I was up in Montana for a couple of weeks in June/July. While there, David, Elizabeth, Tony, Sarah, and I rented some kayaks on Whitefish Lake. Elizabeth rented a single kayak and Tony and Sarah rented a tandem from the lodge on the lake. Those rentals were only for a couple of hours. David rented a paddleboard and I rented a single 'yak from the local Sportsman' House. We got ours for 24 hours, but had to tote them around ourselves. The lake was fairly uneventful. It was sunny, choppy, and fairly busy.
David perfected his moves on the board, Tony & Sarah struggled around the choppy lake, Elizabeth crisped in the sun, and I cruised over to the river.
The river was beautiful, but I wasn't there long due to the time constraints on the other rentals.
The next morning we took my 'yak and the paddleboard to the Whitefish river and played about near one of the bridges. We didn't do any exploring, but everyone had a blast.
We took turns on both of the vessels. My round on the paddleboard (along with everyone else's) led to the discovery of the truly frigid temp of the water, but it felt great! I finally tipped the kayak while getting in, something I had been destine to do since renting it. Those sit-in 'yaks are much tippier than my sit-on-top babies. Sarah and I convinced Granny to have a quick go in the 'yak. We were clever enough to know that the paddleboard was out of the question.
As we stood on the dock watching Granny, Sarah asked, "Does Granny know how to swim?" My response as we watched her maneuver the craft like a pro... "God, I hope so. I really don't want to have to jump in!" We needn't have worried, she survived, had fun, and we got some great photos!
Before leaving the river to return the boats, I (against my better judgement) followed Elizabeth and Tony's lead in jumpin off the bridge.
What good is a trip to Montana without a little bridge-jumping? I guess it's a tradition now...
After returning home, I made an evening trip back out to Bodcau Bayou with Megann Hayes.
Water levels were extremely low, but we went as far as we could down each channel. It really is a beautiful place.
I spotted this scaly guy on the bank and paddled over to take some glamor shots. (UPDATE (10/12/11): An astute reader pointed out something that I definitely should have noticed and paid attention to when I was getting so friendly with this little sucker. This is not your garden variety, docile water snake that I had expected to see--and thus assumed I was seeing--but rather your infamous, aggressive neighborhood cottonmouth! Oops! He was friendly enough though. I see no call for the negative rep, he's a chill fella!)
While I was distracted, Megann was distracted by something else on the bank a few feet upstream (or maybe downstream...hard to tell without a current). She said something about a jellyfish. I glanced up with a quizzical look, expecting to see a plastic bag or something of the sort. Just then, Megann pokes her paddle into a glob of fish eggs a couple of feet from her kayak and was answered by another large water snake streaking up the bank. We don't know if he was feasting on the eggs or just taking a nap. But, we do know that he scared the bejesus out of us!
A week ago I moved to Columbia, South Carolina for school. I'm in a decent size duplex in a neighborhood in which I am very much the cultural minority. I have met a couple of my neighbors, and they all seem nice, helpful, and all-round neighborly.
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| View of the house from the front. |
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| View from the back, the right side is mine. |
The best part is that I'm on a lake. I have a dock off my backyard that I share with Robert, the other duplex resident. Launching the boats is quick and easy. The lake is small, but beautiful. I've paddled every day since I arrived---5 or 6 outtings so far. My second trip out was on my first full day in town. Bethany, another girl starting the program, came by to help me unload a couple of things from the truck, and she went out on the lake with me. We had a good time.
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| Canada geese flying over the lake. |
There is a flock of Canada geese that has taken up residence on the lake and can often be seen hanging out on the shore, flying a few feet above my head, or poking about in my front yard.
There are a couple of Great Blue herons, a few green herons, and a neat little bluish-grey guy that I have yet to identify who are sharing the lake with me. Other than that, I've only seen one guy in a kayak a few nights ago.
I have taken to spending my mornings out on the dock working when the weather is nice, at least those mornings when I choose not to go into the office at the crack of dawn.I'm loving living on the lake. I've invited all of the other students starting the program out tomorrow evening, and the boats will get loads more attention with them here. I'm looking forward to exploring the other waterways of South Carolina, particularly the rivers, and I think there will be a few folks in this crop of students who will always be willing to join me (judging from Facebook reports of their activities).
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