Honey Lake Boating

Ready to launch near Milford, 1905. Courtesy of Marge C. Foster
Ready to launch near Milford, 1905. Courtesy of Marge C. Foster

While “Godzilla El Nino” winter of 2015-16 somewhat fizzled in Northeastern California there was enough precipitation that Honey Lake received some water, however, it is all gone now.

Prior to 1916, when Honey Lake was full, and it was for long periods of time, it provided a recreational outlet for those who resided near the lake.  Various residents had small boats for pleasure outings. It should be noted that there were also commercial boat enterprises on the lake as well, and that is topic for another day.

Those who have spent anytime around Honey Lake know how windy it can be. For some boaters this created an interesting hazard.  Fortunately, the Lassen Weekly Mail of April 9, 1915, chronicled one of these encounters: “ A party from Honey Island consisting of Henry Baughman, W.F Snare, and Alex Norwood were in Susanville yesterday. They made the passage from the Island to the mainland in a rowboat and report a very stormy passage. The waves were so high that the bottom of the lake was often exposed and the boat left stranded on the bottom. The party had to wait each time until the wave came back and floated the boat.”

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