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Another year of paddling. Trips this month: 5
01/04/04
Well, the remodeling is finally done and so we are no longer trapped in our house. This was my final day of vacation and the weather was supposed to be terrific and with a high tide around 8:00 I thought a pre-dawn paddle was in order. I got up at 5:30 and was in the water at 6:00 - about 75 minutes before sunrise. I could detect just a hint of fog as I headed out and I made my way toward the old cedar. I stayed there for a few minutes and ate an energy bar and drank some coffee. By now, the sky was lightening and I could see that the fog was starting to settle in rather thickly. I headed north along the feeder stream parallel to the ICW and came out on the waterway just south of where Deep Creek enters on the east bank. I had been looking at my Terraserver stuff after my trip a couple of weeks ago and realized that I had never really explored that stream. After taking a coffee break and watching the sun finally break through the fog over the islands, I headed across and found the entrance to the creek. What a great place! It is a very large and deep (duh!) stream that winds its way south behind the island chain where we camp. It then joins up with Shad Creek about where the large channel marker tower is located. Just as I was about to enter the lagoon where we camp I was joined by a pair of dolphins who were heading the same direction that I was. I followed them as I tried to take some photos and generally just enjoyed watching them and hearing their puffs as I floated along. We parted company and I headed into the lagoon where the trees above the water were full of herons and egrets. As I approached the landing, however, I noticed that the tide was quite a bit further out than I had anticipated so rather than spending any time on the island I got a little nervous and decided to head back. With thoughts of my last low tide adventure in Hannah in my head I dug furiously against the mid-tide current and didn't let up until I was back in the main pool where I could see that I was safe and could relax. All in all, it was a great start to a new year of paddling. See the Pictures From this Trip
01/11/04 Brrrrrrrr! Well, my work schedule got all fouled up and I wasn't able to get out at all this past week. Today was the coldest day of the year but the tide was right and I thought that I could head back to Deep Creek for a bit of a longer explore. Even though I dressed in warm layers, I wasn't quite prepared for the intensity of the wind which was coming right into my face from the northeast at about 15 knots. I decided to change my plans and head west over to the ICW and the camping island on the east side of the waterway. The wind was so intense that the bird life was pretty well hidden but I did see my old friends the White Pelicans circling above their pool behind the west bank of the ICW. I also saw a pair of Northern Harriers swooping up and down over the marsh. Once I got to the lagoon behind the camping island I disembarked and then decided to explore the interior of the island a bit. It is quite a beautiful place to camp and there are several old cedars on the interior of the island. Unfortunately, my digital camera has pretty much stopped working and it looked like I may have to send it to the shop for a few days. Hopefully it is fixable but for the time being I will have to rely on the powers of prose to describe what I see out there.
01/16/04 I was starting to feel a bit "Ishmaelly" after three weeks trapped in a painfully boring school. I looked at the weather and tide reports for the next several days and felt that since I had already missed several opportunities to paddle this week I had to get out there in spite of the 15-20 knot wind coming from the N.E. When school ended early - that sealed the deal and I came home, threw the boat on and hit the water at 3:15. The trip out was intense - the wind and waves were slapping me in the face and I had to keep paddling steadily or else be blown backwards. I headed to the old cedar where I took a break and then made the circuit back to my put-in. I didn't even try to take pictures - aside from the problems I have been having with my camera, the rough weather makes it very difficult to sneak up on birds and mostly they were hunkered down out of sight anyway. Good to get the Ishmael out of my soul. The hat-knocking will have to wait.
01/19/04
As I was doing the Paddle Forecast yesterday I realized that there was a small window of opportunity to do a pre-dawn paddle today but I would have to get started a lot earlier than I usually do when I do a "dark paddle". With high tide at 6:45 a.m., I knew that I would have to hit the water by 6 if I was going to do any paddling at all and I wasn't sure if I wanted to get up that early on MLK Day. My body said otherwise and I was up and ready to hit the water about an hour and a half before sunrise which is easily the earliest in terms of time before actual sunrise that I have ever attempted. It meant that with the tiny crescent moon rising as I set out, I was completely in the dark. I have the route memorized so well, however, that I think I could do it in my sleep so I had little trouble finding my way to the old cedar where I took a coffee break. Usually, though, I have the faint light of morning highlighting the banks shortly after I set out so it was a little different. It wasn't until I set out from the old cedar that I began to see any signs of dawn. I couldn't have asked for better weather. The water was like glass which reflected the stars and the moon and then later the islands along the Intracoastal as I headed north in the parallel feeder stream that put me out on the waterway a quarter mile south of my intended destination - Deep Creek. I entered the Creek about an hour after I set out and found that it had a couple of feet more level than the last time I put in here which gave me a whole new perspective of the stream. There are a couple of branches that head east toward Ft. George Island that I want to explore but, alas, I was cutting it close tide-wise as it was so I headed toward the channel tower and our camping island. About halfway up the creek, the sun appeared over the horizon briefly before disappearing into the gathering clouds. The glassiness of the water made for some wonderful shots - especially as the reflection of the sun started to become distorted by the ripples that my presence was creating. As expected, the trees over the lagoon were full of herons and egrets waiting for the day to begin and there were at least two pairs of Great Blues. As usual, I couldn't get too close as the approach is far too open. I got out and walked out to the ICW where I saw an Osprey who announced my presence before flying away. After eating an energy bar and drinking some more coffee, I headed back out and made my way south toward the Kingfish Park. As I did the sun made another brief appearance before disappearing for good behind the front that was blowing in, darkening the skies to the west and rippling the water for the first time. As I headed south I began to notice for the first time that all of the Great Blues seemed to be pairing up. The other day I had seen a Great Blue carrying a large branch flying along the edge of the march behind our house followed closely by another. I guess it's that time of the year folks. I paused for a few moments at the old marina to harass some egrets and then made my way to the pool. I was trying to position myself to shoot an Osprey on the dead palm near my put-in when I saw a Dolphin surface between myself and my truck so I headed his direction. He surfaced a couple of more times before disappearing completely and I never got a shot and, of course, by this time the Osprey had moved on. Shortly after I got home - about 9:30 - the rain started to fall making me glad my body clock got me out when it did. See the Pictures From this Trip
01/29/04
My adopted little sister has been in town the last couple of weeks so I've been spending time with her instead of hitting the water. Today, with Lil Sis back in California, I had a brief window of opportunity and I took advantage of it. The tide was going out but there was still enough water to play around in Cedar Point for an hour or so and that is what I did. I meandered around in the main pool - crisscrossing back and forth trying to shoot the herons who were fishing on the exposed oyster beds. Kind of hard to sneak up on birds when you keep running aground on the oysters but I did manage to get a few shots. I sat and watched the sunset before heading home after an hour out on the water. |
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