Last Tuesday we were graced with temps in the mid 70s and I couldn’t wait any longer! I loaded up my boat on my lunch hour, and off I went once I wrapped up the workday. I drove out to Newburgh Lake, a small, local body of water and paddled for a few hours.
It was mild, but WINDY! There were several other kayaks on the lake when I launched, and the lot was almost full. I was planning to paddle near the Lakepoint Yacht Club, a bar and grill on the far side of the lake. I had chatted with a fellow paddler in a Facebook group who had mentioned her father owns the bar, and she said we’d be welcome to pull our boats up on shore and come in for a bite. I wanted to get a closer look to see if the shoreline was sandy, silty, rocky…?? It had been a while since I paddled close. I do remember LOTS of Canadian geese on the grounds.
So I first made my way across the lake and decided to hug the shoreline to block the wind. Something white caught my eye and I paddled closer, thinking, a huge spiderweb or netting of sorts. Nope. Snow! 74 and sunny and here is the last snow I’ll see for the season.
Paddling along the shoreline is where you’ll find the most trash that washes up, whether it floats down from the middle rouge river, comes from the recreational area I launched from, or from the bike trails that line this section of the lake. I had my net and always bring bags, so I started to fill the bag with cans, bottles and stray pieces of styrofoam. Trash Fishing Opening Day!
I came upon a section I had never noticed before. Here is a clearing of sorts, a valley between two of the hills throughout the trails that mountain bikers frequent. When I took these pics I had just missed two hikers walking along that large fallen log in the below pic. It was here that I would find the most unusual item in my trash hunting – a plastic tray from a fast food restaurant.
Message in a bottle? Nope. This one used to contain Baileys. Sigh. Into the bag with the rest of them.
I got out after a while to check out the trails (I hadn’t been on these trails since elementary school!) and I was happy to see it rather sandy where I got out. And I was able to reach more trash than from my boat, including a shoe that was so embedded in the mud I gave up.
I look forward to exploring these trails! They were quite visible this time of year without leaves on the trees. You could clearly see bikes zooming by, people walking, I even surprised a group of kids at one point as they were walking by and did not expect to look down and see a kayaker in the water. They, in succession, all said Hi and Bye as they walked past. I was cracking up.
Though vacant today, I picture this tree with multiple turtles sunning themselves on a hot summer day.
A swan even joined me for a while.
Well, it didn’t take long to fill up a kitchen garbage bag with trash, and I’d only paddled a fraction of the shoreline. From what I saw on the rest of my trip, I could have easily filled two. There is always crap to pull out of this lake, but I expected it to be worse being early in the season.
I continued on to my destination and passed on of my favorite stops, this sandy hill. I found a few rope swings there in the past, but didn’t see them this time.
When I got closer, I saw someone had painted SMILE and a happy face on the fallen log. At least it was a positive message.
To my right I caught a glimpse of light blue and saw someone had strung a hammock between two trees. Great idea! I have a nylon hammock and should throw it in my dry bag for longer day trips.
So I made it to the Yacht Club, and didn’t take a pic! Ugh. I’ll include one on my next adventure. The shoreline looked pretty sandy, with a small step up onto the grass, nothing you couldn’t drag your boat up and over. But. Geese. Lots and lots of geese. Not sure I’ll ever be able to pull this off. Not only are they not terribly friendly, I can imagine my boat being overrun with geese while I’m up on the deck enjoying my burger and then returning to a boat covered in goose crap. Sigh.
I turned back and paddled into the wind for a good bit. The sun was setting as I reached the launch and the dark clouds were a contrast against the sun shining on the trees, with my car in the background.
It was great to be back out on the water and it was an accomplished opening day!
What a beautiful day it was! Yes I agree not to leave your kayak to the geese! 😂