Kayak Camping Timothy Lake

Kayak packing Timothy Lake Labor Day Weekend

Aug 29th thru Sept 1st, 2025

Life has been pretty uneventful. Minimal hiking haven't camped all year, not one backpacking trip. My very first hike this year caused severe knee pain that i've been healing for the last couple months. Unfortunately, it is not improving, so this weekend instead of backpacking my friend Angie (from the gym) and I decided to go kayak camping at Timothy Lake. We decided this was a great alternative and still gave me the opportunity to teach Angie about backpacking cooking.

Because it was a holiday weekend, Angie went up thursday and put a tent in one of the camping spots to reserve for the weekend. Dispersed camping is free at Timothy Lake. However, you still have to pay ten dollars a day for parking.

Friday we packed up the kayaks, and all our gear drove up to timothy and paddled just over a half a mile from the pine point dock to dispersed camp spot number six. This is truly the best spot in the dispersed camping area from what we explored. We quickly set up camp, cook dinner and enjoyed some wine. 

Saturday morning as I enjoyed the opportunity of waking up in my hammock with a beautiful view of the cove, we were camped in, I noticed our neighbor across the cove.Didn't tie off their canoe very well. In the early morning hours, it began to drift out to the center of the lake.So angie and I decided to go rescue it.And return it to its camp. In the process of tying off the canoe, I woke up one of the campers and told them how their canoe had drifted off that morning. It felt good to do a good turn daily.

After a quick breakfast we wasted no time getting on the lake where we paddled the entire perimeter, which was just over nine and a half miles. Parts of our paddle were pretty rough, especially in the northeast corner of the lake. As expectedThe east side of the lake was very busy due to the labor day weekend.So we did not spend much time on shore. 

Sunday, we decided to hike up to little crater lake and back. Which was a total of nine miles out and back. We made it back to camp in the early afternoon.So since the weather was beautiful, we decided to crack open some more wine and laid around on our kayaks.Until we were too hot, then jumped into the lake to cool off.We repeated this until dinner. Overall is an amazing day. After dinner, we decided to paddle out to the center of the lake and watch the sunset. We received a beautiful display. I also had the opportunity of putting my lights on my kayak, which was so nice to experience again.

Monday morning, we took our time enjoying breakfast of biscuits and gravy from a package then packed up camp and headed off back to the truck. Overall, it was a great experience.Camping with Angie. It was super nice to get some girl time and relax. It was fun to dehydrate meals and experience the backpacking life without having to be concerned about my knee. I look forward to more camping opportunities with Angie.