Findley Lake 6/21/09

Perfect night to be on the water and perfect way to complete Fathers Day. Again chasing the Blue Herons and turtles with a mixing of Green Herons and a few unidentified birds. And the rudders performed fine so my fixes worked. The state must have stocked the lake as the herons were eating aplenty and the little fish were hopping in the water near the shore. No owls tonight. A great sunset.

Findley Lake 6/16/09

Nice evening on Findley Lake. Lots and lots of Great Blue Herons. One owl being chased by a crow. One Green Heron that I swear had only one leg but Nicki has photos that show he had two. And one Great Blue that preened and preened and didn't mind our camera clicks at all - and we take a lot of photos when we get going and have the neck aches to prove it.

The only odd event was when both of our rudders fell apart in the first few moments on the water - almost like sabotage (are there opposing camps in kayaking willing to do secret battle? Should we be wary when approached by rudderless kayakers?). We spent most of evening without that little bit of extra control that we have learned to prefer. I'll do a repair job tomorrow.

Findley Lake 6/7/09 (with owls)

The season has finally begun. Kayaks hit old faithful Findley Lake today. Transported to and fro on our new trailer (much less shoulder strain). Were met at the dock by a Park Ranger who did a full safety inspection which we passed - no problem. We had the right equipment and the right papers. Our goal was to just get our technique back but we sparred with several blue herons and then we entered a cove where we had encountered an owl previously and this time we found three bard owls - we think it might have been a parent with one almost mature owl (or the other parent) and one very new owl (still a lot of baby fluff). All in all a very successful start to the season (despite the slightly awkward dunking I took as I was getting out of my boat - a question of confidence at the least best moment). The water was warm and I always have a change of clothes.

Let the season begin...

I have been cleared for kayaking - the shoulder is good enough - therapy is over. As long as we use the new trailer and paddle in moderation. And since retirement is finally here, why not?

Trailer

One more step toward getting back on the water. Last Saturday I had a hitch installed on the CRV. Today we picked up a trailer from Car Gear in Akron. They put it all together so all I had to do was attach it to the hitch (and pay for it of course). Meanwhile therapy goes well on the shoulder so I'm hoping that real soon we'll be able to load the kayaks onto the trailer and begin the 2009 season in earnest.

2008 Season

A quick photographic look back at the 2008 season. We're assuming the boats will not come out again this year due to the very cold weather and the rapid icing of the lakes.

Gun Lake (and others), Michigan 10/11/08

Nicki and I were part of a guided canoe/kayak tour in several loosely connected lakes including Gun Lake in Michigan. We started with a champagne brunch on the launch ramp, entered the water on one smallish lake (where we met the swans and geese), went through a culvert to another (where we met the turtle), carried our boats across a road to a narrow waterway through the tall cattails and weeds, which eventually flowed into Gun Lake. Afterwards we had a late lunch at Sam’s Joint. The weather was perfect, the company good, and the guide got us through the maze of cattails. Nobody got wet and nobody complained. A very good day.

LaDue Reservoir 7/17/08

Highlights from this trip: big mouth bass in packs skimming the surface eating bugs?, two military planes doing a fly-by, skitterish great blue herons, and a great sunset. A hot day but a nice evening to be on the water. LaDue is east of Cleveland and is a long drive but very much worth the trip.

Findley Lake 7/8/08

An early morning excursion. We were on the lake by 8:00 AM. Very unusual for us. Even before the boats were launched we saw a deer on the shore. And plenty of great blue herons, ducks, geese and giant shallow-water mud-wallowing carp. A couple hours that made for a great start to the day. Finished with coffee and pecan rolls at the Bread-N-Brew in Wellington on the way home.

Findley Lake 7/6/08

Testing out a new camera and lens - Nikon D300 with the 18-200 vibration reduction lens. Shots were taken late afternoon into early evening from the kayak in shade and sun.

A New Season Begins - Summer 2008

Photos from several visits to Findley Lake - Blue Herons, Green Heron, Night Heron, Turtle, and a Birdhouse.

Quaker Lake 6/24/07

A Sunday afternoon at Quaker Lake
in New York State's Allegany State Park.
Nice that you can launch from near the spillway
without entering the park and paying the entrance fee.
Several kayaks on the lake.
But we had just about decided
that there wasn't much wildlife on the lake
and were heading back to the launch
when we came upon a pair of osprey
perched on a tall old dead tree.
They were reasonably cooperative
and allowed a bunch of photos
before moving on down the shore to a new perch.
On the drive back to Little Valley
we noticed an osprey nest on the edge of the park.
For better versions of the photos
go to my Picasa site
and use the slideshow button.

Rocky River

Late afternoon - early evening near Cleveland
on the Rocky River where it empties into Lake Erie.
And then dinner at Macaroni Grill.
A nice way to celebrate the day.

Findley Lake on a Friday Night

You can tell when summer is really really here
when we start kayaking on days other than
Saturdays or Sundays.
Here is Findley Lake on a Friday evening.
Human numbers were low.
A few boats but not a crowd of fisherpeople.
And barely any picnicers.
Lots of great blue herons.
We counted as many as 8 in the air at once.
A few green herons
And a Baltimore Oriole bathing on the edge of the lake.

Findley Lake 6/10/07

Findley Lake 6/10/07

This weekend has had beautiful weather
- perfect for kayaking.
So back to Findley Lake and chasing the birds.
I'm think we should start naming the birds.
We're pretty sure they are starting to pose.
Very often the herons take off acting annoyed
and then circle back for another shooting session.
More often than not they tolerate us
and rarely do their dinosaur sqawk anymore.
And the geese could care less if we join the family.
We even left the kayaks up on the Honda
in case we want to go back out tomorrow.
Parking around Oberlin
with the boats on top is a sign
for the town that summer has truly begun.

Windy and Cool on Findley

Great day for kayaking.
Windy which gave Findley Lake a little chop,
going one direction was a bit of a workout
but of course the other direction was a breeze.
Did a couple hours in the late afternoon
before we decided it was getting too cool.


Saw a couple Great Blue Herons,
a lot of geese,
and a couple of our usual exploding carp.
Also were a lot of swallows skimming the lake surface,
hadn't seen groups of them doing that before.
There weren't any bugs in the air
so we're not sure what the swallows were hunting.

First of the Year

Finally on the water.
Two hours on the water
at Findley Lake
at Findley State Park
Only one great heron
but a lot of geese and turtles
and none of them seemed to mind
our coming very very close.
No photos.
My camera decided to not work.
Keep running into people that
want to try the kayaking thing.

River Run We Didn't Do

We should have unburied the kayaks from the garage.
It was a beautiful Sunday -
sunny, comfortable temps, low humidity
but with too much to do around the house.
We should have taken the challenge
and did the Keel Haulers 2007 Vermilion River Race
It would have been our first time
but we weren't really ready
for what might have been a strenuous start
to the 2007 season.
Watch this space -
maybe next week?

February Cold

9 degrees
not even counting the wind
f r e e z i n g
lakes with a brittle glaze
for walking not boating
water too threatening to test
plastic kayaks would shatter
into a million pieces
if bumped on the surface
not going out there
too cold

Mid-Winter Blues

Driving through Western Pennsylvania
on a wet yet warm early January day
we did see 2 kayaks on Meander Lake
highlighted in a spot of sunshine
doing what we should have been doing