A decade ago at this time of year we'd be ice skating around Moses Lake, where I live in Washington state. And two weeks later in the season the fishermen would be driving their pickup trucks out for ice fishing. No one but an idiot drives their trucks out onto the ice any more and the local fathers built a free ice rink to keep the kids off the ice which is not as thick as it used to be even at the height of the winter season. But I like to think that in return for my loyal purchases of useless crap from China they have reciprocated by burning enough coal to warm up even my remote corner of the planet. Why it makes me want to get in the car and drive to Wal-Mart even now! Today, a few days before Thanksgiving and just over a week before December the air temp was 50F and the water temp 35F and the sun was shining brightly enough to lure me from my sofa and away from the Military Channel and get me into a drysuit and out on the lake in my trusty Mariner II. The dogs thought I was nuts but I provide food and the occasional scratch and, besides, it's pretty entertaining to watch me trying to get into the kayak on the rocky beach. In a mostly-futile effort to control invading water plants the local water district lowers the lake level every year after the irrigation season is over and my convenient dock is six feet above the water right now. In order to get into the kayak I have to get the boat down from the dock to the "beach", find a place more-or-less not covered in boulders, and get in. It's ok... this is what makes kayaking an adventure. And keeps the dogs entertained. The lake has an entirely different feel with the water level down so far. The cut under the I-90 freeway that separates my part of the lake from the main part to the south is narrow in the winter and the "5mph" speed limit signs are high above my head. Not that the boaters and jet skiers notice them, anyway. On my way south to the grass islands I paddle up to a pair of crawdad traps apparently abandoned by a fisherman earlier this fall. I checked both and they were full of mud and weeds so I put them back into the water closer to each other just in case the owner came back to find them. The marker buoy was half of a McDonalds big mac foam package. Just south of the grass island is a lighthouse marking a reef that is barely covered at summer water levels. At this time of year they are high and dry and it's easy to see why so many power boaters and jet skiers come to grief on the rocks. The landowner to the east of the reef has constructed high own unofficial lighthouse which most boaters, unfamiliar with navigational markers, probably think is just a kid's playhouse. I took out my iPhone and carefully took a few photos for my blog. About this time my hands were beginning to get uncomfortably cold. My gloves are adequate for water temps in the 50s but when the water is just above freezing they are clearly inadequate. I have pogies but chose not to use them so I decided to head back home. I'm thinking that with a little luck - and more people commuting one-to-a-car - I should be able to kayak year around in another decade. More story and pics on my blog, www.nwkayaking.net. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Nov 24 2009 - 17:55:18 PST
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