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Category Archives: kayak

Photos from my Boat

I love to watch and photograph birds from my kayak. It is very quiet and animals are more comfortable around it than around an upright person. Of course, it’s not a stable platform and it’s always moving at least a little bit so not the absolute best for photography but still.

This time I found a very cooperative and tiny Western Wood Peewee that called and called and I am surprised I didn’t get any images with its mouth open. Also a baby American Robin, an immature gull and the elegant Common Loons. Topping it of was a beaver, dragging a branch to its lodge to feed its youngsters.

And on a hike I found a couple new to me, wildflowers.

Fall Water Outing

Molly’s dad was hoping to get Molly some experience in his new canoe and I just wanted to enjoy some lake time before winter really gets started. Molly got very little experience and after jumping out of the canoe twice, she got to spend the rest of the afternoon in the truck. Next time I won’t be along to distract her. There were quite a few ducks, some grebes, a couple of herons and an otter to provide entertainment as we enjoyed one of the last nice afternoons.

Mallard and another grebe, probably a Pied-billed Grebe
Mallard drake and hen
Hooded Mergansers
Eared Grebe
Great Blue Heron and hen Mallard
Bye bye fall.

On the Water

It had been a long time since I had my boat out on the water. Last year I suffered from moderate to severe back pain for months on end and I was unable to load and unload the boat on my own so it gathered dust in the garage for over a year and a half. This year I am feeling much better and yesterday I took it out to Patterson Lake and enjoyed the beauty and solitude of an April morning. Two weeks ago the lake was covered in ice.

Serene
The lake is high and those trees are under water
Paddling through the trees
Patterson Mountain is covered in balsamroot on the south side
Balsamroot and Oregon grape
One of the big snags fell over
Waiting for warmer weather
Turtle
Ikkuma
Serenity

Early Summer Fun

My dear friend came to visit from Wenatchee early this week and we got to enjoy good times spent outdoors. She and I learned to paddle kayaks on the Columbia and now she is a competitive paddler while I simply enjoy a day in my boat whenever I can. I do miss the water of the big river. Up here I have small lakes and they have their own charm, that’s for sure. On Monday we took our boats over the North Cascades to Diablo Lake, a reservoir on the Skagit River. Diablo and Ross Lakes both have greenish-colored water from all the glacial deposits of the high Cascade Mountains. They are deep and cold. We had smooth glassy water to begin and as we went up the gorge we had a nice wind behind us. Of course that was a wind we had go against on the return trip. As we got to the big open water, it was pretty stiff and we had an interesting swell when we turned up the Thunder Arm of the lake. It was lots of fun!

The next day we had planned a hike to a lookout but after a big rain storm and the threat of more rain showers we decided to stay closer to the valley bottom and enjoyed a nice three mile walk in the woods. The early morning rain left everything fresh and fragrant. The flowers were outstanding. The scent of the wild roses was enough to make a person swoon. Well, maybe not so much. It was lovely though. I managed to lose my lens cap along the way so if you are on the Patterson Lake trail and find a small lens cap, please let me know.

Liberty Bell is a distinctive landmark when crossing the North Cascades
That beautiful water of Diablo Lake
Heart-shaped moss on a rocky outcrop above the water
This barge passed us coming and going. The barge drive was kind enough to slow down and not make a big wake.
Ross Dam holds back Ross Lake
Horsetail Falls and the Highway 20 bridge high above us.
After this it was too rough to have the camera out.
A walk in the woods with lots of photo ops.
Luna liked the cool wet morning.
Wild roses
Tiger lilies. Lilium columbianum
An odd fungus on the end of a log
Lady-slipper orchids
Orange paintbrush. Castilleja sp
Cat’s ear lily. Calochortus elegans.
raindrops
More Lady-slippers
Some were past their prime
Wild onion. Alium sp
Elderflower. I made some cordial earlier this week.
Tall grass, hay field, foothills

Back in the Boat Again

Last week there were several good weather days and twice I managed to get my kayak in the water. Last year I hardly used it due to persistent lower back pain from gardening. I am trying to really take care of my back this year with more yoga and being very aware of how I move when I am carrying heavy stuff and trying to get help when I can. So far, so good for the most part. Of course with kayaking there is the business of getting the boat on and off the car to take it to the lakes. That worried me. I was able to do it and paddle two days in a row and I am happy to report that I didn’t have any pain! What a relief. Here’s hoping it stays that way all summer. Here are some highlights from two lakes near Winthrop.

Patterson Lake is my favorite

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Interesting rock formations

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Non-native trees line one end next to hay fields

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Last year’s cottonwood leaf

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Folks keep adding to this lakeside sculpture

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You can tell from the line on the rocks that the lake is not yet full

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These trees died after the lake level was raised some years ago. Now the snags are good habitat for nesting swallows and other birds.

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Red-necked Grebe

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Pair of Wood Ducks

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Patterson Mountain reflected in Patterson Lake

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More reflections near the boat launch

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At Pearrygin Lake State Park, it’s still cold for swimming

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A pair of Mallards

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The hen decided to go her own way

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The drake had to fly to catch up with her

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4 Bufflehead ducks

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They didn’t like me or the motorboat approaching from the other side

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Pearrygin is a pretty warm lake with different vegetation types.

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The reeds make nice reflections

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This float had broken away from its moorings

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In addition to motorboats, I saw this stand up paddler and a rowing scull

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Killdeer on a mud flat

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The mouth of Pearrygin Creek. This creek ‘blew out’ two years ago, resulting in flooding in the state park and the loss of this boat launch. They say that the state will replace it.

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There are LOTS of Yellow-rumped Warblers out and about these days.

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And Osprey are commonly seen above any water that might have fish in it. There were lots of newly-planted trout for the next day’s fishing season opener.

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