06/30/08

Welcome to WesternPaddling.Com!

We wanted a site to collect our photos and notes about various lakes of the Western States.   Emphasis is on lakes of the Eastern Sierra of California, as this is our home, and it would be hard to visit the hundreds of lakes that are in California.  But we will try!  This is a work in progress, suggestions and submissions are most welcome.  Photos were taken by us and others as credited (special thanks to Andy for Tahoe photos).

Kayaking in the Rock Gardens of the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA.  Lone Pine Peak just to left of kayak, Mt. Whitney is to the right.

Introduction	Current Weather Conditions
California's Eastern Sierra, along with Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Basin, contain some of the most beautiful alpine and mountain lakes in the world.  Our intent is not to replace the many fine camping and paddling guides already written - we already own a copy of almost all of them.  What we did find, due to the confines of a guide's printed page, is a lack of photos for each lake.  WesternPaddling.com is really meant to augment existing guides.  Quite simply, we wanted to post a larger selection of photos for each lake featured.  Many guides feature a single black and white photo of each lake, which makes it hard to judge which ones are more attractive to the individual paddler.  It also gives us an excuse to try paddling new lakes on weekends! Updates on paddling the Lower Owens River posted June 2008. The store link offers a number inflatable kayaks for sale through Aibonito in Lone Pine, CA.  These boats have been tested, and greatly enjoyed, on the lakes of the Eastern Sierra! Our shop in Lone Pine, Aibonito, offers both soft shells (inflatables) AND great hard shell kayaks.  We are dealers for Advanced Elements and Hurricane Kayaks serving the Eastern Sierra - see these great kayaks at our Lone Pine store.  Click on the "Kayak Store" link at left of this page for photos and details! 2008 Eastern Sierra Demo Days!  Try out several Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks, and our Hurricane Kayaks!  Click on the "Store" link for details! Eastern Sierra Kayak & Canoe Club - Access club pages and newsletter by clicking the "E.Sierra Kayak Club" link on left margin of this page.   We may be contacted at: westernpaddling@gmail.com Shop:  Aibonito, 120 N. Main St, PO Box 1240, Lone Pine, CA 93545 Tel: 760-876-1050;  cell and after hours 760-920-8450 Open 7 days, located along US Hwy 395 in the center of Lone Pine, across from Jake's Saloon, or 2 doors north of Bonanza Mexican Restaurant.	Weather Links for some of our favorite paddling areas in the Sierra: South Lake Tahoe & Tahoe Basin Bishop (Eastern Sierra) Mammoth Lakes (Eastern Sierra)
Lakes to Paddle	Communities & Forums
View our collection of photos with descriptions of our favorite paddling lakes and inland waters.  Emphasis is on lakes and waters of Western States, primarily those located in the Eastern Sierra of California.  Simply click on the "Lakes" link on left column of this page to access.	Please click on "Paddling Links" at upper left margin of this page to access list of our favorite paddling sites, newsgroups, & more. Eastern Sierra Kayak & Canoe Club - Access club pages and newsletter by clicking the "E.Sierra Kayak Club" link on left margin of this page.