe Lake which tends to have a lot of Jet Ski traffic. Despite being constantly surrounded by wake board boats, knee board enthusiasts and Jet Ski pilots, the boat wakes never managed to make the Hobie kayaks unstable in the waves. You can tell they were designed by ocean boaters. Like all SOT kayaks, you get a lot of sun paddling a Hobie. Unlike most SOT kayaks, Hobie offers an optional Bimini top for boats! They also offer sails and other goodies to outfit your Mirage. Hobie kayaks are expensive, but they offer a wealth of fun options for kayakers. SOT kayaks like these are popular with women because they show off
The Outfitter
An outfitter
that will meet you at dawn's early light is a blessing for any kayak
photographer or fisherman. Their boats were in good condition and
did not leak. Few outfitters that I have used offer so many kayak
choices or a location that close to an urban lake.
Brooks Canoe & Kayak Santa Fe Lake
Santa
Fe Lake is a small 200 acre lake east of Wichita, Kansas. Get out on the water early in the morning and head for the narrow channel on the North side of the lake. Jet skis cover this water by 10:30am, so keep close to the shoreline to avoid a deadly collision.
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A wide variety of kayaks for sale
The Spring River is great for floating from Baxter Springs in South Kansas down to the small town of Quapaw in Northern Oklahoma or even farther down to Twin Bridges State Park. It offers a great put-in and take-out for kayaking day trips, but no outfitters or shuttle service.
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Canoe and Kayak Stuff for Paddlers
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