Paddle Caching

Day 252: Although I've pretty much abandoned geocaching, occasionally one will crop up which I can't resist. Mostly, these exceptions take the form of "paddle caches," i.e., ones you have to access by boat. A new one showed up in the area yesterday, and for a variety of reasons, I didn't sprint out the door in pursuit of "first to find" honours. For one thing, it was windy. For another, it was a warm and sunny Sunday, the kind which brings out power-boaters and jerks on jet-skis. The last time I was out on Alder, a teenager on a jet-ski thought it would be funny to try to swamp my 'yak, cutting a powerful wake 15' from my little craft. If I'd had a phone with me, I would have called the sheriff. Apparently, this young man needed to be made aware that there are laws against trying to drown people. Thus Sunday was out, given the likelihood of other boaters, but in any event, not too many geocachers are equipped for marine caching, so I figured the "first to find" would still be attainable if I waited a day.

In the meantime, I tried to solicit backup, suggesting to Kevin (my friend and supervisor) that he could rent a 'yak for the day and join me. Sadly, he declined. However, after some major arm-twisting, I did convince my caching partner Dan to drive up from Olympia. We set out together about noon, island-bound on choppy water, paddling strongly into the wind. The waves subsided to a tolerable level once we reached the protected back side of the island, and there we hugged the shore, looking for a place to put in. The lake is a reservoir, and the island was once a mountain. Its sides are steep, and do not give easy access. That said, when we finally did locate a landing, we were a mere 387 feet laterally from the cache. Note that I said "laterally." We also had a vertical gain of 150 feet with which to contend, a path obstructed with prickly Oregon Grape and massed Sword Ferns. It wasn't the most challenging brush-crash the two of us have ever done, not by a long shot, but it certainly wasn't a "park-and-grab," either. Needless to say, we found the cache, an excellent hide by someone new to the sport. That in itself was remarkable, since new hiders lack the experience to know what differentiates a good cache from a bad one.

With the mission thus accomplished, we finished out the day by completing a full circuit of the island. It had definitely paid off to wait a day. There were only three power-boats on the water, and everyone played nicely together.

Bogucki Island Kayak Adventure

Day 308: When I left home this morning, I had no set plan other than to put the 'yak in the water at the public boat launch near Alder Lake Park and go paddle around for a while. Once I was afloat, Schoolhouse Island looked tempting, but also very far away. "Maybe that would be a good goal," I thought, "once 'round the island and back to the launch. Yeah, I can do that." I set a leisurely pace, had a curious duck come up to visit, put up a flock of geese close to the island, and 'round I went. At that point, I was still thinking of calling it a day when I got to the launch, but as I got closer, I said to myself, "It's too early to go in. I'm not done having fun yet." I went on up to Alder Lake Park (not very far), beached the boat to take advantage of the facilities close at hand, but when I started paddling again, I still didn't feel like quitting. So what's to do? I made another loop around Schoolhouse Island, this time in the opposite direction. My route is shown in blue on the map, points of interest marked by red arrows. Yes, the story continues.

Power boats were out on the lake in number, most of them dragging water-sleds or water skiers along behind at high speed. I got to test the seaworthiness of my little craft as it rode some pretty substantial rollers. On my first circuit of Schoolhouse, I'd entertained the idea of crossing the lake to tag bigger Bogucki Island, but couldn't find a window through the speed boats. On the second circuit, they'd moved to some different location. "Tag Bogucki," I said to self. "That's a good goal."

I've been to Bogucki on foot. Yes, that's right...on foot. There was (may still be) a geocache on the island, and I knew that it could be reached at low water if you were willing to walk a mile or so through sloppy mud. Two caching friends and I made the crossing several years ago. Today, however, the reservoir was at or near capacity with no danger of running aground even in a power boat. I paddled over to Bogucki with the thought in my mind that the island is only about a mile long. "Around or back?" I asked myself, and settled on "around."

The power boats were on the back side of Bogucki, as luck would have it, and again sent some large rollers my way. The Tanager handled them beautifully. Once I'd rounded the north tip of the island, a new problem presented itself: teenagers on jet skis. One young man about 12-14 years old raced alongside me about 15 feet to port. The wake he set up was choppy and of a shorter interval than that of the power boats, and I had water splashing over the bow. Once he was past me, I power-paddled to get out of the racer lane and then took my time getting back to the boat launch, tired but having thoroughly enjoyed the four hours I was out. I'm putting the distance at 5-6 miles.