Occupational Hazards And Techniques

Day 208: So how does one take a photograph of a tiny plant way over there on a floating log when one is in a kayak? In case you were wondering, my first recommendation is to get yourself a camera and some serious glass or one with a good zoom. In my case, it's the latter. Secondly, you will need a background in either yoga or contortionism.

Here you see the naturalist in Log/Leg Lock position. Having maneuvered your craft into the best position for the light (which, incidentally, is a series of rapid fluctuations between shadow and brilliance), you must then find a secure niche in which to place one blade of the paddle. Once you are satisfied that it cannot become dislodged by wave action (a balance between the anchor point bobbing up and down and the kayak doing likewise, but at a different interval), draw your knee up as closely under your chin as possible avoiding tangling your foot in fishing gear, and then extend your leg out and over the paddle shaft. When possible, place your foot on an object outside the boat, but remember to keep your weight distributed to prevent accidental immersion. In order to achieve the correct angle on your subject, you may need to hold your arms at full stretch above your head for a protracted period of time. In any event, you will probably have to lean radically backward in order to see the view screen, especially if you wear trifocals. When you are done shooting, gradually return your appendages to their normal positions and take a deep breath.

What, you don't see them? I can assure you that inside that green ellipse, there are hundreds of fingernail-sized Sundew disks, each bearing dozens of hairs sparkling with beads of digestive enzymes. Don't believe me? Look at yesterday's post. That colony is just to the right of the dark clump of grass about a quarter of the way from the left end of the ellipse. Zoom...it's the only way to go!

Aqua-Bound

Day 332: What a day! A friend alerted me to a new "paddle cache" near Yelm a couple of days ago, and when I looked at it to get the specifics, I discovered that there were actually five on the sprawling, multi-armed lake. I mapped them out with National Geographic's "Topo!" program and traced a route of approximately 3.5 miles round trip. That, I said to self, is easily do-able. I put the project on my agenda for Saturday, but then was reminded of the holiday weekend by another friend. When you live alone, holidays don't signify. They're easily forgotten, and often leave you snarled in traffic if you foolishly decide to go to town. Saturday suddenly seemed less appealing, but the weather forecast for today was less than perfect. I went to bed with some trepidation.

When I got up this morning, I saw blue through gaps in the clouds. I made the final decision to go for it. By the time I hit Eatonville, I was regretting it. It was simply pouring buckets, in my mind filling the 'yak on the roof and soaking the seat. However, when I reached the blinking light on Hwy 7, rain ceased and puffy white sheep were gambolling on a field of blue. The Weather Gods had smiled on me for my doggedness. The 'yak was only moderately damp inside, and the seat wasn't the least bit soggy.

I launched on Lake St. Clair about 10:30 and was almost at the furthest cache when I realized I'd forgotten something very important. When you're logging five-star hides, you'd bloody well better have signed the log! And that's rather hard to do when you don't have a pen. With less than 300 feet to go to my primary destination, I turned around and started paddling back 'round the rabbit (a chocolate-bunny shaped peninsula) toward the car. Then it occurred to me that I was passing right by a full-sized "regular" cache I'd planned to do later in the day. Surely it would have a pen in it! I was in luck. With the borrowed pen, I "drove" the 'yak back to my intended starting point, found the cache and signed the log. Yes, I returned the pen later.

I faced another challenge with several of the caches. The owner (person who placed them) had not taken short-torsoed, short-armed tiny people into account. In water of unknown depth, I did not want to risk standing up in the 'yak to unscrew a tiny Bison tube hung in a tangle of cedar boughs swinging low over the water! By means of strange contortions, I retrieved that cache and (harder still) replaced it after I'd signed in. Two others were similarly placed. But oh, I was impressed by the tight places the 'yak could reach!

After all the caches had been found, I lengthened the day with explorations of all the lake's major arms (and it has quite a few). In total, my paddle covered approximately seven miles. The weather, for all of its wet beginnings, had turned into perfection. Now I'm ready to bide at home through the busy holiday weekend.

Two-Part Part A

Day 304: Take a guess! Take a wild guess what Crow bought herself for an early September Morn present! All I got to bring home today was the two-part paddle, but tomorrow, I'm heading back down to REI to have a cartop rack installed, and then the boat comes home. I thought about holding off until they could order a green one in for me, but with summer running down fast, I decided I could live with red in exchange for more days' paddling time. After researching specs and comparing reviews, I finally settled on a 10-foot Perception Prodigy, a wider and therefore more stable boat than many of the others. I had anticipated paying more for the rack than I did for the kayak, and yes, that's how it worked out. The other major factor I had to consider was weight, and whether or not I'd be able to load it onto the rack without a helper. That also determined what type of rack I'd need to buy.

There's no shortage of flat water here! Within easy drive from home, I hope to set sail on Swofford Pond, Lake Scanewa, Alder Lake, Mineral Lake, Lake Kapowsin and Ohop Lake. It's not the Winged Adventure of my dreams, but now this old pirate's at least got a boat to float!