Kayaking quiet bays

It is a cool, bright sunny morning with only a light breeze, perfect for kayaking.  We don jackets and lifejackets and head out.  We glide past gull rock and into BrownsBay.  The water is crystal clear and we can see everything along the bottom of the lake…lots of minnows but no big fish.  We explore back into farthest reaches of the bay.  It is odd to glide across fallen timber and rocks just inches below the surface.  It is wonderfully quiet.

 

The next bay is home to a family of Golden eye ducks, a Merganser mama and her little ones, mallard families, and one other so far un-named mama duck who blasts out of a reedy island right beside Kent.  His heart is racing a tad.  The mama duck isn’t too thrilled either.  She moves about 20 feet but is anxiously circling and clucking obviously fretting over her nest that we have just encroached on.  We paddle until we encounter a wall of reeds.  Time to turn back.

A few minutes basking in the warm sun then it’s back to camp.  What a great morning.  Note to self, take a break every hour or so when paddling.  It is a lot easier on the legs and hips that way.

A cracked windshield, rats

Looks like the gravel road left a mark.  The crack is about 5” long close to the driver’s side edge of the windshield.  Hopefully it will not get any worse.  Repair will have to wait until we get back into more developed areas….early September.

More rain

We are getting out on the lake a few hours most days but it is chilly and damp with rain showers every night and scattered through the day.  I am ready for some sunshine!  Still, I am getting loon and eagle watching time and there are a number of duck families to watch dabble, dive and quietly cluck.

Disappointment at Patricia’s

Ok, today we head into Sultan to get minnows.  Signs all over camp declare that Patricia’s Bait Shop is open at 9AM every day.  Not at 9AM today.  Not even at 10AM.  There are no hours posted on the store.  Sultan is a skeleton of a town with no other businesses.  Back to camp with no minnows today.  Now what do we use to catch walleye?

Loon parenting

This is the first time I have seen Loons with their young.  The little ones look nothing like the vividly marked black and white adults.  The babies are fluffy red-brown balls of feathers.  These are so young that they don’t even dive yet.  They are just bobbing along side Mom (I assume but male and female adults look alike) in a quiet bay.  Dad shows up with a bit of yodeling then he dives.  He resurfaces with a nice size minnow in his bill and brings it over to the “family”.  This happens half a dozen times as we watch then he just hangs around with the little ones safely cradled between the two adults.  It was very cool to watch.

First evening

A red fox trotted right through camp.  The loons are yodeling.  Mother Mallards and Golden Eye ducks are softly clucking at their broods as they catch an evening snack and search for a safe place to overnight.

Mosquitoes are plentiful.  It is going to take lots of repellant or long sleeves and pants in the evenings.  Still, it is a beautiful place.