Monday, December 28, 2009
No Paddling, but Interesting Observation
We STILL haven't hit the water since October. However, I am amused to see posts on the Catawba Cruisers forum as winter paddling comes on. I'm very impressed with the activity of the group and the trips they plan - and megabummed about not being able to join them. The amusing part is the cold water experience of Jenny ... and how much it is paralleling our own. I will get a link to her site over there in the right column once Google fixes the JavaScript bug in their "Configure Link List" add link widget in Firefox 3.5.6. Until then, here it is: zen kayaking
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Duck Cove - Osprey, Big Fish, & Really Big Snake
We brushed the cobwebs off our kayaks and headed out to Duck Cove today. This is upriver from Mountain Island Lake along the Catawba River. It borders a waterfowl refuge. We didn't see much in the way of waterfowl at mid-day. We did see two osprey - which were much bigger birds than I was expecting. No pictures, but I did bring my birding binoculars and got a good look at the white of their underside. No diving for fish either. They just circled. We did see what they were looking for - big honkin' fish. I don't know fish. Maybe they were carp. But we saw lots of them, usually in pairs or threesomes, that were 2-3 ft long. [UPDATE: They were grass carp. Imported for vegetation control.] The cove is very shallow, only a foot or two deep through most of its stomach-shape. When we too close for comfort, they kicked up quite a dust cloud swimming away from us. Some even kicked up a wave. As for the leaf peeping, we saw sweetgums that had turned already and a number of drought-stressed poplars that were yellowish.
Our put-in was at Killian Rd. We started on a smaller cove/inlet and went up the main river channel just a bit to get to Duck Cove. After circumnavigating the cove, we went a little further north to find another creek scouted by others. On our way up, we caught sight of this:
From a distance, it looked like a branch/log, but it didn't move with the current. It kept cutting across heading for the other side. Kathleen wasn't too happy at the time. And she didn't want to see the pictures I took. I don't know snakes either. I'll update the post with an identification later. The impounded river had to be 150 yards across. I was amazed a snake would try to cross it. I wouldn't believe it unless I'd seen it. And, you can keep your Loch Ness monster jokes to yourself. I was moving. The snake was moving. I used my photo processing software to adjust the contrast. Unfortunately, I can refactor the focus. The thing had to be about 6 feet long. [UPDATE - Fellow paddler, Mike Slater, says it was a banded watersnake. According to that article, my "snake" story exaggerates it's length by 50%.]
The other creek was quite neat. Both Duck Cove and this creek had rather clear water. With the shallowness, it was quite easy to see to the bottom - of only a couple feet or so. Is with my previous post, when I can see under the water, I find what's there much more fascinating than the land above it - the undulations, the sand/silt patterns, the shells, the branches & other stuff in the water. With some leaves on the water, it was interesting to see their shadows on the bottom. For the most part, they did NOT look like the leaves. They were much more rounded. I guessed that the way the leaves sat in the water was part of it. But I also noticed that a small stick didn't have a noticeable shadow at all. The light refracted enough around it to make any shadow very faint. The big shadow here is my boat and paddle:
Finally, for posterity's sake, here are a couple shots of the put-in & take-out. I'm standing on the packed dirt road off the paved Killian Rd. The dip is deep enough that I didn't trust getting our truck through from both directions. We parked on the side of the road. If you can get through the dip, there is space to park offroad. The put in is just to the left.
Our put-in was at Killian Rd. We started on a smaller cove/inlet and went up the main river channel just a bit to get to Duck Cove. After circumnavigating the cove, we went a little further north to find another creek scouted by others. On our way up, we caught sight of this:
From a distance, it looked like a branch/log, but it didn't move with the current. It kept cutting across heading for the other side. Kathleen wasn't too happy at the time. And she didn't want to see the pictures I took. I don't know snakes either. I'll update the post with an identification later. The impounded river had to be 150 yards across. I was amazed a snake would try to cross it. I wouldn't believe it unless I'd seen it. And, you can keep your Loch Ness monster jokes to yourself. I was moving. The snake was moving. I used my photo processing software to adjust the contrast. Unfortunately, I can refactor the focus. The thing had to be about 6 feet long. [UPDATE - Fellow paddler, Mike Slater, says it was a banded watersnake. According to that article, my "snake" story exaggerates it's length by 50%.]The other creek was quite neat. Both Duck Cove and this creek had rather clear water. With the shallowness, it was quite easy to see to the bottom - of only a couple feet or so. Is with my previous post, when I can see under the water, I find what's there much more fascinating than the land above it - the undulations, the sand/silt patterns, the shells, the branches & other stuff in the water. With some leaves on the water, it was interesting to see their shadows on the bottom. For the most part, they did NOT look like the leaves. They were much more rounded. I guessed that the way the leaves sat in the water was part of it. But I also noticed that a small stick didn't have a noticeable shadow at all. The light refracted enough around it to make any shadow very faint. The big shadow here is my boat and paddle:
Finally, for posterity's sake, here are a couple shots of the put-in & take-out. I'm standing on the packed dirt road off the paved Killian Rd. The dip is deep enough that I didn't trust getting our truck through from both directions. We parked on the side of the road. If you can get through the dip, there is space to park offroad. The put in is just to the left.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Belated Trip Report with Neighbor
Between weather, work, and activities, not much paddling going on. Two weeks ago, we geared up to go on our home lake, but on the morning of, Kathleen wasn't up to it. She suggested calling our next door neighbor, John. To my pleasant surprise, he said yes. This was his first time in a kayak. He took the more stable of the two. He took to it well.
Afterwards, I kicked myself for not bringing the camera. We saw a number of pretty flowers in bloom. Two stand out - an orangy trumpet-shaped flower that was rather small & delicate and quite abundant on the bushes - and a vine that profuse light purpley violet stems of flowers. We had seen the later floating on Buffalo Creek and wondered what produced it. And I was correct in my suspicion - it was kudzu!
John had a great time. As we were paddling up the creek, he was telling me that they're using a variety of grasses in wetlands to suck up and aspirate volatile chemicals and experimenting with a poplar hybrid with their deep tap roots for groundwater plumes. He's an environmental geologist that does polluted industrial site cleanup work.
Afterwards, I kicked myself for not bringing the camera. We saw a number of pretty flowers in bloom. Two stand out - an orangy trumpet-shaped flower that was rather small & delicate and quite abundant on the bushes - and a vine that profuse light purpley violet stems of flowers. We had seen the later floating on Buffalo Creek and wondered what produced it. And I was correct in my suspicion - it was kudzu!
John had a great time. As we were paddling up the creek, he was telling me that they're using a variety of grasses in wetlands to suck up and aspirate volatile chemicals and experimenting with a poplar hybrid with their deep tap roots for groundwater plumes. He's an environmental geologist that does polluted industrial site cleanup work.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Upper Catawba - Riverbend Park to Lookout Shoals Dam
Today, we made it to the stretch of the Catawba River that we'd had to bail on at the beginning of the month. We were able to put in at the Riverbend Park, near Conover. We weren't able to start as planned because Duke Energy wasn't releasing enough water. We arrived at 8:30am to find Andy standing on rocks about a quarter way across the river. "Tide's out," he said.
Fortunately, a horn went off at 9am and a guy fishing gathered up his stuff and scampered up to the bank. Within a few minutes, we heard a rush of noise as Duke started running water through one of it's turbines (or whatever). With their re-licensing this year, Duke is supposed to be much better about these releases during the weekends to support recreational use of the river. So, we were to get started after all, and away we went:
The first couple miles, at this water level, had rocks to avoid but not enough to cause problems. We scraped over a few but nothing like the aggravation at Landsford Canal. We saw the bald eagle pair that nests nearby. Not much I can do picture-wise. The only picture I took has the bald eagle launching, but it's fuzzy enough to qualify for a "UFO In-Flight!" article.
At each island, we took the narrow path. At the second island, after the river bends south, we stopped at a sand bar to munch. After putting in again, Kathleen saw what she initially thought was an otter. We'd heard they were about. Upon our return, and discussion with Ranger Lori Owenby, it may have been a mink. No picture, but here are Kathleen and Andy at the bar:
After this, the trip shifted to placid, impounded river. Because of our "narrow side" of islands, we missed seeing the big rock outcrop to the wide side of the longest island. Oh well, it gives us something unique to look forward to when we return. For future reference, this island had 4 or 5 duck blinds along the narrow side. I'd not seen any around here before.
The trip duration was right at the 3.5 hours that Lori had predicted. According to the river map, it's a 9.5 mile trip. We loaded Andy's kayak into our truck at the Lookout Shoals Lake access and headed back to the start. Overall, nice trip. The temperature stayed in the upper 70's and cloudy. We were sprinkled upon occasionally but it was light and not really very noticable.
Fortunately, a horn went off at 9am and a guy fishing gathered up his stuff and scampered up to the bank. Within a few minutes, we heard a rush of noise as Duke started running water through one of it's turbines (or whatever). With their re-licensing this year, Duke is supposed to be much better about these releases during the weekends to support recreational use of the river. So, we were to get started after all, and away we went: 
The first couple miles, at this water level, had rocks to avoid but not enough to cause problems. We scraped over a few but nothing like the aggravation at Landsford Canal. We saw the bald eagle pair that nests nearby. Not much I can do picture-wise. The only picture I took has the bald eagle launching, but it's fuzzy enough to qualify for a "UFO In-Flight!" article.At each island, we took the narrow path. At the second island, after the river bends south, we stopped at a sand bar to munch. After putting in again, Kathleen saw what she initially thought was an otter. We'd heard they were about. Upon our return, and discussion with Ranger Lori Owenby, it may have been a mink. No picture, but here are Kathleen and Andy at the bar:
After this, the trip shifted to placid, impounded river. Because of our "narrow side" of islands, we missed seeing the big rock outcrop to the wide side of the longest island. Oh well, it gives us something unique to look forward to when we return. For future reference, this island had 4 or 5 duck blinds along the narrow side. I'd not seen any around here before.The trip duration was right at the 3.5 hours that Lori had predicted. According to the river map, it's a 9.5 mile trip. We loaded Andy's kayak into our truck at the Lookout Shoals Lake access and headed back to the start. Overall, nice trip. The temperature stayed in the upper 70's and cloudy. We were sprinkled upon occasionally but it was light and not really very noticable.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Demoing Tampico and Tracer
In the search for a new boat for Kathleen, we drove into Charlotte, Great Outdoor Provision Company, today hoping to demo two boats from Hurricane Kayaks. We were able take out a Tampico 140S and a Tracer 165. I had looked for nearby spots to paddle and picked a launch point at McDowell Park which borders Lake Wylie/Catawba River. We arrived at 1pm when the store opened, loaded up the two boats and headed out. Here they are - all pretty in their trylon plastic colors.
Now, actually, I should have known that Sunday afternoons on a big lake were not ideal kayaking conditions. Well, I did, but I thought we'd be able to scoot up to one of the feeder creeks or rivers without much trouble. Unfortunately, the wind and waves proved to be a limiting factor so we didn't end up getting far upstream. All in all though, we weren't there to see the scenary so much as to try out the kayaks. Two demo lessons learned in the process:
Net-net: both of us liked the Tampico, even if we could not figure out the back band adjustment. Kathleen felt smooth in it and powerful. I had the foot pegs in as far as I dared and it still wasn't enough for Kathleen to brace properly. It's looking like we'll be asking for a specialized foot peg track placement with our next purchase (of whatever boat) for her. While the Tracer was tippier, I didn't notice it too much. What I did notice was it's tendency to keep turning once I started the turn. It looks like there are some techniques that we would need to learn to use this high-rocker boat effortlessly.
As we were puttering about in the cove area, we came across this unusual heron. It's rather small in the middle of the frame - my picture using the digitizal zoom on the camera didn't come out very well. The coloring looks like a Little Blue Heron, but the shape and legs are like a Green Heron. My bird books say the Little Blue stays on the coast. I look forward to a proper identification.
Now, actually, I should have known that Sunday afternoons on a big lake were not ideal kayaking conditions. Well, I did, but I thought we'd be able to scoot up to one of the feeder creeks or rivers without much trouble. Unfortunately, the wind and waves proved to be a limiting factor so we didn't end up getting far upstream. All in all though, we weren't there to see the scenary so much as to try out the kayaks. Two demo lessons learned in the process:- It's better to paddle someplace you already know.
- If you're trying a stretch boat, pick someplace calm.
Net-net: both of us liked the Tampico, even if we could not figure out the back band adjustment. Kathleen felt smooth in it and powerful. I had the foot pegs in as far as I dared and it still wasn't enough for Kathleen to brace properly. It's looking like we'll be asking for a specialized foot peg track placement with our next purchase (of whatever boat) for her. While the Tracer was tippier, I didn't notice it too much. What I did notice was it's tendency to keep turning once I started the turn. It looks like there are some techniques that we would need to learn to use this high-rocker boat effortlessly.
As we were puttering about in the cove area, we came across this unusual heron. It's rather small in the middle of the frame - my picture using the digitizal zoom on the camera didn't come out very well. The coloring looks like a Little Blue Heron, but the shape and legs are like a Green Heron. My bird books say the Little Blue stays on the coast. I look forward to a proper identification.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
First Moonlight Paddle
Various paddling groups in the area organize full moon trips at night. They inspired me to monitor the weather to do the same on our own lake. It seemed like a really good idea to try this on water we knew instead of water we didn't. After throwing in a late night long drive to some other place, the local option became a no-brainer.
Saturday, after church, looked best for us. We made it down to the access ramp around 8:30pm while there was still light. And we were out on open water before it started getting really dark. Armed with our nifty Petzl headlamps, we were night boating compliant. Errrr, not armed; headed, actually. These LED-based doodads are on a headband. Ours have several brightness levels and a flash mode. So, we're sure to catch anyone's attention, except for the bass boaters hellbent on getting to their next fishing hole. There were mostly pontoon boaters enjoying the night just as we were. We saw our next door neighbors on the water before it got completely dark.
We wore our long-sleeved summer weight shirts to try them out and reduce surface area for mosquitos. I brought bug spray but, surprisingly enough, didn't need it. The only thing that attracted bugs were the headlamps when in a cove. The temperatures were pleasantly cool so the long sleeves were perfect.
We headed up the cove to Kathleen's parent's house. She called them on the cell phone when we were coming around to their view of the water. I just know Bill was muttering "blankety-blank kids" then hollering "you look great, kid!" We continued on up their cove. It was near the end of this one where a pontoon boat nearly snuck up right behind us.
The moon was pretty. However, not having nearby objects on the horizon, it looked small the whole time. The lake surface had mesmerizing undulations. I think these are the longer wavelength waves, caused by boat wakes that reflect off the shores. Not being able to see them coming, we would just sit in the water and experience them going past us.
We puttered about for 3 hours total, not getting back to the ramp until 11:30pm. A very pleasant night out on the water. We'll be doing this again soon.
Saturday, after church, looked best for us. We made it down to the access ramp around 8:30pm while there was still light. And we were out on open water before it started getting really dark. Armed with our nifty Petzl headlamps, we were night boating compliant. Errrr, not armed; headed, actually. These LED-based doodads are on a headband. Ours have several brightness levels and a flash mode. So, we're sure to catch anyone's attention, except for the bass boaters hellbent on getting to their next fishing hole. There were mostly pontoon boaters enjoying the night just as we were. We saw our next door neighbors on the water before it got completely dark.
We wore our long-sleeved summer weight shirts to try them out and reduce surface area for mosquitos. I brought bug spray but, surprisingly enough, didn't need it. The only thing that attracted bugs were the headlamps when in a cove. The temperatures were pleasantly cool so the long sleeves were perfect.
We headed up the cove to Kathleen's parent's house. She called them on the cell phone when we were coming around to their view of the water. I just know Bill was muttering "blankety-blank kids" then hollering "you look great, kid!" We continued on up their cove. It was near the end of this one where a pontoon boat nearly snuck up right behind us.
The moon was pretty. However, not having nearby objects on the horizon, it looked small the whole time. The lake surface had mesmerizing undulations. I think these are the longer wavelength waves, caused by boat wakes that reflect off the shores. Not being able to see them coming, we would just sit in the water and experience them going past us.
We puttered about for 3 hours total, not getting back to the ramp until 11:30pm. A very pleasant night out on the water. We'll be doing this again soon.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Lake Lure
We finally made the trek up to Lake Lure today. It was Plan B. Plan A had been to paddle the upper Catawba River near Conover, NC. The idea was scuttled by the put-in being closed by high water from Duke Energy needing to bleed water from its reservoirs. We have wanted to go to Lake Lure since the very beginning of the year. This was the trigger. We needed a fairly easy out & back trip and I figured the lake would get more crowded as the summer kicks in.
It's a pretty reservoir, up in the mountains, and an easy 1.5 hr drive. The route via US74A/64, coming from the east, is very popular for motorcycle rides. The town has several restaurants with outdoor seating. Much better than the town of Chimney Rock, up the road a little further. We paid the $22 annual fee for each boat at the Lake Lure Marina and used their single lane boat ramp to put-in. Here's a view from the water (with a pair of blue kayaks that came in as we left):
The hills are quite nearby and have nice rock faces in spots:
We went up the Broad River, just past US74/64. We couldn't get far before the rocks blocked us. We found a small side creek that led to a retaining pond. The pond was home to scads of Canadian geese, their yung'ns, and a pair of white swans(?). The homes on the lake are a real mixed lot - some huge stone houses, some mobile homes, and lots of boat garages. On our lake, the lake-side "style" is plain old docks/decks, or roofed boat houses. The garages here were complete with wooden doors on them - kinda quaint. We also saw big turtles and a lot of swallows. There were fewer power boats than I expected on the water, so the mid-afternoon timing worked out just fine. We only went as far as where the lake tee's out to the north. Maybe that northern finger has more interesting hills and wildlife.
Look close in that upper pic above. Besides Katheen in the foreground far right, I think I've got a picture of Chimney Rock, complete with US flag flying, up in the rocks, about middle right.
We will definitely be back in the fall when the leaves are turning. Another summer trip is likely. It was rather breezy today. Hopefully, that breeze will be there when it's stagnant in the piedmont in July & August. We took NC9 south out of town. It was an easier and faster drive than coming through Rutherfordton. (Remember this for the next trip.)
It's a pretty reservoir, up in the mountains, and an easy 1.5 hr drive. The route via US74A/64, coming from the east, is very popular for motorcycle rides. The town has several restaurants with outdoor seating. Much better than the town of Chimney Rock, up the road a little further. We paid the $22 annual fee for each boat at the Lake Lure Marina and used their single lane boat ramp to put-in. Here's a view from the water (with a pair of blue kayaks that came in as we left):
The hills are quite nearby and have nice rock faces in spots:
We went up the Broad River, just past US74/64. We couldn't get far before the rocks blocked us. We found a small side creek that led to a retaining pond. The pond was home to scads of Canadian geese, their yung'ns, and a pair of white swans(?). The homes on the lake are a real mixed lot - some huge stone houses, some mobile homes, and lots of boat garages. On our lake, the lake-side "style" is plain old docks/decks, or roofed boat houses. The garages here were complete with wooden doors on them - kinda quaint. We also saw big turtles and a lot of swallows. There were fewer power boats than I expected on the water, so the mid-afternoon timing worked out just fine. We only went as far as where the lake tee's out to the north. Maybe that northern finger has more interesting hills and wildlife.
Look close in that upper pic above. Besides Katheen in the foreground far right, I think I've got a picture of Chimney Rock, complete with US flag flying, up in the rocks, about middle right.We will definitely be back in the fall when the leaves are turning. Another summer trip is likely. It was rather breezy today. Hopefully, that breeze will be there when it's stagnant in the piedmont in July & August. We took NC9 south out of town. It was an easier and faster drive than coming through Rutherfordton. (Remember this for the next trip.)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Rocky Shoals Spider Lily
We made the trip to the Landsford Canal State Park near Lancaster SC today. The draw was the springtime flowering of Hymenocallis coronaria, a rare lily that grows amongst the rocks in this section of the Catawba River.
The previous week's Catawba Cruisers group paddle sounded like quite an adventure. A number of new people, fast current from all the rain, grounded boats, flipped boats, and snakes. Andy was willing to go again. Gwen, from Great Outdoor Provision Company, was organizing an afternoon paddle. So, we decided to do this short stretch twice. We were joined by Terri and her son Blake, in the morning, and Pat Long in the afternoon. This was also our first shuttle experiment. It was also our first effort to dodge rain. It's been raining ALOT lately - which is really good for relieving our extreme drought conditions, but not so good for long distance paddle trips. The storm have frequently involved thunder too, so we didn't even try to paddle Moss Lake. But this time, only lightning was going to keep us off the water. Besides, the remnants of the canal, history, and prospect for stopping at GOPC, gave us enough rain-out options to make getting out of the house worthwhile.
We drove through some rain to get there and had a couple minor misturns on the way. But we got there only 5 minutes or so after the agreed meeting time of 10am. Andy was looking at his watch when we pulled in to the rather small and crowded parking lot; but he knows we're never on time. He, Terri, & Blake were already unloaded and waiting by the river. We dropped boats and gear by the parking lot ... And then I realized I'd forgotten to bring our paddles. Doh! I've done this on local drives down the road to our neighborhood access ramp, but it was a first for a road trip. Damnation! Andy had a spare paddle, just like ours, which Kathleen borrowed. I bummed a paddle from the park rangers. Terri, Andy, and I drove to the parking lot by the take-out. Andy drove us back and parked up the road in the increasingly crowded main parking lot. This is a nice little park - it's sized for normal use, not peak use when the lilies are blooming.
The river is flat right up to the park. We paddled out and tried to follow Andy as he traversed the rocky shoals. Now, I know what rocky shoals means - it is to be taken literally. There are rocks freakin' everywhere. We scraped over bunches of them. Got caught up on bunches more. Fortunately, none of us fell out. We did get rained on. It was actually rather enjoyable. I had my [brandname] hat from ECCKF and it worked really well. No lightning, so no scramble. I also forgot my camera so I have no pictures. But here are Andy's.
The lilies are indeed beautiful, both in mass and up close. They root into dirt filled crevasses in the rocks and need occasional flooding. This is one of the largest of very few stands in the US. I'm amazed they just let canoers and kayakers come and walk amongst them. Surely, they take abuse from the foot traffic during blooming. However, they seem to be thriving and the park encourages paddlers.
We thought the afternoon trip would be different from the morning one. I thought Gwen was going to be bringing flatwater boats but his entourage was almost all whitewater craft. I also thought he was taking a different route. But, alas, it was the same one, so we just did it a second time. We stayed a little more to the middle of the river this time. (We were river right in the morning.) It was very tiring and tedious to be pushing past the rocks. The repeat pass has put us off a second trip. We may come back to see the canals and paddle up the Catawba. But, unless we get whitewater boats, I doubt we'll be scraping up the bottoms of ours again.
The previous week's Catawba Cruisers group paddle sounded like quite an adventure. A number of new people, fast current from all the rain, grounded boats, flipped boats, and snakes. Andy was willing to go again. Gwen, from Great Outdoor Provision Company, was organizing an afternoon paddle. So, we decided to do this short stretch twice. We were joined by Terri and her son Blake, in the morning, and Pat Long in the afternoon. This was also our first shuttle experiment. It was also our first effort to dodge rain. It's been raining ALOT lately - which is really good for relieving our extreme drought conditions, but not so good for long distance paddle trips. The storm have frequently involved thunder too, so we didn't even try to paddle Moss Lake. But this time, only lightning was going to keep us off the water. Besides, the remnants of the canal, history, and prospect for stopping at GOPC, gave us enough rain-out options to make getting out of the house worthwhile.
We drove through some rain to get there and had a couple minor misturns on the way. But we got there only 5 minutes or so after the agreed meeting time of 10am. Andy was looking at his watch when we pulled in to the rather small and crowded parking lot; but he knows we're never on time. He, Terri, & Blake were already unloaded and waiting by the river. We dropped boats and gear by the parking lot ... And then I realized I'd forgotten to bring our paddles. Doh! I've done this on local drives down the road to our neighborhood access ramp, but it was a first for a road trip. Damnation! Andy had a spare paddle, just like ours, which Kathleen borrowed. I bummed a paddle from the park rangers. Terri, Andy, and I drove to the parking lot by the take-out. Andy drove us back and parked up the road in the increasingly crowded main parking lot. This is a nice little park - it's sized for normal use, not peak use when the lilies are blooming.
The river is flat right up to the park. We paddled out and tried to follow Andy as he traversed the rocky shoals. Now, I know what rocky shoals means - it is to be taken literally. There are rocks freakin' everywhere. We scraped over bunches of them. Got caught up on bunches more. Fortunately, none of us fell out. We did get rained on. It was actually rather enjoyable. I had my [brandname] hat from ECCKF and it worked really well. No lightning, so no scramble. I also forgot my camera so I have no pictures. But here are Andy's.
The lilies are indeed beautiful, both in mass and up close. They root into dirt filled crevasses in the rocks and need occasional flooding. This is one of the largest of very few stands in the US. I'm amazed they just let canoers and kayakers come and walk amongst them. Surely, they take abuse from the foot traffic during blooming. However, they seem to be thriving and the park encourages paddlers.
We thought the afternoon trip would be different from the morning one. I thought Gwen was going to be bringing flatwater boats but his entourage was almost all whitewater craft. I also thought he was taking a different route. But, alas, it was the same one, so we just did it a second time. We stayed a little more to the middle of the river this time. (We were river right in the morning.) It was very tiring and tedious to be pushing past the rocks. The repeat pass has put us off a second trip. We may come back to see the canals and paddle up the Catawba. But, unless we get whitewater boats, I doubt we'll be scraping up the bottoms of ours again.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Paddling Everywhere, Just Not By Us
We've been kept off the water by a string of weekends with unpredictable heavy rain and thunderstorms. As the weather has warmed up, there are lots of people paddling in a variety of locations. All too distant for us to want to drive to & fro only to be rained out. I am now stir crazy and must do something. Hopefully, we won't be dodging thunderbolts. But come heck, or even high water, we're going to see the Spider Lilies at Landsford Canal State Park on the Catawba River!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Stroke Videos
Via @SeaKayakStMarys and @bryanhansel ... a selection of short video clips demonstrating a retinue of kayaking strokes.
UPDATE - May 18: Check here for animations of various paddle techniques.
UPDATE - May 18: Check here for animations of various paddle techniques.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
ECCKF Wrap-Up
UPDATED: Apr 26 - added the pictures
Kathleen and I had a great time at the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival in Charleston SC. We are definitely going again. We tried to take advantage of everything available, made several on-the-fly plan changes, and had some unanticipated coordination challenges. We took our two Italian Greyhounds and rented a 1 room cottage on Folly Beach for a week. Ray and Dorothy, some paddling buddies, were going and we wanted to hook up with them. Here's what we did - commentary follows.
The movie was my first exposure to top-flight sea kayaking. Beforehand, I was more leery than interested, now I can definitely see the appeal. Will, of Coastal Expeditions, led the sunrise paddle. It was a nice jaunt through a tidal marsh area. We saw a bottle-nosed dolphin. We had signed up for 3 of the 6 classes offered by H2Outfitters and ended up adding a 4th to round out their complete set on various strokes - very useful, since all of our previous stroke knowledge came from our watching DVD's not people watching us & providing feedback. H2Outfitters had a bunch of boats for the lessons. We were in Perception Sea Lions on Friday and Prijon Catalinas on Sunday. The Prijons felt very wobbly to us newbies - a good lesson to avoid hard chine boats until we're more advanced. I flipped mine while going gonzo practicing low braces - but it gave me an opportunity to try a heel re-entry seen demoed by Cathy Piffath the day before. Kathleen has gained a lot of confidence and now wants to step up from her Pungo 120. Since we didn't plan on buying a boat there, we are waiting. However, it probably won't be too long before we're looking to sell & buy. In retrospect, we regret skipping the BBQ dinner on Friday night. I salivated at Dorothy's description of the beer and others told me the food was better than Saturday's. We returned for the Vacation from Hell presentation - very interesting for capturing the on-shore experience, not nearly as much on-water shoots as in Eastern Horizons; overall, a good pairing though. On Saturday, we wanted to catch a variety of sessions. Nigel Foster is freakin' amazing in a kayak - now we know how graceful kayaks can be on flatwater. Jeff & Cathy's demo of rescues was interesting, informative, and, as already mentioned, timely. After Ken Fink's talk, we knew what a Sea Kayak Carolina staff member meant when he warned us on Monday about the fetch near the mouth of the Folly River. Danny, of Werner Paddles, was entertaining during his talk about paddling styles. Who knew that competition between paddling vendors is a trash talk sport? Actually, that was a tiny percentage of his session, he was very informative discussing technique and paddle/shaft shapes. Unfortunately, I left the dinner tickets at home and, unbeknown to us, had to fight Folly Beach Sea & Sand Festival traffic back to the cottage. I was an hour late to dinner, the crowd was thinning, and I missed Ray & Dorothy. I did have a nice, but short, chat with Steve, the Charleston Co. paddling program director, his wife, and the guy who was directing the festival. After dinner, and after bumming some bug spray, Alison Sigathy and Karen Knight were incredibly graceful in their greenland kayak and canoe respectively. After the second set of lessons and Sunday, we tried sea kayaks by Nigel Dennis, P&H, and Wilderness Systems. The Current Design folks had packed up, so we missed trying theirs.
We only missed one component this year - master classes offered by experts, but not necessarily for experts. With the basics under our belt, a season of practice, and we'll be signing up for a number of these next year. We didn't get to do any other paddles due to high winds. I look forward to paddling to the Morris Island Lighthouse next year.
Here's Kathleen at the H2Outfitter's location for on-the-water lessons.
And fellow paddlers on Folly Creek in the tidal marsh:
Kathleen and I had a great time at the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival in Charleston SC. We are definitely going again. We tried to take advantage of everything available, made several on-the-fly plan changes, and had some unanticipated coordination challenges. We took our two Italian Greyhounds and rented a 1 room cottage on Folly Beach for a week. Ray and Dorothy, some paddling buddies, were going and we wanted to hook up with them. Here's what we did - commentary follows.
- Thu evening - Eastern Horizons movie
- Fri morning - sunrise paddle on Folly Creek
- Fri afternoon - lessons: Basics and Beyond the Basics
- Fri evening - Russell Farrow on Glaciers & Narwhal (Vacation from Hell)
- Sat morning - Nigel Foster demo on kayak control; Ken Fink on wind & waves
- Sat afternoon - rescue demos; vendor viewing & gear gathering; Danny Mongno on low/high angle paddling
- Sat evening - dinner ticket & traffic fiasco; late dinner; "ballet" with kayaks & canoe
- Sun morning - lessons: Combine & Refine and Support Strokes
- Sun afternoon - more vendor viewing; kayak demoing
The movie was my first exposure to top-flight sea kayaking. Beforehand, I was more leery than interested, now I can definitely see the appeal. Will, of Coastal Expeditions, led the sunrise paddle. It was a nice jaunt through a tidal marsh area. We saw a bottle-nosed dolphin. We had signed up for 3 of the 6 classes offered by H2Outfitters and ended up adding a 4th to round out their complete set on various strokes - very useful, since all of our previous stroke knowledge came from our watching DVD's not people watching us & providing feedback. H2Outfitters had a bunch of boats for the lessons. We were in Perception Sea Lions on Friday and Prijon Catalinas on Sunday. The Prijons felt very wobbly to us newbies - a good lesson to avoid hard chine boats until we're more advanced. I flipped mine while going gonzo practicing low braces - but it gave me an opportunity to try a heel re-entry seen demoed by Cathy Piffath the day before. Kathleen has gained a lot of confidence and now wants to step up from her Pungo 120. Since we didn't plan on buying a boat there, we are waiting. However, it probably won't be too long before we're looking to sell & buy. In retrospect, we regret skipping the BBQ dinner on Friday night. I salivated at Dorothy's description of the beer and others told me the food was better than Saturday's. We returned for the Vacation from Hell presentation - very interesting for capturing the on-shore experience, not nearly as much on-water shoots as in Eastern Horizons; overall, a good pairing though. On Saturday, we wanted to catch a variety of sessions. Nigel Foster is freakin' amazing in a kayak - now we know how graceful kayaks can be on flatwater. Jeff & Cathy's demo of rescues was interesting, informative, and, as already mentioned, timely. After Ken Fink's talk, we knew what a Sea Kayak Carolina staff member meant when he warned us on Monday about the fetch near the mouth of the Folly River. Danny, of Werner Paddles, was entertaining during his talk about paddling styles. Who knew that competition between paddling vendors is a trash talk sport? Actually, that was a tiny percentage of his session, he was very informative discussing technique and paddle/shaft shapes. Unfortunately, I left the dinner tickets at home and, unbeknown to us, had to fight Folly Beach Sea & Sand Festival traffic back to the cottage. I was an hour late to dinner, the crowd was thinning, and I missed Ray & Dorothy. I did have a nice, but short, chat with Steve, the Charleston Co. paddling program director, his wife, and the guy who was directing the festival. After dinner, and after bumming some bug spray, Alison Sigathy and Karen Knight were incredibly graceful in their greenland kayak and canoe respectively. After the second set of lessons and Sunday, we tried sea kayaks by Nigel Dennis, P&H, and Wilderness Systems. The Current Design folks had packed up, so we missed trying theirs.
We only missed one component this year - master classes offered by experts, but not necessarily for experts. With the basics under our belt, a season of practice, and we'll be signing up for a number of these next year. We didn't get to do any other paddles due to high winds. I look forward to paddling to the Morris Island Lighthouse next year.
Here's Kathleen at the H2Outfitter's location for on-the-water lessons.
And fellow paddlers on Folly Creek in the tidal marsh:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Consensus on Warm-Air Cold-Water Wear?
I posted a question on the Mecklenburg Regional Paddler's forum about recommendations for clothing or "behavior" when the air temperature is warm and the water temperature is not. I'd previously speculated that I'd carry a scooper and pour cold water down my shirt if I wore my current gear - an 3mm Farmer John and a 0.5mm longsleeve top (both from NRS).
The general consensus was towards a "shortie" farmer john - single piece wetsuit with mid-thigh shorts and vest-like upper. The idea was ... protect the core in the water, allow the extremities to sweat to release body heat generated by paddling in the warmer air. At the ECCKF, we'll be talking with other folks too. Stay tuned!
The general consensus was towards a "shortie" farmer john - single piece wetsuit with mid-thigh shorts and vest-like upper. The idea was ... protect the core in the water, allow the extremities to sweat to release body heat generated by paddling in the warmer air. At the ECCKF, we'll be talking with other folks too. Stay tuned!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Practicing a Self-Rescue
After Kathleen's previous excitement, we bought a variety of extra safety gear and I got psyched to practice getting wet myself. Today, the weather was wonderful. I just had to do a bunch of yard cleanup chores before she would let me go play in the water. I enumerate here all the reasons why my experience was much easier than hers:
Here's the video of the first attempt (with color commentary by Kathleen):
Here's the video of the second attempt (Yikes, I wonder if I can do anything about that dorsal still for the image preview. Thanks, YouTube, it's very flattering!):
Context for references in the videos: Andy is our friend who was with us on the South Fork. Walter & Patty are friends on the lake who came by, in one of their boats, while we were getting started.
A very fun experience. And I feel good about succeeding both times. (Afterwards, I was kicking myself for not having tried some bracing techniques to see if I could recover from a tilt.)
I did discover one thing about the kayak dress code... If you do, in fact, dress for the water temperature, you better get in the water on warm days like this, or you'll roast. I wonder if bringing a scooper and pouring water down my neoprene shirt would be the best practice. ;-)
- Planned
- Calm lake
- Wetsuit
- Two float bags in the bow
- Paddle float
- Water not quite so cold
- Watched self-rescue video beforehand
- Kathleen ready to go with PFD, ropes, and backup paddle float.
Here's the video of the first attempt (with color commentary by Kathleen):
Here's the video of the second attempt (Yikes, I wonder if I can do anything about that dorsal still for the image preview. Thanks, YouTube, it's very flattering!):
Context for references in the videos: Andy is our friend who was with us on the South Fork. Walter & Patty are friends on the lake who came by, in one of their boats, while we were getting started.
A very fun experience. And I feel good about succeeding both times. (Afterwards, I was kicking myself for not having tried some bracing techniques to see if I could recover from a tilt.)
I did discover one thing about the kayak dress code... If you do, in fact, dress for the water temperature, you better get in the water on warm days like this, or you'll roast. I wonder if bringing a scooper and pouring water down my neoprene shirt would be the best practice. ;-)
Monday, March 9, 2009
First Rescue Experience - Lessons Learned
In our exciting previous episode, I described our first experience getting wet in strong current when the water was COLD. Actually, it was Kathleen's experience. Here is a sideshot of the scene of excitement courtesy of Andy; as always, click on it for a bigger pic. Note the undulating surface. I don't know enough about river bottoms to know what causes this. We didn't see any rocks and Kathleen didn't touch the bottom anywhere. There had to be some variation in the bottom and a general decline.
Just downstream, where the river was wider and the flow slower, Andy measured the current at 2.4 mph. Definitely not whitewater territory, but way hard to paddle against. I tried measuring the water temperature with my Dakota carabiner UV/temp sensor watch but it didn't adjust fast enough. I'd guess it was 50+/-5 degrees F. You can see the tree stump on the far side of the river about a quarter width from the right edge of the photo. Kathleen's last attempt was on the far side of this tree. Andy figures her getting pushed against the stump, as the current overcame her effort, and an upstream lean was the reason she flipped. The eddy spot was by the bank, on the left edge of the photo, where the light-colored tree trunk is against the bank and going into the water. This is where Kathleen and her kayak ended up.
After getting back home, Andy re-read some of his literature on safety and rescues with renewed focus and intensity. Hear, hear; I second that! Nothing like a real-life experience to demonstrate the relevance of the information.
So, what did Kathleen and I do RIGHT for a river paddle with strong current?
What else should we have done differently?
In a previous post, I'd noted that paddling against the current will exacerbate any deviation of your boat from a straight line. The stronger the current, the faster your bow will be turned and you'll be going sideways. When pointed perpendicular to the current, you have the LEAST control over where you go. Be very aware of any nearby obstacles - they affect your options going upstream and you might see too much of them when recovering from a failed attempt. I was hoping to experiment and learn in current on the Broad River right next to the Greenway parking lot with Jeff, who knows the area. We could use more practice.
Regarding the flow rates, we're not quite sure about this one. Obviously, higher than normal CFS or water levels from water gauges says something about general conditions. However, width and depth of the channels does more to influence the current at any particular spot. Andy and I are both looking for more information on this one.
But what if it's just a lake paddle, or an impounded river? I'm not sure I'd drop any of this stuff. The extra paddle? Maybe?
Just downstream, where the river was wider and the flow slower, Andy measured the current at 2.4 mph. Definitely not whitewater territory, but way hard to paddle against. I tried measuring the water temperature with my Dakota carabiner UV/temp sensor watch but it didn't adjust fast enough. I'd guess it was 50+/-5 degrees F. You can see the tree stump on the far side of the river about a quarter width from the right edge of the photo. Kathleen's last attempt was on the far side of this tree. Andy figures her getting pushed against the stump, as the current overcame her effort, and an upstream lean was the reason she flipped. The eddy spot was by the bank, on the left edge of the photo, where the light-colored tree trunk is against the bank and going into the water. This is where Kathleen and her kayak ended up.
After getting back home, Andy re-read some of his literature on safety and rescues with renewed focus and intensity. Hear, hear; I second that! Nothing like a real-life experience to demonstrate the relevance of the information.
So, what did Kathleen and I do RIGHT for a river paddle with strong current?
- had PFD's on and cinched snugly
- had a bilge pump and sponge
- had watched a video that showed a pair doing a self-rescue
- had clothing change in bulkhead
- each had a whistle (not that she used it to get my attention)
- since the water was cold, and re-entry to the boat not immediate, get swimmer to shore first; then worry about the boat & stuff
- Mike had another set of clothes at the car
- had a tow rope that was pre-tied to his bow handle
- had a spare paddle
- was using paddle & deck rigging to help stabilize empty kayak
- lean INTO the downstream strainer (or obstacle), do NOT lean upstream into the current
- do NOT let boaters get too far apart; when things go wrong, they go wrong quickly
- stay especially nearby when trying a tough spot, but boaters need space to make their run; make sure a strong, designated, paddler is last in line
- have multiple cell phones, or beacons, if you need to get additional help
- get a sense for the flow rate of the river from USGS water gauges or resevoir release patterns
What else should we have done differently?
- each kayak needs a bilge pump and sponge
- have multiple tow ropes
- have flotation bags (to make up for lack of front bulkhead)
- have paddle float
- pack an emergency blanket
- have dry bags holding stuff in the cockpit
- be more careful about really narrow spots; wider kayaks will have tighter fits & more difficulty getting paddles into the water for effective strokes (same for longer paddles)
- practice self & buddy rescues (preferably in warm water)
- experience cold water immersion in a safe situation
- when in warm water, try using a partner boat for emptying a full cockpit; it'll be a lot faster than bilge pumping!
In a previous post, I'd noted that paddling against the current will exacerbate any deviation of your boat from a straight line. The stronger the current, the faster your bow will be turned and you'll be going sideways. When pointed perpendicular to the current, you have the LEAST control over where you go. Be very aware of any nearby obstacles - they affect your options going upstream and you might see too much of them when recovering from a failed attempt. I was hoping to experiment and learn in current on the Broad River right next to the Greenway parking lot with Jeff, who knows the area. We could use more practice.
Regarding the flow rates, we're not quite sure about this one. Obviously, higher than normal CFS or water levels from water gauges says something about general conditions. However, width and depth of the channels does more to influence the current at any particular spot. Andy and I are both looking for more information on this one.
But what if it's just a lake paddle, or an impounded river? I'm not sure I'd drop any of this stuff. The extra paddle? Maybe?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
South Fork, by Lincolnton
Today turned out to be a remarkable paddle for a number of reasons. I'd wondered about the South Fork of the Catawba River - it's nearby, but not mentioned in the flatwater paddling references I've seen (either print or internet). Andy had scouted several put-in options but noted that there weren't as many as you'd expect. Some research revealed lots of dams for different mills and industries and a few spots for whitewater kayakers for elementary warm-ups or play spots. Also, in the past, South Fork was not known for it's cleanliness. Andy had scouted a put in on Laboratory Road near Lincolnton - a rail trail by a dam that appears to have powered a Civil War era plant that made medicine for the Confederacy. Well, maybe today's actual dam and actual factory weren't Civil War era stuff, but it was impressive anyway and served as the start for quite a day on the water.
Neither Andy nor Kathleen and I had been on the South Fork before. We crossed over it on various road trips, and Andy had driven around looking for put-in options. Betsy Ross Park, within Lincolnton, the most obvious candidate, doesn't take advantage of the river that creates one of it's boundaries. Andy and I had noted several places where paths led to steep drops into the river - good for fishing, I suppose, but not good for putting in kayaks. So, Laboratory Road it was.
The put-in, at the head of the South Fork Catawba River Rail Trail, can be found on Google maps with these coordinates: 35.442107,-81.25881. The parking lot was about 100 yard away from a decent put-in spot. This was a useful trial run at a portage. Andy had a homemade cart for the gravel path. We didn't bring our dolly and walked the boats one at a time. (Note to self: bring the dolly next time.) The river is impounded in this section by a dam. Photo courtesy of Andy:
Here's the put-in with a view towards the dam ledge and Kathleen & Andy ready to go. (Note Andy's accoutrements tied to the deck of his kayak ... this will be relevant later in this long post.)
We were heading upstream around 10:45am. It was a wonderfully warm day. Daylight savings time had just kicking in so we had the whole day in front of us. We planned on going up as far as we could but had every expectation that a tree might block our way.
The river wasn't especially wide or narrow. We could have paddled three abreast the whole way if we'd wanted. There were very few houses, some industries, and several stretches where the west side was marked as a nature preserve. It was almost completely tree lined. Birds and frogs were around in various stretches but not omni-present. There was very little street noise so, all around, it was a nice bucolic paddle; even though were going through the western half of Lincolnton. Just a number of fishing spots (only one being used by a fellow). No landings, ramps, or stairs implying consistent usage of the river. We came quite close to three Muscovy ducks and saw two pairs of wood ducks off in the distance. On the way back, Andy spotted a deer. And we encountered a couple in a canoe with the guy fishing. Here's a sample view up and downstream at a random spot.
Click on the upstream photo to get the bigger image and note the riffles in the water. The current was pretty strong. We'd had a rare February snowstorm the week before, preceded by heavy rain. The further upstream we went the stronger the flow was. And we were able to keep going ... and going ... and going. There were a few spots where trees created snags (a.k.a. strainers) that forced us through narrows. For the most part, these weren't constricting snags that really amplified the current. Just narrow spots that were tricky to get through. Kathleen, having the widest kayak (at 29 inches), had more difficulty with these. We found a really nice sand bank to beach on and have lunch. Andy's GPS had us 3.7 miles upriver and an 1 hr 15 min in. Note Kathleen and my different clothing strategy ...
The current here was quite noticable. All of us found it "interesting" that we'd be paddling along and, without any particular water sign, the current would get much stronger. The river was quite muddy, so we couldn't see more than a few inches down. We never saw the bottom - way too much silt from runoff. We kept humping it upstream but the afternoon was getting on, so we started entertaining thoughts of turning around. Lesson learned from our previous Huffman's Bridge paddle, this time I had a map with the river/creeks colored in so that we'd have some landmarks (and could stay on course). As we approached the bridge for Reepsville Road, we decided to make this our turn-around point. We'd paddled 5.6 miles in 3 hrs 30 min with a short and long rest. There was this really nifty looking structure where we "parked" on the water and rested again. It reminded me of X-Files episodes where unlabelled structures would lead into deep underground caverns for all kinds of government-run experiments.
The current here was the strongest we'd encountered. You could see the water undulating as it went past this structure. There was even a small ledge at the top. We decided to give it a go for the sake of being able to turn-around and ride it back down. Kathleen went first, me second, and Andy third. Kathleen didn't make it on her first attempt. I went a little further toward the opposite side and made it up. Since the current was still strong after clearing the mini-ledge, I went further up to where a big tree was aground midstream, created a barrier, and gave me a spot to park and rest. I didn't look back but I heard Andy's comment when he didn't make it past the mini-ledge. Here's a picture of Kathleen trying again with Andy waiting for another turn ... and me taking a picture of myself on the tree. (Sure looks like I could use to lose some weight.)
Little did I know that while I was taking pictures here, Kathleen was making her fourth unsuccessful, and disastrous, attempt. As Andy described it later, she tried going up on the far left, got off her straight line upstream, got turned towards her right, ran up on a mostly submerged tree, tilted upriver, and the current flipped her over into the water. Luckily, in her big cockpit Pungo 120, she fell right out of the boat and didn't get caught up in it or the spray skirt she uses. The current pushed her and the boat downstream quickly and she ended up in an eddy up against the steep river bank on the left. The PFD did it's job and she stayed afloat without much struggle even though the water was over her head. The flip occurred so fast, she can't even remember it happening. Now, the trick was getting back into the boat! Hence, as we refer to it later, the "excitement" goes into much slower motion. Okay, maybe, longer-running activities is a better description.
Andy is right there, but I'm upstream. After putting away the camera I look downstream and something doesn't look right. I see Andy in his yellow kayak and I see Kathleen's green one. But her black hat is not above her yellow PFD above her green kayak, it's at the end of her boat and I don't see her PFD. Yikes! "Are you in the water?" I holler. Incredulously, she asks Andy, who's next to her now, "Did he really ask if I was in the water?" At this point, she's flipped her kayak upright again but the cockpit is completely full and only the stern is above water. The bow is about 6 inches below water. I head back downstream and stop at a section of the mysterious structure upstream of them and on the opposite side. All I can do is go downstream just beyond them and join them in the eddy spot. Kathleen is holding onto a branch sticking up from the water. Andy has his bilge pump out and is starting to empty out the cockpit. Even though the air temperature is in the upper 70's, the water temperature is not. Kathleen is breathing in shallow sharp gasps and I'm thinking she needs to get out of the water as soon as possible. It takes a wee bit of "persuading" to get her moving towards the river bank where she can get up. It's a good thing she's got her NRS Mystery Gloves on, because it's rather brambly where she gets up. I try to guide her to her left where roots and branches are available but once she gets out of the water, she keeps going right through the brambles and up the steep bank.
I pull out our bilge pump and between the two of us, we eventually get the water pumped out. Andy had to reach down and grab the bow handle to keep the cockpit combing above water. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the pumps. We finally get Kathleen's kayak pumped and sponged out. She's up in the sun getting warm. Actually, she's not getting warm but, at least, she's not getting colder as fast as if she were in the water. She determines that the bank by the nearby bridge pilings should be okay for getting back down to the boat. Andy's handy-dandy tow rope, in it's first trip out, is tied to his bow handle. He ties the other to her bow handle and heads 15 yards downstream towards the landing spot. Kathleen's boat trails him and the current carries it past where Andy turns in, but he reels it in without difficulty. I follow along and pull up next to her boat. After inspecting his GPS data, Andy guessed it was about 25 minutes from her tipping until we got her boat to the landing spot.
Luckily, that morning, I'd insisted that Kathleen put her extra cloths in the back bulkhead to stay dry. Previously, she'd just kept them in the open bag she has right behind her seat. I popped her easy-open 2009 model rear hatch and threw her dry clothes and crocks up to her. After changing, she makes it down the bank and her now-wet-and-dirty, original outfit goes into the same hatch. With our wedging her boat in to the concrete rip-rap, she's able to get back in. We've had enough for a day and start heading back. Below the bridge, Andy measures the current at 2.5 mph. Even though the excitement had a happy ending, we are more subdued on the return. This time, the current is helping us out and it's a good thing. We were rather tuckered out. When we got back to the put-in, we'd been out for 6 hours.
Throughout the excitement, Andy was calm and collected. Kathleen stayed calm too. (I was a bit more agitated.) She got a little disoriented in the water - the water temp might have been in the 40's (F) and was certainly in the low 50's. Andy and I talked through options, agreed on actions, and executed. Thanks, Andy, for being there and getting us out of a real jam! And credit the precise timings and distances to him and his nifty wrist GPS wonder gadget.
Next post ... lessons learned.
UPDATE: (2009/03/12) More of Andy's photos.
Neither Andy nor Kathleen and I had been on the South Fork before. We crossed over it on various road trips, and Andy had driven around looking for put-in options. Betsy Ross Park, within Lincolnton, the most obvious candidate, doesn't take advantage of the river that creates one of it's boundaries. Andy and I had noted several places where paths led to steep drops into the river - good for fishing, I suppose, but not good for putting in kayaks. So, Laboratory Road it was.
The put-in, at the head of the South Fork Catawba River Rail Trail, can be found on Google maps with these coordinates: 35.442107,-81.25881. The parking lot was about 100 yard away from a decent put-in spot. This was a useful trial run at a portage. Andy had a homemade cart for the gravel path. We didn't bring our dolly and walked the boats one at a time. (Note to self: bring the dolly next time.) The river is impounded in this section by a dam. Photo courtesy of Andy:
Here's the put-in with a view towards the dam ledge and Kathleen & Andy ready to go. (Note Andy's accoutrements tied to the deck of his kayak ... this will be relevant later in this long post.)
We were heading upstream around 10:45am. It was a wonderfully warm day. Daylight savings time had just kicking in so we had the whole day in front of us. We planned on going up as far as we could but had every expectation that a tree might block our way.
The river wasn't especially wide or narrow. We could have paddled three abreast the whole way if we'd wanted. There were very few houses, some industries, and several stretches where the west side was marked as a nature preserve. It was almost completely tree lined. Birds and frogs were around in various stretches but not omni-present. There was very little street noise so, all around, it was a nice bucolic paddle; even though were going through the western half of Lincolnton. Just a number of fishing spots (only one being used by a fellow). No landings, ramps, or stairs implying consistent usage of the river. We came quite close to three Muscovy ducks and saw two pairs of wood ducks off in the distance. On the way back, Andy spotted a deer. And we encountered a couple in a canoe with the guy fishing. Here's a sample view up and downstream at a random spot.
Click on the upstream photo to get the bigger image and note the riffles in the water. The current was pretty strong. We'd had a rare February snowstorm the week before, preceded by heavy rain. The further upstream we went the stronger the flow was. And we were able to keep going ... and going ... and going. There were a few spots where trees created snags (a.k.a. strainers) that forced us through narrows. For the most part, these weren't constricting snags that really amplified the current. Just narrow spots that were tricky to get through. Kathleen, having the widest kayak (at 29 inches), had more difficulty with these. We found a really nice sand bank to beach on and have lunch. Andy's GPS had us 3.7 miles upriver and an 1 hr 15 min in. Note Kathleen and my different clothing strategy ...
The current here was quite noticable. All of us found it "interesting" that we'd be paddling along and, without any particular water sign, the current would get much stronger. The river was quite muddy, so we couldn't see more than a few inches down. We never saw the bottom - way too much silt from runoff. We kept humping it upstream but the afternoon was getting on, so we started entertaining thoughts of turning around. Lesson learned from our previous Huffman's Bridge paddle, this time I had a map with the river/creeks colored in so that we'd have some landmarks (and could stay on course). As we approached the bridge for Reepsville Road, we decided to make this our turn-around point. We'd paddled 5.6 miles in 3 hrs 30 min with a short and long rest. There was this really nifty looking structure where we "parked" on the water and rested again. It reminded me of X-Files episodes where unlabelled structures would lead into deep underground caverns for all kinds of government-run experiments.
The current here was the strongest we'd encountered. You could see the water undulating as it went past this structure. There was even a small ledge at the top. We decided to give it a go for the sake of being able to turn-around and ride it back down. Kathleen went first, me second, and Andy third. Kathleen didn't make it on her first attempt. I went a little further toward the opposite side and made it up. Since the current was still strong after clearing the mini-ledge, I went further up to where a big tree was aground midstream, created a barrier, and gave me a spot to park and rest. I didn't look back but I heard Andy's comment when he didn't make it past the mini-ledge. Here's a picture of Kathleen trying again with Andy waiting for another turn ... and me taking a picture of myself on the tree. (Sure looks like I could use to lose some weight.)
Little did I know that while I was taking pictures here, Kathleen was making her fourth unsuccessful, and disastrous, attempt. As Andy described it later, she tried going up on the far left, got off her straight line upstream, got turned towards her right, ran up on a mostly submerged tree, tilted upriver, and the current flipped her over into the water. Luckily, in her big cockpit Pungo 120, she fell right out of the boat and didn't get caught up in it or the spray skirt she uses. The current pushed her and the boat downstream quickly and she ended up in an eddy up against the steep river bank on the left. The PFD did it's job and she stayed afloat without much struggle even though the water was over her head. The flip occurred so fast, she can't even remember it happening. Now, the trick was getting back into the boat! Hence, as we refer to it later, the "excitement" goes into much slower motion. Okay, maybe, longer-running activities is a better description.
Andy is right there, but I'm upstream. After putting away the camera I look downstream and something doesn't look right. I see Andy in his yellow kayak and I see Kathleen's green one. But her black hat is not above her yellow PFD above her green kayak, it's at the end of her boat and I don't see her PFD. Yikes! "Are you in the water?" I holler. Incredulously, she asks Andy, who's next to her now, "Did he really ask if I was in the water?" At this point, she's flipped her kayak upright again but the cockpit is completely full and only the stern is above water. The bow is about 6 inches below water. I head back downstream and stop at a section of the mysterious structure upstream of them and on the opposite side. All I can do is go downstream just beyond them and join them in the eddy spot. Kathleen is holding onto a branch sticking up from the water. Andy has his bilge pump out and is starting to empty out the cockpit. Even though the air temperature is in the upper 70's, the water temperature is not. Kathleen is breathing in shallow sharp gasps and I'm thinking she needs to get out of the water as soon as possible. It takes a wee bit of "persuading" to get her moving towards the river bank where she can get up. It's a good thing she's got her NRS Mystery Gloves on, because it's rather brambly where she gets up. I try to guide her to her left where roots and branches are available but once she gets out of the water, she keeps going right through the brambles and up the steep bank.
I pull out our bilge pump and between the two of us, we eventually get the water pumped out. Andy had to reach down and grab the bow handle to keep the cockpit combing above water. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the pumps. We finally get Kathleen's kayak pumped and sponged out. She's up in the sun getting warm. Actually, she's not getting warm but, at least, she's not getting colder as fast as if she were in the water. She determines that the bank by the nearby bridge pilings should be okay for getting back down to the boat. Andy's handy-dandy tow rope, in it's first trip out, is tied to his bow handle. He ties the other to her bow handle and heads 15 yards downstream towards the landing spot. Kathleen's boat trails him and the current carries it past where Andy turns in, but he reels it in without difficulty. I follow along and pull up next to her boat. After inspecting his GPS data, Andy guessed it was about 25 minutes from her tipping until we got her boat to the landing spot.
Luckily, that morning, I'd insisted that Kathleen put her extra cloths in the back bulkhead to stay dry. Previously, she'd just kept them in the open bag she has right behind her seat. I popped her easy-open 2009 model rear hatch and threw her dry clothes and crocks up to her. After changing, she makes it down the bank and her now-wet-and-dirty, original outfit goes into the same hatch. With our wedging her boat in to the concrete rip-rap, she's able to get back in. We've had enough for a day and start heading back. Below the bridge, Andy measures the current at 2.5 mph. Even though the excitement had a happy ending, we are more subdued on the return. This time, the current is helping us out and it's a good thing. We were rather tuckered out. When we got back to the put-in, we'd been out for 6 hours.
Throughout the excitement, Andy was calm and collected. Kathleen stayed calm too. (I was a bit more agitated.) She got a little disoriented in the water - the water temp might have been in the 40's (F) and was certainly in the low 50's. Andy and I talked through options, agreed on actions, and executed. Thanks, Andy, for being there and getting us out of a real jam! And credit the precise timings and distances to him and his nifty wrist GPS wonder gadget.
Next post ... lessons learned.
UPDATE: (2009/03/12) More of Andy's photos.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Lost off Huffman Bridge
With no chatter of an ad hoc group paddle, we decided to check out another section of the Upper Catawba River Valley. The Huffman Bridge Access, near Valdese NC, is #16 on the river trail map. It's another nice paved parking lot and I learned that "canoe access" means shore access, no ramps. The shore wasn't mud, or sand, but pebbles. Here's a river view downstream from the put-in. And another, just upstream from the bridge, of Kathleen entering the shallow cove ...
Now for the embarrassing part: After checking out this little cove, which I remembered seeing on Google Maps satellite images, we headed further up the river. In no time, I became directionally challenged. I could see three different choices and nothing that indicated which was the river. We choose the rightmost option and started off. I knew there were several feeder creeks coming into the Catawba - including the Johns River, which we paddled last week. After a period of time, I lost confidence in the choice and we turned back. As we went up each of the other two options, we hit dead ends in no time. Sheesh! But they were attractive dead ends; one had a wood duck box in the water and the other was clearly a cove. Lesson learned = Always bring a map in the boat! (After getting back home, these detours were obvious on Google Maps.)
In any case, we turned around and headed back up the river. A partial justification for my confusion - the Catawba here is completely impounded. In other words, it's backed up and has no noticeable current. It can't be that deep either. Here I am holding on to a tree stuck in the middle of the river ...
The southern side of the river is, for the most part, more attractive since it's formed by hills along most of our paddle. The northern side tends to flatter sections. We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, but what we saw was marvelous. A good sized eagle, a half dozen wild turkeys (a rafter of turkeys?) scurrying up a steep hill, and a huge owl. We'd never seen wild turkeys before. And Kathleen thought it was an owl, but couldn't tell what kind. I only saw something with a 3-4 foot wingspan flying back in the woods very quietly. In the non-animal kingdom, there was this really striking mushrooms or lichens on a floating branch ...
As we kept going up river, we passed a couple feeders on the north side, one of which was the Johns River. But we didn't make it all the way up to the next bridge where US18/64, Lenoir Road, crosses over. It was getting late for our turnaround point, and gunfire from a nearby shooting range was a bit unnerving. Between the hills and some really tall, completely open, hangars for a municipal plant, the gunshots produced some really odd echoes. Not distant echoing but rapid retorts almost like an automatic.
All in all, about 3.5 hours on the water.
Now for the embarrassing part: After checking out this little cove, which I remembered seeing on Google Maps satellite images, we headed further up the river. In no time, I became directionally challenged. I could see three different choices and nothing that indicated which was the river. We choose the rightmost option and started off. I knew there were several feeder creeks coming into the Catawba - including the Johns River, which we paddled last week. After a period of time, I lost confidence in the choice and we turned back. As we went up each of the other two options, we hit dead ends in no time. Sheesh! But they were attractive dead ends; one had a wood duck box in the water and the other was clearly a cove. Lesson learned = Always bring a map in the boat! (After getting back home, these detours were obvious on Google Maps.)
In any case, we turned around and headed back up the river. A partial justification for my confusion - the Catawba here is completely impounded. In other words, it's backed up and has no noticeable current. It can't be that deep either. Here I am holding on to a tree stuck in the middle of the river ...
The southern side of the river is, for the most part, more attractive since it's formed by hills along most of our paddle. The northern side tends to flatter sections. We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, but what we saw was marvelous. A good sized eagle, a half dozen wild turkeys (a rafter of turkeys?) scurrying up a steep hill, and a huge owl. We'd never seen wild turkeys before. And Kathleen thought it was an owl, but couldn't tell what kind. I only saw something with a 3-4 foot wingspan flying back in the woods very quietly. In the non-animal kingdom, there was this really striking mushrooms or lichens on a floating branch ...
As we kept going up river, we passed a couple feeders on the north side, one of which was the Johns River. But we didn't make it all the way up to the next bridge where US18/64, Lenoir Road, crosses over. It was getting late for our turnaround point, and gunfire from a nearby shooting range was a bit unnerving. Between the hills and some really tall, completely open, hangars for a municipal plant, the gunshots produced some really odd echoes. Not distant echoing but rapid retorts almost like an automatic.
All in all, about 3.5 hours on the water.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Mystery Waterfall at Moss Lake
Being the last day of a February warming trend in the Carolinas, I stopped working early and went for a short paddle. Who knew I would encounter .... (bring up opening chords to Beethoven's 5th Symphony) ... the Mystery Waterfall at Moss Lake!!!
I donkey my Necky down to our access ramp and put in mid-late afternoon. Not much time, so not much planned. I head across the calm water for coves opposite us on this big open area. On my way through one, I notice a spider walking on water. I'm thinking this guy got itself in a pickle. How can he grab anything to eat if his legs are keeping him on instead of in the water? I remembered to bring the camera so I snapped some but, being a rather small spider, none came out very well. I keep puttering along and I realize that this cove ends, not in a dredged out section with houses and docks all around, but an actual natural area. There are grasses with frogs croaking to each other. They sounded like thick leather being twisted: uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh. Quite fun. From my running days, I know we have scads of smaller frogs that peep like crazy in the early hours of cool spring days. Here, I'm snuggled into the grasses looking back out the cove ...
Going further in, I start hearing running water over the frogs. The way is covered over by an evergreen hanging down to the water. Ah-ha! I know I've got a secret spot because Kathleen, being afraid of snakes in trees, wouldn't follow me through here ...
After I clear the evergreen (a laurel of some kind?), I go a little farther and catch sight of a magnificent waterfall! ...
And here's a closer look ...
Okay, well, maybe not so magnificent. But I was amazed to see anything like this at all on our lake. The little valley here must extend back aways and cover enough surface area to have a continually running creek. I'll have to poke around maps to confirm. In any case, I'm not putting any location here because I want to kick off my career as a tour guide and charge $5 apiece for a trip into this unexpected little delight in our neighborhood.
As I keep puttering around the perimeter, I come across a house I'd never noticed before. It sure likes like the seminary I spent a year doing pre-theology before deciding to get married instead - except it wasn't on a lake. (For non-Catholic readers, pre-theology for us is, now, two years of philosophy.)
On my return back, I'm a little surprised to see one of our many Great Blue Heron up on the roof of someone's dock. With terns flying above, I think it's a nice picture to round out the day ...
I donkey my Necky down to our access ramp and put in mid-late afternoon. Not much time, so not much planned. I head across the calm water for coves opposite us on this big open area. On my way through one, I notice a spider walking on water. I'm thinking this guy got itself in a pickle. How can he grab anything to eat if his legs are keeping him on instead of in the water? I remembered to bring the camera so I snapped some but, being a rather small spider, none came out very well. I keep puttering along and I realize that this cove ends, not in a dredged out section with houses and docks all around, but an actual natural area. There are grasses with frogs croaking to each other. They sounded like thick leather being twisted: uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh. Quite fun. From my running days, I know we have scads of smaller frogs that peep like crazy in the early hours of cool spring days. Here, I'm snuggled into the grasses looking back out the cove ...
Going further in, I start hearing running water over the frogs. The way is covered over by an evergreen hanging down to the water. Ah-ha! I know I've got a secret spot because Kathleen, being afraid of snakes in trees, wouldn't follow me through here ...
After I clear the evergreen (a laurel of some kind?), I go a little farther and catch sight of a magnificent waterfall! ...
And here's a closer look ...
Okay, well, maybe not so magnificent. But I was amazed to see anything like this at all on our lake. The little valley here must extend back aways and cover enough surface area to have a continually running creek. I'll have to poke around maps to confirm. In any case, I'm not putting any location here because I want to kick off my career as a tour guide and charge $5 apiece for a trip into this unexpected little delight in our neighborhood.
As I keep puttering around the perimeter, I come across a house I'd never noticed before. It sure likes like the seminary I spent a year doing pre-theology before deciding to get married instead - except it wasn't on a lake. (For non-Catholic readers, pre-theology for us is, now, two years of philosophy.)
On my return back, I'm a little surprised to see one of our many Great Blue Heron up on the roof of someone's dock. With terns flying above, I think it's a nice picture to round out the day ...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Clear Water in the Johns River
I wanted to investigate part of the Upper Catawba River Trail. After consultation with Rick from Outdoor Supply Co, inspecting the trail map, and checking trips in "Paddling Asheville," I settled on the Johns River. We intended to put in at US 64/18 (between Morganton and Chesterfield NC) and see how far upstream we could go. If it turned out to be too short, we could keep going downstream past the put-in and head to the Catawba River proper.
We got to the access point (#15 on the wonderful river trail map) close to noon. Our only company were a couple of power boaters - one pulling out, the other putting in. Here's a view of the access point and the bridge.
Almost as soon as we cleared the shadow of the bridge, we realized there was something different here. The water was crystal clear! We could see the bottom even when the river seemed quite deep. I haven't been in much of any water yet that wasn't muddy. This really changed my perspective on these rivers. I barely noticed anything about the scenery - I spent the whole time looking down! Probably a good thing. The Johns here is in a fairly wide valley. With the water level a good 6 ft below the ground level, we didn't see much except the trees that bordered the river.
The river bottom demonstrated a fascinating variety. When sedentary, either shallow or deep, there were always ripples in contour and even in color: sand, brown, and orange sometimes with valleys containing leaves. There were tons of trees and branches to be seen on the bottom. When the current was strong, coarse-grained sand, pebbles, and stones. Interestingly enough, I think it was displaying a morphology described in Luna Leopold's "A View of the River" where the depth undulated fairly regularly - deep pools evident quite regularly along the length. There were a number of swinging ropes suspended from trees over the river - clearly favorite spots for kids to come play.
Additional variety was provided by the rocks along the way. Compared to other paddles so far, the rocks here aren't much to look at above the water. But HOLY FREAKIN' COW, under water was a completely different story! The river went WAY DEEP by the rocks. Duhh, the sand/dirt underneath erodes out much faster than the rock. With the really clear water, we could see the deep ledges created and the striations in the rocks themselves. So, even when there was barely any rock above the surface, there was plenty below. Stunning.
The water clarity also allowed us to see the shear quantity of trees, branches, snags, etc that were down there. More than you would guess from seeing at the surface. The snags were fascinating - most were natural but many were not. The spookiest thing was seeing the trees reaching up from the bottom, like drowned things, trying to drag us down to join them.
We didn't make it all the way up to the Corpening Bridge. If I'm spotting the big aluminum barn on Google Maps properly, I think we made it about three quarters of the way. About 3 miles as the crow flies before the current got too strong and rocks blocked us here:
As it was, we were 3 hours out with a couple munchie breaks. Heading upstream first was great because we could really see what was in the water. It only took us 1 hour & 20 mintues to get back. I think we would have missed a lot if we'd been paddling with the current the whole time. I wish I had better pictures. I couldn't take any of the really nifty stuff in the water.
We had a really nice time and a really positive experience in this area. It's only about an hour or so away from us. We will definitely be up this way again soon.
P.S. Should I have put a "science geek" warning at the beginning of the post? Oh, well, too late now.
We got to the access point (#15 on the wonderful river trail map) close to noon. Our only company were a couple of power boaters - one pulling out, the other putting in. Here's a view of the access point and the bridge.
Almost as soon as we cleared the shadow of the bridge, we realized there was something different here. The water was crystal clear! We could see the bottom even when the river seemed quite deep. I haven't been in much of any water yet that wasn't muddy. This really changed my perspective on these rivers. I barely noticed anything about the scenery - I spent the whole time looking down! Probably a good thing. The Johns here is in a fairly wide valley. With the water level a good 6 ft below the ground level, we didn't see much except the trees that bordered the river.
The river bottom demonstrated a fascinating variety. When sedentary, either shallow or deep, there were always ripples in contour and even in color: sand, brown, and orange sometimes with valleys containing leaves. There were tons of trees and branches to be seen on the bottom. When the current was strong, coarse-grained sand, pebbles, and stones. Interestingly enough, I think it was displaying a morphology described in Luna Leopold's "A View of the River" where the depth undulated fairly regularly - deep pools evident quite regularly along the length. There were a number of swinging ropes suspended from trees over the river - clearly favorite spots for kids to come play.
Additional variety was provided by the rocks along the way. Compared to other paddles so far, the rocks here aren't much to look at above the water. But HOLY FREAKIN' COW, under water was a completely different story! The river went WAY DEEP by the rocks. Duhh, the sand/dirt underneath erodes out much faster than the rock. With the really clear water, we could see the deep ledges created and the striations in the rocks themselves. So, even when there was barely any rock above the surface, there was plenty below. Stunning.
The water clarity also allowed us to see the shear quantity of trees, branches, snags, etc that were down there. More than you would guess from seeing at the surface. The snags were fascinating - most were natural but many were not. The spookiest thing was seeing the trees reaching up from the bottom, like drowned things, trying to drag us down to join them.
We didn't make it all the way up to the Corpening Bridge. If I'm spotting the big aluminum barn on Google Maps properly, I think we made it about three quarters of the way. About 3 miles as the crow flies before the current got too strong and rocks blocked us here:
As it was, we were 3 hours out with a couple munchie breaks. Heading upstream first was great because we could really see what was in the water. It only took us 1 hour & 20 mintues to get back. I think we would have missed a lot if we'd been paddling with the current the whole time. I wish I had better pictures. I couldn't take any of the really nifty stuff in the water.
We had a really nice time and a really positive experience in this area. It's only about an hour or so away from us. We will definitely be up this way again soon.
P.S. Should I have put a "science geek" warning at the beginning of the post? Oh, well, too late now.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Warm Winter Weekend on the Way
After several nights of temps in the 20's, we are supposed to get into the 60's on Saturday and Sunday. We're unable to paddle on Saturday, but thinking about the Upper Catawba River somewhere for Sunday. It's mostly chains of big lakes managed by Duke Energy, but there are some short free flowing sections too. Hoping to find someone who can make recommendations to avoid rapids beyond our skill level. Otherwise, it's pouring over old trip reports on various web sites.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Dutchman's Creek
Inspired by Mike S's solo venture, the Cruisers had an adhoc paddle up Dutchman's Creek, off the Catawba River at Mt Holly, on Feb 1. We made it there before the push off time and joined a dozen other folks. Ray, Dorothy, and Andy were present again. It was a short trip.
The creek winds through mostly residential areas. Traffic noise was never far away. It did have some nifty (unpainted) rocks. It also had low block wall spanning the creek but with a 8 foot wide break in it. The water level was high enough to provide decent but not heavy current to paddle against. With a head of steam, it wasn't hard to navigate. But, without it, it took some harder paddling to make it through. Silly me - I neglected to take a picture. Further up, there were rocks that would have required getting out and walking through. There was one narrower gap where several guys tried to paddle. Ray got far enough through the gap to get into a bind when he got off his line. The current pushes your bow perpendicular and can wedge you in a narrow gap. I missed the action but watched a few others give it a try. Kathleen had a nice time talking to Ginny. Ginny is currently working at Presby-Matthews where Kathleen did several on-call stints in CT and also worked their mobile MRI unit. The trip was short enough that it was hard to have long conversations with everyone. I talked a bit with Kary and Eddie who are also new kayakers having bought their boats last summer.
Eddie contemplating his line before trying the gap in the rocks:
Andy, Kathleen, and a road over the creek:
Ginny:
Bridges (2 RR and 1 road) over the Catawba River below the creek:
The creek winds through mostly residential areas. Traffic noise was never far away. It did have some nifty (unpainted) rocks. It also had low block wall spanning the creek but with a 8 foot wide break in it. The water level was high enough to provide decent but not heavy current to paddle against. With a head of steam, it wasn't hard to navigate. But, without it, it took some harder paddling to make it through. Silly me - I neglected to take a picture. Further up, there were rocks that would have required getting out and walking through. There was one narrower gap where several guys tried to paddle. Ray got far enough through the gap to get into a bind when he got off his line. The current pushes your bow perpendicular and can wedge you in a narrow gap. I missed the action but watched a few others give it a try. Kathleen had a nice time talking to Ginny. Ginny is currently working at Presby-Matthews where Kathleen did several on-call stints in CT and also worked their mobile MRI unit. The trip was short enough that it was hard to have long conversations with everyone. I talked a bit with Kary and Eddie who are also new kayakers having bought their boats last summer.
Eddie contemplating his line before trying the gap in the rocks:
Andy, Kathleen, and a road over the creek:
Ginny:
Bridges (2 RR and 1 road) over the Catawba River below the creek:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Rootsicles?
Belated post describing a Jan 18 trip....
I went out on my own on a cold, but not windy, Sunday. I wore the farmer john, hydroskin top, and splash jacket together for the first time. The temperature was in the low 40's to start with an expected high of 45F. I wore a thin wool cap to keep my ears warm. While the neoprene wasn't restrictive per se, it was a little binding as I was twisting my torso during my paddle stroke. I wondered if I was going to be chafed around the armpits when I was down. As it turns out, I didn't notice any. About halfway through the paddle, the clouds cleared earlier than forecast and the temperature started to rise to 50F. I shed the cap first, then the splash jacket, and just sweat through the rest of it.
Big lesson learned on this trip is - don't forget the camera! As I'm paddling around I notice icicles on roots in some spots that are north-facing. Most are scalloped out spots where the water has washed out dirt under moss or root supported ground. There are also icicles forming from water dripping out along clay layers in the soil. Really neat. Really wish I'd brought the camera to get some pictures.
Little lesson learned - the wetsuit outfit will be just fine for temperatures in the 30's or when I think I can get wet when the water's cold. The winter so far has been either really cold, or rather warm; not many highs in the 30's.
I went out on my own on a cold, but not windy, Sunday. I wore the farmer john, hydroskin top, and splash jacket together for the first time. The temperature was in the low 40's to start with an expected high of 45F. I wore a thin wool cap to keep my ears warm. While the neoprene wasn't restrictive per se, it was a little binding as I was twisting my torso during my paddle stroke. I wondered if I was going to be chafed around the armpits when I was down. As it turns out, I didn't notice any. About halfway through the paddle, the clouds cleared earlier than forecast and the temperature started to rise to 50F. I shed the cap first, then the splash jacket, and just sweat through the rest of it.
Big lesson learned on this trip is - don't forget the camera! As I'm paddling around I notice icicles on roots in some spots that are north-facing. Most are scalloped out spots where the water has washed out dirt under moss or root supported ground. There are also icicles forming from water dripping out along clay layers in the soil. Really neat. Really wish I'd brought the camera to get some pictures.
Little lesson learned - the wetsuit outfit will be just fine for temperatures in the 30's or when I think I can get wet when the water's cold. The winter so far has been either really cold, or rather warm; not many highs in the 30's.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Several 1st's Today
Today was ...
Conversation on the water went very well. Everyone was relaxed and having a nice time. Andy, Mike, Kathleen, and I had all bought boats in the last few months. And Ray and Dorothy had multiple boats apiece! We went west and south on the lake then east towards (and up) Gar Creek. I was surprised by the number and size of big rocks on the shore and IN the water. Mountain Island Lake seems somewhat bigger than Moss Lake but less developed. Here are some of the pictures taken - for hopefully, just the first of many trips with this group. It was cloudy, so the pictures are on the dark side. By the way, Kathleen can't wait for her splash pants to arrive tomorrow. She's sick and tired of carrying beach towels to cover her lap.
Ray in his red Dagger Atlantis (a 17 footer), Kathleen, Dorothy in her recycled plastic Old Towne Cayuga 110.
Mike and Andy - notice their excellent taste in kayak manufacturer. Necky Manitou's dominated the day's paddle: Mike in a Sport, Andy in a 14 (footer), and me in a 13 (footer).
Big rocks on the shore.
What look like little rocks - but this is out in the middle of the freakin' water!
A beaver almost did this tree in. Another Hugo and this one's a goner.
UPDATE (Jan 13): A friend of mine has a self-described "money pit" on the cove to Gar Creek. He crushed my fantasy by saying the water here is actually quite shallow so those rocks, in the water, aren't quite as magnificent as I thought.
More (and better) pictures by Ray and Dorothy.
- first road trip for a paddle
- first highway speeds for kayaks on our truck
- first group paddle with folks from the Catawba Cruisers (Lake Wylie, Rock Hill SC and downstream)
- first time using a mailing group to meet up with folks
- first time on Mountain Island Lake
Conversation on the water went very well. Everyone was relaxed and having a nice time. Andy, Mike, Kathleen, and I had all bought boats in the last few months. And Ray and Dorothy had multiple boats apiece! We went west and south on the lake then east towards (and up) Gar Creek. I was surprised by the number and size of big rocks on the shore and IN the water. Mountain Island Lake seems somewhat bigger than Moss Lake but less developed. Here are some of the pictures taken - for hopefully, just the first of many trips with this group. It was cloudy, so the pictures are on the dark side. By the way, Kathleen can't wait for her splash pants to arrive tomorrow. She's sick and tired of carrying beach towels to cover her lap.
Ray in his red Dagger Atlantis (a 17 footer), Kathleen, Dorothy in her recycled plastic Old Towne Cayuga 110.
Mike and Andy - notice their excellent taste in kayak manufacturer. Necky Manitou's dominated the day's paddle: Mike in a Sport, Andy in a 14 (footer), and me in a 13 (footer).
Big rocks on the shore.
What look like little rocks - but this is out in the middle of the freakin' water!
A beaver almost did this tree in. Another Hugo and this one's a goner.
UPDATE (Jan 13): A friend of mine has a self-described "money pit" on the cove to Gar Creek. He crushed my fantasy by saying the water here is actually quite shallow so those rocks, in the water, aren't quite as magnificent as I thought.
More (and better) pictures by Ray and Dorothy.
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