Transparency in nature

I do have have few more posts to milk from my August-September travels, but I thought I'd take a break and make a report on a paddling excursion closer to home

Weekend before last we took advantage of some higher-than-usual flows on the Medina and paddled a lovely stretch of this river that we don't get to see very often.

What was most appealing about the trip for me was the amazing clarity of the water. I hadn't seen water this clear since our wild adventure on the Devils River in 2010. Unfortunately, this Medina excursion also duplicated some of the negative features of that previous trip—specifically, too much excitement and concomitant hard work!—but I think you'll agree that the water was gorgeous when you see this selection from the many photos I took of its crystalline transparency.

doesn't it look like Henry is paddling on air?

lots of pretty plants and rocks to look at on the bottom

it's like a glass-bottom boat that stretches across the whole stream!

even in the deeper spots, you still can see straight down to the bottom

I was so entranced by the appearance of the water from on top, that I didn't get around to taking any underwater shots until we stopped for lunch...

As you can see, the water wasn't deep enough to be really dangerous for most of the paddle, but there were some tricky sections and I went swimming—non-intentionally—twice. Here's Larry expertly negotiating one of these little twisty-passages (they were "all different": Adventure reference!)

What made them tricky was the narrowness of the river at these points, which made the current really swift and left paddlers little time for adjustments.

Fortunately the shallow water made it pretty easy for me to retrieve my boat after my mishaps and get back in, but such adventures do tend to wear you out. And several of our compatriots had similar experiences, some of which involved sit-inside kayaks which aren't so easy to get back on track as my sit-on-top. So our trip ended up lasting probably twice as long as we had expected. I haven't been that tired in a long time!

But it was a lovely day and a mostly fun paddle in gorgeous water, so I'm glad I participated.

Wordless Wednesday: underwater selfie

*Discretion, Valor, and pretty scenery anyway

Last week I almost went paddling on one of our uncharacteristically flowing hill country rivers. But it was flowing a little too much for chicken me.

However, Henry and a couple of friends had more valor than discretion, and they had a great trip. (You can read about it here.)

at least he had the discretion to wear a helmet!

Our friend Joline and I opted for more discretion (plus a comfortable lunch in Bandera) and just met the boys—of course they were all boys—at the takeout point. (See Joline relaxing at this flooded low water crossing in last Wednesday's Wordless post.)

So we got to see some of the spectacular Medina River scenery without risking life and limb.

Since I had come to the party decked out in paddling gear, I had no trouble hiking a little and wading a little upstream, getting to see close-up and personal that as high as the water was this day, it had been higher recently!

note the bent-over trees

debris along the riverside

But it was quite lovely and I'm so glad Joline had the idea to come and meet the guys instead of just heading home. We didn't even have long to wait.

My trek upstream offered all kinds of photo-opp material...

rock and cliffs

close-up of scenic cliffs...with desert varnish and without

rocks usually well up on shore

There was enough water that there were even little side channels and ponds...just enough to make way-finding not completely trivial—which of course is fun!

Safe, fun, and scenic...I'll take that for a Saturday any time.

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*From one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff's accurate quotation is: "The better part of valor is discretion." Not that Falstaff should normally be a role model, but this is good advice!

Wordless Wednesday: Beachfront property