Cross Lake- June 25

Well, Susie and Don decided that they would give it a rest today so I had to go it alone. I figured it would be a good time to try out Little Bit's new PFD, so I packed up and went to Cross Lake again. We had just had a cool front come through so the wind and waves were something to see. I would say they were probably about 2-3 feet. I was a bit leary about going out in those conditions, but I figured as long as I kept fairly close to the shore, I would be fairly safe. I got everything ready to go, and got Little Bit's vest on him. It was a good fit. I am so glad that I got this for him. I ordered it from Hong Kong on eBay.

Little Bit had never been in the kayak before except when it was sitting in our living room, so it was a new experience for him. He jumped right in and off we went. He was very excited to see all of the birds flying by...good thing they don't have squirrels out there!


I paddled for about 30 minutes then turned around and went up the lake toward the I49 bridge. They have built some new condos on the lake, and there was a nice little corgi who Little Bit took a liking to (I guess she may have looked like Missy at a distance). So he decided he would check her out...and promptly jumped in.

Lucky I invested in that doggie PFD! I just grabbed the handle on the back and lifted him back into the kayak. Of course I had him tied to the port d-ring anyway, so he would not have gotten very far!

After that all he did was look very seriously at the water. I don't think that he expected to be swimming when he jumped out!

I turned around again and went back towards the west so I could get a few sunset pictures, but it wasn't really a good sunset, so I just got more pictures of Little Bit...

I love the way his ears flap in the wind!




It was about 8:15, so I decided it was time to head on back and pack it up. I think Little Bit was very glad to be back on shore. As soon as he jumped off the kayak he rolled in the grass... I guess he did not like the smell of fish either. I had to give him a bath when we got home so he would not get in bed with that awful fishy smell.

I hope to come back to Cross Lake. I think it will be great to explore more. Well, until next time...



Happy Kayaking!

Cross Lake - June 24

My older brother Don and his wife Susie got their kayaks yesterday, so we had to get out and try them out. They strapped one to each car and off we went to the closest
lake we could find. We had easy access at the Public Boat launh after we paid the $20 Lake Patrol fee.

Cross Lake is a natural lake that covers 8,575 acres. It provides good fishing and water recreation for the city and it is the water supply for the city also. We put in off a grassy area at the public launch, and once Don and Susie got their sea legs, we decided to head out to Rookery Island. It is an island that is a bird sanctuary on the lake.

And talk about birds! Everywhere you looked you saw egrets, herons, duck, and some that I will have to look up.

I was a bit disappointed though. I really expected to see some white pelicans, but maybe they have already migrated elsewhere.

We tooled around the island. The smell is awful because there must be a thousand birds roosting on that island. So we tried to get upwind. As we went around the island we found a small cove. I was taking a picture of an egret, when some baby birdies came out from the bush. I have no idea what they were, I will have to look them up tomorrow.


One of the babies looked like he was fussing at me for disturbing his little paradise.


As we rounded the island the trees were full of blue herons and their hatched chicks. And there were so many species of birds so close together...I have never seen so many in one place.


After circling the island, we decided to head on back to pack up. It was a very hot day and we were out in the heat of it. I think I will come back out tomorrow during the late afternoon and see what it is like towards the end of the day.

As we got back to the bank a nice lab looked like he was really wanting to swim out to me...Lucky he was on a leash!
Well..I'll put my trip Sunday in a different entry...

Happy Kayaking!

Tyler Lake State park

I had a chance to go over to Tyler Lake State Park last Saturday for a short paddle. It is a very nice small lake. They do not allow motors on it and the lake is crystal clear. I got there about 3 PM and was able to get in my kayak about 3:30...of course I took a dip in the lake first so I could be cool while I paddled.

I was about 3/4 of the way around the lake when an immature blue heron flew right by me and landed in the cove in front of me. He did not seem afraid at all and he walked around and caught a few fish right from the bank.

He was VERY blue. These pictures are not touched up or enhanced in any way. I don't think I have ever seen one so blue. Maybe it is because it is young? I assumed it was young because it was so small.

As I took my next picture on the blue my camera died. I never even thought to bring any extra batteries with me...so I had to put it away and just enjoyed watching the heron for a few more minutes before I paddled off.

So I paddled on. It was such a pretty day. We had had a rainstorm that lowered the temperature to about 85 with a nice breeze. So it was a beautiful day to paddle. I met a family of 3 out paddling their kayaks. I talked to them a while then went on and finished by trip around the lake. I figured that I would not see any more birds, so I decided not to go in and get more batteries for the camera. And since I had another 30 minutes before I needed to load up and get on the road for the two hour trip home, I decided to make another trip around the lake.

I got past the picnic area and saw something on the bank, so I paddled closer. It was my first ever sighting of a green heron. He was so pretty. I got out my camera just to see if maybe I could get one more picture...It worked! I was able to get a few more pictures of it before the camera died again.


After that, I left the green and went on around the lake. That lake had more turtles than I have ever seen on one lake. I ran over one that was not paying attention to what was behind him... boy was he startled...as was I. I did not expect to run over a turtle! The lake was so clear that I could see him as he dived deep for cover.

Everywhere I looked I saw heads sticking out of the water. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them. I wondered if they were eating flies, because I saw a lot of dead flies on top of the water.

After I finished the second trip around the lake, I headed in to load up and go home. It was a nice trip and I think I will go back. The water was great and just seeing the green billed heron made my day.

I hope to get out on Cross Lake this weekend to see the Rookery Island where there are lots of white seagulls. So until next time...

Happy Kayaking...

Moonlight Float - Lake BIstineau

We started out by the group having a salad supper. Each of us brought enough of some type of salad for at least 3-4 people to eat. And thank goodness someone actually brought some smoked ribs. Good eating!



It was a perfect day for the moonlight float at Lake Bistineau. The temperature was only about 87 and the humdity seemed to be down some. The lake is a typical Louisiana lake...full of moss, alligators, and lots of cypress trees.

We had about 24 people at the salad supper, and then 11 boats went on the moonlight trip.


I was the first one out on the water, so I took a picture of some of the folks coming out. There were 3 kayaks, including mine, and 8 canoes. I went ahead and turned my light on because once in the kayak I cannot reach the bow at all without falling out of the kayak!

The moon came out very early and was large and beautiful.

Becasue it got dark pretty fast I was not able to see much wildlife...except the spiders that fell into my boat as we went through the thick moss covered trail... so I only got a few pictures of egrets. I thought the one below came out pretty neat... blurred wings, but clear head...



It was quite scarry to me as we went on the trail. It was dark and if I got more than 10-15 feet away from the person in front of me, they were invisible. I was constantly fighting with the water plants. They were so thick in places that they seemed to grab the paddle and not want to give it back. When I put the boat back up on the rack the next day, I found a dead fish in the bottom of the kayak. I guess he was a part of the thick plant growth that kept coming into the boat from the paddle...

The trip took 3 hours and 40 minutes. I am not sure how far we went, but we paddled constantly at a pretty good clip. Most of the folks were in canoes with two people, so I guess that is why they went so fast. I really did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked to because I think we went too fast. I did not have time to enjoy the moon...

I was glad that there were two people in the group with GPS'. Although from what I understand, we were not even on the trails a lot of the time. The trail is pretty poorly marked in some of the areas and the paint used to mark the trail does not glow in the dark. And I could not stop and take pictures, because they were moving so fast that I would have been left behind! This is a trip that I probably will not make again with the group! And they probably will be glad that I don't because I kept my headlight on once it got dark because I just could not see good without it. I don't see very good in the dark since I've had LASIK. So...maybe moonlight trips are not for me...

Well, even though it was a stressful trip I did still enjoy getting out in my kayak. And I proved to myself that I could keep up and paddle for that long without collapsing afterward! Of course my arms, shoulders and hands hurt for a few days aftewards... Made me long for those kayak paddle gloves or yakgrips that the Kayak Fishing place sells. I am glad that I invested in a good paddle. But the way my wrists hurt aftewards, maybe I should look into a bent shaft paddle.

Oh well...'til next time...Happy paddling!

Lake Gillham - Big Coon Creek

Well, it was a great weekend trip up to Gillham Lake in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Mom, Dad and I set up camp then they sat down to relax and I set off to kayak.

I just couldn't wait to get out on the water. I was hot, tired, had a headache, and felt sick to my stomach(probably close to heat exhaution) ...but I HAD to get out in the kayak. After a good hour and a half paddle I felt much better. Midway through the paddle I pulled up on a rocky beach and took a swim.

It was a beatiful time. I stayed out until the sun went down. There weren't any clouds in the sky, so the sunset was pretty unspectacular. After that, I went back to camp and felt good enough to eat. We finished setting up the camper, got cleaned up and by that time it was 10:30 PM...much later than we usually stay up when camping!

The next morning I slept in until about 8 AM. Got up and ate my cereal and got out in the kayak. It was another wonderful day. As I was going out I noticed that I had a hitchhiker. I guess it was some type of aphid. He flew away after a while.

I saw alot of Blue Herons.









I paddled for about two hours and got out and swam on a deserted rocky cove about midway.

I made it about halfway to the dam, but decided to give it up, as it was just too far for me to paddle. But it sure was awesome looking at the dam from the lake. It was huge.


In the heat of the afternoon, we took a drive to all of the surrounding COE campgrounds and to the dam. We definitely liked the campground that we were in "Coon Creek" or "Big Coon Creek" instead of all of the others. I had camped in Cossatot Reefs before, and it is nice, but I really like a lake or river to camp on. The Reefs campground is on the Cossatot River, but the river is very small and docile at this point in it's journey.




We were driving past the garbage cans and saw a racoon getting an afternoon snack. He sure was enjoying it.







We went to the lookout at the top of the dam and took some pictures. I got a good one of Mom and Dad.

We got back to camp and I went kayaking for another hour and a half until the sun set. I saw a deer. I think she was a surprised as I was.















I saw a gorgeous blue heron...


Then I just paddled around waiting for the sun to set. There were some clouds, so I was hoping for a good sunset. And it was ok, not the best, but I did get some decent pictures.




The next morning I slept in again, but the morning light was beautiful as it illuminated the water below our campsite.


We began packing up, and getting ready for the trek home. We enjoyed camping this lake and I enjoyed the kayaking. It sure was nice not to have to dodge the big ski boats! So I will be back, but I think I will wait until it gets a bit cooler. Sitting around outside in 85-90 degree weather is ok, but packing up a camper and loading the kayak on top of the car is very hot work. So I hope to go camping next month a bit further north in Arkansas...and hope for cooler, less humid weather!

Until next time (going kayaking on Bistineau next Saturday for a midnight float)...Happy camping and kayaking! Cathy