So yesterday was my maiden voyage with my new roof rack for the kayak! My awesome niece who is an avid kayaker hooked me up with the Thule DockGlide (not an affiliate, just sharing what kind I’m using). I love it! Super easy to put on and remove, and I can easily load and unload my 40 lb. kayak by myself. I had to buy a stepladder (short girl problems) and it takes a minute or two, but it’s totally worth it. I also like that I can reach up through the sunroof, give it a nudge and make sure everything is still strapped tight.
My destination was Newburgh Pointe, a day use area on Newburgh Lake, in the Wayne County Parks system on Hines Drive. I’ve lived this this area all my life, and this is my first time out on the water. Yep. 46 years later, here I am.
The lake is bigger than I thought it was, though I suppose you can’t really appreciate the size of it from the shoreline. I paddled west for a while, and found this little access point in which to park. It reminded me of all the years we canoed the Rifle River, looking for a good spot to pull over.
Continuing on, I came upon an island, and spotted something right on the point that I couldn’t quite make out. When its head popped out of its feathers, I realized I’d just awoken a sleeping goose. 🙁 Whoops! Sorry!
Around the island, I found a bridge, one of the bridges under construction along Hines Drive. I don’t know how long these steel support beams have been up, but it wasn’t taped off, so here we go.
As soon as I paddled under the bridge, I came upon several Canadian geese families with their babies. Knowing they can be aggressive, especially with their young in tow, I gave them a wide berth and hoped to God one of them wasn’t having a bad day already.
I made it past them and found myself in the Rouge River. Since I’ve never been out on this waterway, I had no idea where the lake and river connected, or how far I could go.
How cool. There were some branches to paddle around, and some trash that I tried to grab with my net. I came upon some other kayakers heading towards me, who told me I could go for another half mile or so, past I-275. OMG!
The next point of interest was a drain, I have no idea what you call this. I just know that I don’t recall seeing that white dot in the tunnel when I took the pic! ??? If a red balloon would have floated out of this, I’d have had a heart attack on the spot.
Just past the drain and around the bend, it became more sandy, the shoreline and the bottom. I looked down and saw a metal ring tab, from a beer can of days long past. Then I looked up and saw this.
Creepiness! It reminded me of the cover of a horror novel.
I continued on and there was the I-275 overpass, complete with its complimentary artwork. This is the northbound side.
And the southbound side..
I then came upon the fallen tree, putting an end to my adventure.
Although I might have been able to make it, I didn’t want to get caught in a situation where the current takes your boat parallel to the tree and you end up flipping. It was getting late, so I decided to turn back.
I paddled back the way I came, the goose family was gone, and I was soon back out on the lake. I smiled as I passed the the point where Bill proposed, ten years ago on May 5th!
The wind had picked up, and I really had to work to get back to the launch. It was a relatively warm day, so the breeze was nice, but if you didn’t paddle, you drifted. I finally made my way back to the launch and disposed of the trash I’d collected.
If you haven’t heard of it, trash fishing is actually a thing! I was inspired to buy a net when I took my kayak out for the first time at Portage Lake and tried to grab trash with my paddle. Next time I’ll bring a plastic bag.
Well, the rain has stopped for now, so I think I’ll go back out! Thanks for coming along.