A Calm Morning Stand Up Paddle Boarding at Whiskey Creek (Whiskeytown, CA)

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63°F at 8AM here in Redding, CA with a high of 86°F by late afternoon. To catch the cool temperatures for a standup paddling adventure, we head out and arrive at Whiskey Creek Boat Ramp by 10:15am. They have restroom facilities and picnic tables in shaded areas. We spoke to locals and they love kayaking or being on their SUP at Whiskey Creek (Google Map) and Oak Bottom versus Shasta Lake with all the boaters.

Bill is elated we’re finally using our Body Glove Performer 11' Inflatable Stand Up Paddleboard ($999.00),we had purchased at Costco ($399.99), on our RV Trip.

It only took a few minutes to inflate the SUPs with our Seamax Electric Air Pump (Affiliate Link) and we’re off. Also, enjoying giving the body some Vitamin D. Hopefully, we’ll get a nice tan on without the sunburn.

We found these islands and planned to picnic under the shade. I used our lifejacket as a cushion to sit on. Worked great!

After scarfing down deliciously made sandwiches, we explored the island… found a few bird feathers as souvenirs. The only negative from this day was noticing all the excrement that surrounds the island. There was a lot!

[Update: July 2, 2021] Found an article, Do not swim' order now in place at one Whiskeytown beach due to high levels of bacteria – "He added that it's not uncommon to have a beach closure due to high levels of bacteria. Hoines said the current situation may have been caused by a buildup of excrement in the area from geese or other waterfowl, coupled with the region's drought conditions, which mean less fresh water in the area, and recent super-high temperatures." – Josh Hoines, Whiskeytown Superintendent

But still a quiet, beautiful morning 2.5-hr SUP with a private island picnic. Can’t complain.

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