I Have a Need for (No) Speed Too!

July 11, 2012  PADDLING  adventure: Waldron Lake/Elkhart River

In contrast to biking where speed and distance are at the core of the adventure, kayaking (for me at least) is about none of those things.  On most trips, I have no idea how fast we paddled, how far we went, and, because of a lot of “drifting time,” the time we were on the water has no correlation to either category.  Instead, it is about the experience of being on the water and surrounding nature.  Today was no exception.

Amish Buggy pulling boat trailer

We paddled today on the Elkhart River/Waldron Lake area.    Arriving at the public access site, we were greeted by an Amish buggy (so unusual here) with an empty boat trailer attached (now that was a first for us).  There is a small area downstream where we know many Amish moor their pontoon boats.  Every time we have been on the Elkhart River we have seen at least one Amish family on their pontoon either beginning or finishing their pontoon adventure.  It held true today, except we have never seen a boat trailer/buggy combo (with the requisite horse) at the actual public access site.   It did make me smile.

Because the Elkhart River at this point has an almost negligible current, we are able to travel in both directions from the access point without undue paddling effort either way.  We chose downstream first, away from Waldron Lake, in order to check the water level and increase our chances of spotting dear or other wildlife.   We soon turned around as the underwater aquatic plant growth became too dense and gross, in part because of the low water level from the lack of rain.  There were a few trees that were down from the late June/early July storms, but the level of damage was conspicuously less than the damage in FW. After a short paddle, we passed the access site on our way to the Waldron Lake basin.

View from my kayak as Tom comes into view

We like this paddle because it is heavy on trees and nature and light on houses and people.  Much of the northern bank is protected wetlands and the southern bank is not densely settled with cottages and houses sitting on top of each other.   We floated a lot, looked around a lot, and listened to what was around us.  It was a perfect weather day, and perfect paddling day because there were few boaters around, only the occasional slow fishing boat “putting” by us. Weekend paddling can be hazardous to kayaker on these northeast IN skiing lakes!!

There was not a lot of nature to see besides trees, but as I dozed while floating (yeah I catnap in my kayak while Tom paddles around)  I noticed many bird calls, both near and farther away.  The newest sound I heard was the soft, popping sound of sucker fish coming up for air.  I have often seen their presence on the water, but the quietness of the day revealed the sound of their unusual habit. 

While reloading our boats onto our car after our paddle, we were interrupted by  an elderly fisherman I remembered passing earlier in the day.   He was frantic because the rope  attached to his fishing boat broke while he was maneuvering his boat trailer into the access point and the boat was floating away.   The other anglers at the public access site already had their boat loaded on their trailer, so Tom and I quickly unloaded my boat (which had just been hoisted up!).  Tom paddled around to the other side where the fishing boat was floating further away from the loading area and carefully (so as not to tip himself) shoved it back towards shore.  Being the only one on shore with water shoes on, I waded into the water to grab the boat from Tom, guiding it up to the winch so its owner could get it up on the trailer.   We left the fisherman and the others to finish the job while we again lifted my boat up on the car.  I shudder to think what that elderly fisherman would have resorted to in order to get his boat, and it was worth the effort of lifting the boat AGAIN in order to help a fellow boater.   God had us in the right place at the right time to be of service.

Notable/AUDIBLE Nature Sightings: A rooster with an apparently late alarm clock who repeated crowed at 8:30 AM as we unloaded the boats---sunrise was 2 hours earlier, a couple of hidden woodpeckers, many different bird calls, and soft popping sounds from the sucker fish coming up to the surface to breath.