Training Log Archive: hutspot

I am very excited to say that I have accomplished my goal of kayaking 50 Lakes/Rivers this year.

Lake/River # 50 Big East River

Today I had to drive to the Burks Falls area to exchange a wonderful birthday gift. My friend Sandi came with me for the ride with the purpose of paddling my 50 lake on the way back. We had not yet decided where to paddle, only that it would be in the Huntsville area.
The day got kind of late for several reasons so our decision had to be not too far out from highway 11 because it was nearing 4 pm and the days are getting shorter. We did not have time to drive around and look for access to anything that looked interesting and therefore, consulted our trusty Backroad Mapbook for any lake that had an access point listed.
We decided on Fish Lake but upon arrival found it too dull for a grand finale. It has no bays or islands, basically a fish bowl. (ha ha)
Our next choice was the Big East River off Lake Vernon and it turned out to be a great pick. Too bad we had so little time to paddle before dark. We have decided to come back next year and make a day of it.

C • Congratulations! :-) 2

The Poker Lakes loop with Debbie. Lakes # 42-49

Before I list all the lakes I have to say that my rule was that I could not log a lake unless I paddled on it for at least an hour. This rule was to stop me from dipping into tiny lakes for a few minutes and use them for my goal of 50 lakes.
But remembering that my reason for the goal is to explore 50 lakes in the area . To realize all the paddling opportunities in my own backyard , so to speak.

So the Poker Lakes count in my quest solely because it's a great route that I've always wanted to do. AND... because it's not a kayak-friendly route which made it a challenging adventure to say the least. The kayaks are heavy sea kayaks that are a pain to portage so we had a good workout. So the paddling time includes the portaging time. It's the total time of the trip.

We paddled across 8 lakes and did 8 portages.A couple of lakes we hit twice.

Lake # 42 Bentshoe Lake
Lake # 43 Poker Lake
Lake # 44 Ooze Lake
Lake # 45 Quirt Lake
Lake # 46 Cinder Lake
Lake # 47 Muck Lake
Lake # 48 Upper Crane Lake
Lake # 49 Lower Crane Lake

Lake # 41 Leech Lake

Leech Lake is located at the end of Fraserburg road and has a public access point which, after yesterday, is probably a good idea.

Sandi was available on a moments notice so we set off at 10 am and were lucky again with the great weather and this time, no wind!

C • trail running and paddling.... 1

Nice easy ride on Uhtoff trail with Lori.

C • look at you go. sounds nice 1

Lake # 40 Clear Lake

Such a great day out that Lori and I decided to go for a paddle. We were heading towards the Poker Lakes but turned down Bird Lake road to see if we could find an access point for Clear Lake. We only had to tresspass a little bit to get to the water but it all worked out just fine.

We passed three separate docks with someone napping on the dock. Looked pretty tempting. And at one dock people were swimming :)

Walking off the cake and chocolate after dinner.