ProView – Badfish Selfie 14

You know the saying Google maps isn’t always right? Well, we found out the hard way. We hit the road in high spirits and headed out of town towards the wilderness. We drove, and drove, and drove. Our final destination: the perfect backcountry campsite only accessible by watercraft. After an hour of dirt roads, bumping around in the car, and a growing sense of something not being right, the first step in our journey, the reservoir, was nowhere in sight. Instead, we came to a closed logging road. Our spirits were down, our adventure might be over before it began. However, in the middle of nowhere, an incredibly nice couple laughed as we informed them google had led us astray. Our luck had turned when they helpfully pointed us on the right path. Several twists and turns and an hour later we finally reached our destination – Hog Park Reservoir. We scoped the lay of the land and geared up the boards.

Gear List and Loading

The trip we planned for was short, so we didn’t bring much weight with us. Instead we focused on our gear being distributed according to the body weight differences between my partner and I. We packed the tent, both sleeping pads, the pelican case, a bottle of wine, and clothes for the night in the 75L blue drybag, which was packed onto one board. The two sleeping bags, my clothes, the first aid kit, the toiletry bag, and both mugs went into the 70L black dry bag. The food, stove, cooking pot, and the small bottle of whiskey went in the 10L blue drybag. These were packed onto my paddleboard. The PFDs were brought along as well, and were attached to the bungees on the board. The bungee cords made it super easy to secure gear to the SUP without having to loop cam straps through the d-rings. To make things even more secure, I buckled the dry bags to the bungee (could also use carabiners). Rig your craft to flip, old habits die hard.

Gear List

Big Agnes 3 person Tent
Thermarest sleeping pad
Big Agnes Q-Core Deluxe sleeping pad
Nemo Sleeping Bag
Sierra Design Sleeping Bag
2 freeze dried dinner
2 packages of oatmeal
2 Fig bars
1 box of skittles
1 bag of cheetos
2 packs of tuna
1 bag of trail mix
1 bottle of wine
1 ½ pint of whiskey
MSR pocket rocket stove
MSR cooking pot
2 collapsable bowls
2 Mugs
1 small toiletry bag|
1 fire starter kit
REI backpacking 1st aid kit
32oz water bottle
Grayl water bottle with filter
1300 pelican case
Astral Blue Jacket PFD
Astral Women’s Layla PFD

All this was packed into a Watershed Colorado (75 liters), Watershed Ocoee (10 liters), NRS High Roll (70 liters)

Getting to Camp

Location: Hog Park Reservoir 
Mileage to camp: 2 miles
Weather: 75° Sunny and Windy

We decided to ease our way into an overnighter and go mostly backpacking style. After loading the paddle boards with our gear we set out to find our campsite for the night. All the dispersed camping was on the west side of the lake, so that’s where we headed. Corrie struggled a little with the wind, and it took a while to find our stride as two novice paddleboarders, but after finding our rhythm we really started to enjoy ourselves. We found no issues with the added weight of our gear (in fact we definitely could have and should have brought more!) as we navigated our way across the lake to find the perfect campsite. We searched along the shore for the perfect site, having no trouble managing the boards along the way (we even managed not to fall off!). After finding a nice little site with plenty of sun, we set up camp and set out to enjoy a relaxing evening with nothing but our gear, our boards, and the wilderness around us.

Thoughts on the Selfie 14

After an overnighter on the Selfie 14 I was impressed with the way it handled the extra weight of the gear. Next time I will be bringing chairs and a small cooler. The extra length and bungees  made loading and unloading gear quick and effortless, and the extra d-rings are a great feature if you want to secure gear down a little extra for those river excursions.  We took these out on a calm lake and they handled great. Once I get a little more comfortable I will be taking the Selfie 14 down some calmer rivers. The Selfie 14 is a great all around board for the weekend lake crew who are just learning and the multi day crew looking for a new way to experience the river.  The coolest feature for me was the ability for the pump hose to stay in the air valve while hand pumping, no more asking a second person to hold the hose, which truly makes this a  self-sufficient water craft.  

The Final Word

As a novice paddle boarder and ex-raft guide who keeps striking out on river permits, this trip got me excited about taking a different watercraft out onto the water for multi-days.

River permits are getting harder and harder to win each season. The Selfie 14 allows you to hit the water without winning the permit lottery. It’s not just for rivers either. Paddle to your favorite island or to the “forbidden” side of the lake. Now go out there and enjoy it!

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