Yes, the bailer…the plastic milk jug/homemade bailer came to the rescue for the first time. No, we didn’t take on water, but we were certainly glad to have this simple tool with us. We had reserved our desired, prime, on the water campsite 2 months ago ( the prime sites go quickly at this lake), and we were thrilled that the weather forecast was perfect, the 2 dogs had done well in the loaded canoe, and the water was warm and calm. However, as we pulled up to this special site, we saw that a flock of geese had “squatted” ( literally and figuratively) on the site, and were basking in the sun, in no hurry to move off. Splashing paddles into the water finally encouraged them to slowwwwwly waddle off; as we got onshore, we quickly realized that MANY goose “land mines” had been left behind…okay, so we don’t want the dogs snacking, we don’t want to step on them, and certainly don’t want to pitch a tent on such a surface. Our small trowel seemed pitiful for such an endeavor, but alas, the use of the bailer worked wonders,and we soon had a cleansed area to pitch our tent!

Once we got camp set up, we took a lovely sunset paddle; the waters were calm and the temperature perfect. After the paddle, we had a dinner made via JetBoil stove, and settled in for a peaceful evening by the fire.

In the morning, the pups were up and ready to go, so we had a sunrise paddle, in the foggy, mirror-like waters of the reservoir. There were lots and lots of loons, we explored areas we had not paddled yet, and came back to the campsite ready for breakfast.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed in…on the way, we were escorted by a pair of loons who unexpectedly surfaced right near our boat. For once, I had the camera ready, as I had been photographing an AUTUMN (!!!) leaf floating in the water.

Not to overburden the posts, I have added a few photos to our photo page…we are so fortunate to have a gem like this only 30 minutes from our home..we’ve already made reservations for next months trip!