Yep, we got a bit lost in the fog today….headed out at 0715, on a very familiar body of water. Fog was pretty dense, with visibility less that 1/10 of a mile. We followed the shoreline, ( or what we could see of it), recognizing familiar landmarks to get our bearings.

The only sound we heard was off in the  distance…the  muted roar of a lawn tractor, mowing the rolling hills of the day use state park. A few birds sounded the alarm, but we never saw them.  The dogs were well behaved, and relaxed during the peaceful paddle.

Thankfully, we encountered no power boats, and given the conditions, we stayed away from their usual areas. We made a sweeping turn, heading for the opposite shoreline ( or so we thought).  Somehow, we misjudged the peninsulas and outcroppings, and did not make a sufficient turn. So, in essence, we ended up making a large circle….it was actually quite funny, though neither of us was ever aware of our clockwise pattern….yes, we were disoriented and lost in the fog. Lessons learned!

“The Fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)

As we pulled up to shore , a pair of loons appeared right off the take-out area…they separated, then rejoined in a moment that had us  saying ” awwwww” in unplanned unison.

A Good day on the water…..

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!

Long trip ( 1500 miles round trip) to visit family, so no canoeing this week, However, we did get a chance to take the pups to some different type environments, where they were able to play in waves and waterfalls. Actually, kind of a nice change of pace…..

The weather has been exceptionally rainy and wet…and a spell of 5 days with heat index over 90…time to pack up the boat and head off for some camping. We stayed at a campsite within 50 yards of the canoe launch, and were serenaded by loons and bullfrogs ( along with some thunder-boomers) all during the first night. We did manage to get a sunset paddle in, until  the  clouds became quite ominous.

The morning of day 2, we were out bright and early. The dogs were fascinated by a large family of ducks swimming right near the canoe. We think Edgar has a bit of bird-dog in his “unspecified heritage”.

The dogs were well behaved on the paddle; we saw quite a few loons, a few loon chicks; we kept our distance, but we were able to partake of their amazing calls.  The dogs kept ears perked, and eyes peeled, but have come to expect seeing these wonderful birds. The preservation efforts are definitely paying off!

The pups decided to take the boat out themselves, for a ducky little paddle!

On Day 3, we drove 5 miles to another part of the large state park, and portaged  ( lugged) the canoe 100 yards, to a 48 acre, isolated, pond; only the sounds of birds, and the wonderful loon calls, at 6:30 am. The water was like a mirror, and it was a lovely paddle.

Before heading home, we took the dogs for about a 90 minute easy hike; cool and peaceful; the humidity had finally dropped, and it was a nice way to end the weekend.

All it took was a bit of electric tape!