Well before 9:00 AM on a cool and overcast Tuesday morning, seven Arizona Trailblazers converge on Saguaro Lake’s Butcher Jones Beach for a morning of kayaking. We offload our kayaks and gear in the designated area next to the beach and park our vehicles. With several sets of portable wheels, we roll our kayaks over about 100 yards of sandy beach down to the edge of the lake. Much easier and more convenient than carrying up to 50 pounds of kayak and gear over the same distance. Gotta love those wheels!

After a quick round of introductions, we pose for the usual group picture, with Saguaro Lake in the background.

No typical deep blue skies over the lake today, only dull gray heavy overcast instead. But no rain whatsoever in the forecast for today. With a slight breeze blowing out of the southwest and a cool temperature of 57 degrees, we load up our gear and ease our kayaks into the water at 9:20 AM. This looks to be a perfect day for kayaking. And so far, we’re the only people on the lake this morning.

This is the second outing to Saguaro Lake for this group since the club‘s first official day kayaking trip in February. And our goal for today will be the same as it was in February—Ship Rock, a large rock formation in the middle of the lake and 2.5 miles from the Butcher Jones Beach launch point.

We‘ve had the lake entirely to ourselves for over an hour this morning, before several noisy power boats interrupt our peace and solitude. We knew it had to happen sooner or later. By the time we head back, we‘ll have seen even more power boats and a number of other kayakers and paddle boarders enjoying the lake as well. But certainly not the level of activity seen on a typical weekend.

After almost two hours on the water and 2.5 miles of kayaking, we‘re all getting a little tired and hungry by the time we finally reach Ship Rock, prominently thrusting skyward in what was once part of the original Salt River Channel. A large “DANGER” sign on one side of the rock and a prominently displayed beacon light perched on the opposite highest side of the rock clearly warns all boaters to steer clear of this large rock sitting right in the middle of the lake.

We continue paddling for several hundred yards past Ship Rock to a take-out point that we‘ve used in the past for lunch and rest breaks, but the area is now totally overgrown with tall, thick reeds. So we have to settle for a nearby rocky area of the shore instead. The time is 11:20, as we pull in here, gingerly extract ourselves from our kayaks, stretch cramped legs, and find a handy boulder or fallen tree to plop down on for lunch, while admiring the surrounding scenery. What a perfect day to be kayaking on the lake!

Lunch and rest break over and muscles and joints somewhat relaxed and rested, we slip back into our kayaks for the return trip to Butcher Jones Beach. Thankfully, we don’t experience another capsizing incident like we encountered on our February Saguaro Lake trip and have not on any other kayaking trip since then.

When it comes to kayaking, where any number of things can go wrong at any time, we need to always be on guard and vigilant at all times. And the same is true for hiking, mountain biking, and virtually any other outdoor sporting activity. Murphy’s Law can be lurking just around the corner and ready to strike at a moments notice. Fortunately, caution, prudence, careful preparation, and advance planning go a long way on keeping old man Murphy at bay.

By 1:15 PM, we all arrive safe and sound back at Butcher Jones Beach. We load our kayaks and gear back into our vehicles, clean up a bit, and wish one another a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year before going our separate ways. May 2022 be a better year for all of us, with many great hiking, camping, and kayaking adventures ahead.