Went to Glacier NP yesterday to get in a little pre-tourist season paddling action. My paddling buddy wanted to get some non-work related photos taken for a job brochure, so we figured we could get some while we were paddling. No crisp blue skies to set off the snowcapped peaks, but it turned out to be more fun without them. High gray clouds greeted us when we drove through the entrance station and up to Apgar. From our vantage point at the foot of the lake, we could see whitecaps about halfway up, so we jumped back in the pickup and drove toward the waves. Launched at a little spit along the side of the lake where the waves broke and hooked around the tip. Ryan paddled up into the waves, and I took some photos of him silhouetted against the snowy peaks. I then waded out beyond the end of the spit into thigh-deep water and got some great photos with him surfing toward me. The waves were building to 2-2.5' tall, and were pushing 3' as they felt the bottom near the spit. I jumped in my own boat and knifed upwind into the 30 mph gusts and steep, choppy waves. Spun around and surfed back, 3-4 times as quickly as I paddled upwind. Hey, this is easy! The wind was howling and mist was driving. Warm and cozy in my drysuit and neoprene skullcap, I was smiling. I felt sorry for the people driving by in their warm automobiles, motoring around, checking out the blustery springtime conditions. Glacier is no place to expect warm, sunny days, even in August, but we were in the cold and wet beyond what "normal" Glacier visitors would stand to bear. Ryan borrowed an Eddyline Wind Dancer, and muttered something under his breath about it not exactly dancing with the wind and waves. That's what happens when you select a boat because you think it will photograph well!! He fooled with the rudder a lot, and found that performing leaned turns was a futile prospect at best. I told him that stability and strong tracking aren't always your friend. He believed me today! We surfed back to the spit and swapped boats-he enjoyed my Guillemot's playful nature in the choppy cold stuff, and I wrestled with his boat. "Hey," I said,"you wanna switch back?" "Either you're crazy, or you mean we should paddle back to shore," Ryan says. Nope, right here, and I'm not crazy. We're both in drysuits, wearing warm gloves-why not? This is a water sport, and we're supposed to get wet, right? 45*F air and 39*F water, and I'm having fun! I bailed out of my cockpit and lay across his back deck. He simply sat up and lifted his legs into the Wind Dancer's cockpit and sat back down. I wriggled back into my own boat, and less than a minute later, we were refastening our sprayskirts. Winds building, we paddle farther upwind. Surfing back is gonna be a treat! We set out for a 1.5 mile crossing to a small beach. Toward the lee shore, the waves diminish and we nose into the beach. Twix and Snickers bars, a cold, hard chocolate PowerBar, some fruit bars, and hot, rich cocoa to wash it down, and we're ready to go again. Paddle, paddle, paddle back around the headland and into the…waves? Hey, who stole our waves?!?!? A nice, quiet paddle back, with smallish waves at our aft quarter, rather than directly behind us. Damn!! No more surfing today. A little weathercocking, a few sweep strokes and we're back to the spit. Onto to the beach, peel layers and load boats. Without the drysuit, I'm co-old. Heater on full blast as we drive back through the intermittent rain with the intermittent wipers working when the rain isn't. Technology sucks. Small, simple boats rule! Shawn Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Apr 30 2001 - 11:18:26 PDT
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