If you’re a northern Arizona resident with a paddle board, kayak, pack raft… any kind of recreational watercraft, odds are pretty high that you’ve been to Clear Creek Reservoir.

(Hey, have I mentioned that I bought a new inflatable paddle board?)

Riiiight before the Pipeline/Haywire/Double Fire complex broke out on my forest (more on that later), I had the chance to head on a day trip to Clear Creek with a few of my friends. It was (unsurprisingly) a blast.

I first tried paddle boarding (and paddle board yoga) during my unemployed summer in Michigan while I was looking for anything and everything COVID-safe to entertain myself with.

I fell in love IMMEDIATELY, and would have bought a paddle board right away if it were not for the pesky logistical things like… yunno, planning my move to an apartment. In Arizona. With little room to store a paddle board and few places to actually take said paddle board.

My two really good friends Vandy and Breanna, who live in Seattle, bought paddle boards sometime around the start of the pandemic, too, and seeing their constant social media posts around all the lakes, sounds and bays in Seattle did absolutely nothing to dissuade me.

So, after almost two full years of indecision, I finally pulled the trigger and bought myself a brand new inflatable stand-up paddle board (iSUP) earlier this month!