It was finally warm enough for This stretch has some really scenic cliffs and I had to pull over and take some photos. I didn't take too many pictures while canoeing, since the swift flow of the current didn't allow for much resting and taking the camera out of the dry bag. But fortunately there was a still patch in the shade below these fabulous limestone cliffs, so I could stop and snap:
The water was still pretty cold, but since I was given some great cold weather paddling gear for my birthday (by spouse tired of my complaining that I couldn't paddle in the cold due to lack of
proper clothing) I was toasty all along the way. It helped that the sun was warm and there wasn't much wind.Another special treat was that our globe-trotting (and soon to be home-owning!) son and daughter-in-law went with us. In spite of their paltry kayaking experience they handled the big water like pros.
On the left here Hal is letting some water out of his boat at our lunch stop while Carey supervises. He took the warm day a bit too far and even went swimming—voluntarily—at lunch. He admitted it was rather a shock to his system to hit the water!
This scene, below, is where we headed right after lunch. At lower water, this right-hand channel around a large island is impassable. But even now, the left channel (out of the range of this picture) is still the easy way, and it's the one most of us took. A few of our more experienced compatriots headed down here, though, and managed to avoid that house-sized boulder at the end.
All in all a very pleasant afternoon. The first of many, no doubt, this year. Although the second will probably have to wait a while. The forecast for the upcoming weekend is colder than I want to try, even with all my new duds.
NOTE: Henry has an extensive blog post about this paddle, with a link to an even more extensive set of pictures on Flickr.
2 comments:
Brr! Very pretty, but brrrrrrrrr!!!!
So what kind of gear did you get? I love going to places like Whole Earth Provision and looking at the outdoor gear. Never mind that I'll never need most of it. It's the fantasy of the stuff :-)
There was supposed to be a picture of me in my new "farmer jane" wetsuit but somehow no one remembered to take it 8-). Gear is definitely cool and I'm sure Henry got as much fun out of picking it out as I will out of using it.
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