Cat Tested
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Happy First Sighting of Manatees by Columbus (1493)! 💧🐘
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A cold stiff breeze kept us in the sun and out of the wind at camp. Gusts made travel uninviting, but not so much as to keep me from day paddling and exploring. This was an unnamed lake touched by road and trail, but not on any thru canoe route I've seen. Far far prettier than I could've guessed just scouring a map. Our stay here reminded me that even treasures can be found where you least expect to find them.
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Some old deck plates.
From a half frozen Rock Lake (ADK near Indian) trip 2 weeks ago
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A nice day and my schedule finally lined up, so I played hooky from my latest build (Thread to follow!) Just a little day-paddle on a local lake with my mom. Thought I'd explore the inlet a bit, but apparently someone had been doing some engineering... Total of about 3 miles round trip.
I'd have been tempted to traverse, but it did not seem to be a good idea at the time.
To get there, though, we had to traverse what looked like the "Dangerous Water" from every horror flick ever:
Anyone seen this happen before? The water appeared to have something in suspension, far too fine to be sand or silt. Later in the year, the weeds here will get so thick that it reminds one of the legends of the Sargasso Sea, as you essentially pole against the weeds. I suspect that the bottom in this entire area acts something like a peat bog, as there are frequent 'bubble geysers,' what I'd estimate at about about 1 - 1.5 liters gas volume at a time...
The lake Downstream from this is your typical low-flow lake: plenty of suspended flora to support a healthy fish population, but still something that people swim in.
The water Upstream flows a little faster over a shallow (3" or less) sandbar as it enters the lake. (around 300 feet to the channel and dam in the first picture, most in the open lake) That section is crystal clear, with some bright green filamentous algae clinging to the bottom.
It was in this section that we met the engineer... Sorry, no pictures, but we actually ran over something Mammalian. It turn around, and ran into (Or slapped?) us again, and then decided that it had better to hide from something our size.
stripperguy looks gorgeous. As a general question, how risky would you consider crossing a beaver dam?
Very low risk, but I also invest in sector funds and IPO's...in all seriousness, I sometimes cross 20 or 30 dams in a day trip, so I am very comfortable on dams of all sizes.
Ultimately, it depends on the size of the beaver dam and whether in a tandem or solo boat, and whether loaded with gear or empty on a day trip.
Most smaller dams can be paddled over if there's enough water. Going upstream on smaller dams is as easy as shifting weight aft (tandem or solo) and allowing the bow to ride up the dam as far as possible. From that point, either another weight shift or a step onto the dam gets the boat to the upstream side.
Bigger dams are best traversed out of the boat, and from the side, that goes for solo or tandem, upstream of down.
Most beaver dams have sufficient foot holds so walking on the dam is easy enough, especially with a paddle in your hand to act like a 3rd contact point for better balance.
Here's a link to a short video of that same beaver dam traverse, my nephew and his GF eventually turn their boat to enter from the side. You can see how unstable the boat is as it's rocking with the stem still on the dam
https://photos.app.goo.gl/svdXfwbBDJVQk73s1
stripperguy Thanks! I'll probably consider traversing dams in the future, but given the situation with my bow paddler, it's probably good that I didn't push it on that trip. Certainly would not have been able to float over at the current water level.
For any curious souls, I got at least a tentative answer to the 'cloudy water' situation.
I spoke with a local friend who knows the lake, and is a much more serious fisherman than I will ever be. He reminded me that it's spawning season, and that the area in question is the most sheltered spot in the lake. The cloudiness is from (truly impressive quantities of) milt suspended in the water, as pretty much everything finned is making use of the weed beds.
For any curious souls, I got at least a tentative answer to the 'cloudy water' situation.
I spoke with a local friend who knows the lake, and is a much more serious fisherman than I will ever be. He reminded me that it's spawning season, and that the area in question is the most sheltered spot in the lake. The cloudiness is from (truly impressive quantities of) milt suspended in the water, as pretty much everything finned is making use of the weed beds.
It was a grey day for a paddle on the ponds; grey skies, grey clouds, even the water was a brackish grey until I put ashore...
and stepped into the woods. There I found colour along the trail.
Birdsong and blossom turned a grey day sunny.
and stepped into the woods. There I found colour along the trail.
Birdsong and blossom turned a grey day sunny.
Well done YC. Beautiful photo.
Gerald
Gerald
You've got a steady hand, YC. Great shot.
Nice first post Blackrock.
Jim
Jim
All loaded, heading for Maine in the morning.
A day late.
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