May, 1, 2011 Lake Lonely

We got our start to the 2011 season in at Lake Lonely. Megan was anxious to get her new Eddyline Samba Kayak into the water. The spring rains have delayed our start. Last year we got into the water in April. We chose Lake Lonely so we could look for the Heron nests that Tim & Megan had seen last year when I was unable to kayak because of my torn meniscus.

We headed straight for the area where the nests are. We saw 6 or so nests and several Heron sitting in the trees nearby. We couldn't get as clear a view as we can get on Round Lake. As we continued along the lake, we saw what we believe we have identified as an Osprey. It flew over us and perched on a tree limb. Megan saw another one fly over us with a fish in its' talons. I believe that Osprey are referred to as Sea Hawks. This is the first one I've seen. It was neat.

At the north end of the lake we spotted a large Heron. It was sitting on a stump. We stayed very quiet as we approached and Megan was able to get some good photos before it flew away. It was fun getting as close as we did.

We decide to head to the outlet to the Kaydeross. We paddled into the creek and saw a bunch of new duck houses. As we checked them out Tim saw a large fish in the shallow water. I paddled up to take a look. Tim asked me if I could see it. I told him that all I could see was a log in the water. As I looked further I discovered that the "log" I was looking at was actually the fish. It was very long and somewhat skinny. Tim thinks it might have been a Northern Pike.

As we continued down the creek, it appeared that a lot of the tree limbs had been trimmed back since we were last in there. My favorite tree, "Alligator Log" as I had named it was among those trimmed back.

We turned back when we could feel the water from the Kaydeross pulling our boats. The large amount of rain this Spring has altered the normal flow of the water. It's a tough paddle when you get sucked into it. One spring Tim had to pull me out of some strong current down there.

When we got back up into calmer water we paddled through the woods. Its almost like you are in forbidden territory. The water normally isn't high enough to allow you to paddle through the trees, so when you can, you have to go for it.

We were out almost 2.5 hours. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon.