Red Rock state park encompasses several thousand acres, a couple of dozen miles of trail, and wraps itself around Red Rock Lake, which was formed by a dam. L and I wanted to get out on the water again, and the lake looked perfect for it - lots of nooks and crannies to explore and calm waters. We got up late and didn't make it to the water until almost noon, but the day was cool and the sun was shining so we managed to get going fairly quickly after we awoke. We loaded up Tshhh and headed to the boat ramp. As we were putting in an elderly couple - Shirley and Don - came and set up shop on the beach for fishing. Man did they ever have some luck! In the space of about 5 minutes they brought in two HUGE catfish. Larisa took their pictures and we chatted for a bit. At 75 and 86 years old they seem to be a happy couple who come out to Red Rock not so much for the fishing as for each other's company and a day outdoors. Larisa's mouth was watering and we thought about getting a day fishing license, but in the end decided it wasn't worth the expense - especially given that the recommended method of cooking was to fry the fish and we had no oil for frying with us.
We got on the water and paddled along the lakeshore for a while, stopping after a bit to explore the shoreline, which is a rocky expanse of driftwood, sandstone, and not much litter given the amount of use the lake seems to get - Iowans appear to care about their waterways. We walked along the shore for a while and took a few pictures, collected a few rocks, and decided to head off again. That's when we noticed the wind had gone from a little breeze to what we discovered was 20-25 mph winds. We had started our day in a little cove and had paddled along it to the big water. The wind had shifted so that the air was fetching directly across the entire two miles of lake to our shore. There were COMBERS along our edge of the lake.
We decided that discretion was the better part of valor and began to walk back along the shore towards the cove with Tshhh in tow. I was in the deep water while Larisa kept the bow pointed into the waves. About 20 minutes into the walk the waves were 3 feet high and Tshhh was bobbing like a cork every time one washed under her. We probably could have make the trips in kayaks, but the canoe has far too much windage to make that a safe paddle, especially given that the bottom of the lake is nothing but rocks - no sand at all. The walk was only about a mile or so and we reached one of the protected areas. After a brief rest we considered going on, only to discover that the wind had picked up even more and had shifted so that it was going directly into the cove. The waves were only a foot or two, but the wind was very strong and was having its way with poor Tshhh.
We elected to hang out for a while, hoping the wind might shift again. We built a cairn of stones with a flagpole and white flag at the top and posed for a picture, then explored the woods for a while. The lake was obviously down by quite a bit (there is a drought in that part of Iowa) because we climbed a 20 foot slope to find a mass of driftwood and old trash - apparently the water spends more time at this level than at the level we were sitting. The wind dropped enough that we were able to cross the cove, round a corner, and cross another small cove - perhaps two thirds of the remaining distance to the canoe ramp. The wind had shifted again and gotten very strong, and there was no paddling into it, so we walked Tshhh back to the boat ramp and went back to camp. We ate hearty after our long canoe trip and longer walk back, and decided that we must love Tshhh – who else would take their canoe for a walk?
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий