Acclaimed author Janice L Green has kayaked more
than 20,000 miles over the past 30
years throughout the state of California,
exploring its lakes, reservoirs, bays, harbors
and slow-moving rivers by kayak. Her love affair
with watersports began when she grew up in
Minnesota, ‘The Land of 10,000 Lakes.’
Janice bought her first kayak in 1988 when
kayaking was relatively unknown. paddle
boarding didn’t originate until 25 years
later. When Janice first began paddling, she
was flying by the seat of her pants by trial
and error. Since then, she has paddled over
200 lakes, rivers, bays and harbors and has
written several guides where to paddle in
California.
As an avid kayaker, Janice recognized the
need for a guidebook on flat water paddling
locations when she first began paddling
unfamiliar destinations throughout
California and was unable to find sufficient
information about them. In the process of
compiling maps, camping and lake information
on the different lakes she paddled, she
realized she had accumulated an enormous
amount of valuable data that could be
beneficial to other paddlers who either
didn’t have the time to gather the
information themselves, or who didn’t want
to blindly venture to unfamiliar
destinations.
When Janice first began paddling different
lakes, she was equipped with very little
information. Back then, computers were rare,
books on destinations where to paddle in
California were even rarer, so all she had
was a California road map to lead the way to
unexplored territory.
Reflecting back to when she first began
paddling new destinations, Janice recalls,
“The fear of the unknown was high in the
beginning, and so were risks. I suppose you
could say I was relying mainly on my
physical condition and common sense. I
picked the smallest lakes in the beginning
and the ones that weren’t as remote.”
The more she explored remote locations, the
more hooked she became on paddling serene
mountain getaways. Over the years, Janice
has been fortunate to have paddled some of
the most breathtaking flat water
destinations in California. It is her love
of kayaking and the peace it brings her that
inspired her to share her experiences with
you, so that you, too, can enjoy the
pleasure of paddling. She hopes others can
find the same joy and peace she has found
through paddling flat water destinations in
California. The latest, 12th edition of
Paddling California’s Flat Waters was
released in January 2024.
In 2021, Janice wrote Gearing Up to Go
Paddling, a comprehensive handbook which
contains what you need to know before you
go. It features advice and practical tips
from her decades of experience. If you are
interested in paddling but don’t have a lot
of experience or don’t know where to begin,
Gearing Up to Go Paddling is a valuable
resource on how to maintain your safety and
respond effectively to situations that you
may encounter. It is the ‘go to handbook’
for the paddling enthusiastic that covers
all the basics from your first stroke, to
everything else in between.
Paddling California’s Flat Waters and
Gearing Up to Go Paddling are a passionate
life’s works, drawing on decades of
first-hand paddling experience.
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