New Year, New Resolve

As the sun sets on another beautiful evening on Lake Pelican, yet another blog post goes by the wayside.

Today's post is dedicated to Lake Pelican, located just south of Watertown South Dakota.
Lake Pelican Google Map

Lake Pelican was created when a huge ice cube broke away from the last glacier and was covered by sand and silt. The lake measures approximately five miles long, a mile wide and has a max depth of about 7 feet. Pelican is situated East Northeast and has good access points in many places. The best and easiest access sites are two State Parks on the south west end and the Skinny Krull access on the Northeast end and yet there are undeveloped access points at most section lines.

Due to the prevailing winds, water depth, and how the lake is orientated the waves seldom top 24 inches and is easy to paddle. I have seen beaver, pelicans, and various shore birds on my many trips along the lake.

January

Not a lot of paddling going on this month. The water is a bit hard to get through. just thought i would mention that the South Dakota Canoe and Kayak Assoc. annual meeting is Feb 1st at the outdoor campus in Sioux Falls. https://www.facebook.com/groups/15793060604/

Also I am hosting a "Build a Boat" class through Lake Area Technical Institute on March 11th, more news on that as it gets closer. http://www.lakeareatech.edu/cu/index.html

TTFN

Catching up

Took out the wood kayak last night (no leaks). What a beautiful night to work out some frustrations and sore muscles. Just a light north east breeze, just enough to keep the sweat down but not enough to keep the mosquitoes off. The tunes I downloaded from ocean lab really match the paddle rhythm and the water just cruses by. I only had time for a couple of miles but finished feeling refreshed and comfortably tired.

Spring Time

Yes I think it is finally here. The river is running and the ice is starting to disappear  Only 24 days until the South Dakota Kayak Challenge.
Not a lot of runoff from the Big Sioux Basin so if you want to run the river, it should be soon.

Paddle Pictures

Lake Pelican

The weather was too nice last evening and I had to put the kayak in for an hour's cruse. We wont get many more days like this before the water gets hard.

happy paddling!

Not where I should be

Its been really tough today to stay on task. I watched a mock documentary called "Troll Hunters" this weekend, it was a fun movie based in Norway. Which brings my wandering thoughts to what it would be like to paddle the fjords and waterways of that country. What would we see, smell, hear and feel. Would I like to try my hand at fishing? Or just soaking up the solitude of mirrored water reflecting mountains and sky. I should be working diligently towards my project goals, but the weatherman is promising snow for tonight. The first accumulation of the season, will it be a genital snow? Or will the northwest wind drive it into the shorelines and push the heavy waves up on the beach? If given the chance I would like to be out on the water while it snows. On a windless night, with gently falling snow, the air crisp yet fuzzy with big flakes that stick to your eyelashes yet melt softly when touched by something warm.

Night Paddle

Last night about 8pm, I put in on the west end of Lake Pelican after a couple of warm-up stretches. The lake was completely flat and not even the hint of a breeze as I pulled away from the shore, sighting on the north ramp about a mile away. As I worked through the initial soreness of my arms and shoulders, the kayak knifed through the surface waters, effortlessly sliding through with barely a paddle stroke needed to push. Daylight continued to fade so I hooked up my nav light and switched it on, its pale glow not interfering with the stillness of the evening. Dark purple chased the pastel blues across the lake as a half full moon lighted my passage. Making my turn and crossing to the south shore, dodging mats of weeds, hitting my groove and listening to my favorite paddle tunes playing softly on the mp3 player.

The crossing complete and now on the homeward leg of the night’s journey, full dark has descended. I take my bearing from a known yard light and carefully count the warm glow of light twinkling from the windows of the neighbor hood houses. I get too close to a small family of Canadian geese who protest the intrusion loudly taking off in search of a more secluded area. The silence of the lake enhances my sense of solitude, my world shrinking to nothing more than the rhythm of the paddle.

I beach my kayak at the takeout surprised that I am done so soon but with the great feeling of peace that only quiet reflection and meditation can provide. I make a few stretches to work the kinks out and try to focus on the moment to carry the feeling through the rest of the week.....