Our warm weather paddling days are in the rearview mirror, I’m afraid, but fall paddling season is just beginning. At least that’s the positive spin I’m putting on it. A friend of mine and I had plans to paddle last week and we kept in touch as it rained throughout the day.
Close to the time we were to meet to paddle Newburgh Lake, I saw a glimmer of hope out my front door, which faces west. Is that blue sky??
We were still on.. 🙂 The sun was out and we met at Sumac Pointe, which is down the road from Newburgh Pointe, on Newburgh Lake. I had loaded up my boat earlier, before the rain came and was careful not to take a shower when I pulled it down off the back of my car. A short carry down a gravel hill and we were ready to launch.
I got to try out my muck boots for the first time! Here I am in ankle deep water putting my boat in.
And we were off. Note the dark clouds in the background.
We rounded the turn and it wasn’t getting any brighter!
Here is about where the skies opened up. It doesn’t appear to be raining too hard in this photo, but it was coming down. I had no rain gear with me, as I thought we were in the clear. My dear friend had a spare waterproof jacket and she also loaned me her emergency blanket to keep my legs dry.
She’s a trooper and was not deterred by the rain! We decided to paddle across the lake to what looked like some branches hanging over the lake to take cover for a while.
We parked under some branches for a while until the rain started to let up. The water was pooling on top of the emergency blanket and I had to keep carefully dumping it. Along with taking off my gloves and wringing them out.
Once it stopped, we paddled back out, though the skies still looked threatening. A family of swans swam by and we waited for them to pass.
By then it was getting dark, but I wanted to grab a quick pic of Newburgh Pointe with the lights reflecting on the water. No live music tonight!
We headed back, and loaded up in the dark. It was starting to rain again, and getting cold. Again, the warmth of my car felt amazing as I dried and warmed my wet, pickled hands in front of the heater vent. At least my feet stayed toasty warm in my new wool socks and rubber muck boots.
This was fun, but I hope our upcoming fall adventures are on the dry side!