Darren's Kayak Chronicles

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On Tuesday morning, I awoke rather suddenly, to a very loud crow which squawked, almost psychotically, from a high tree limb right above the tent. After a few periods of squawking, it then moved to another limb farther from the tent and squawked some more. After some more periods of squawking it then moved to another limb, even farther away. As the crow moved farther and farther away, the squawking got fainter and fainter. This bird was not missing any coverage of the entire island with its call. I was relieved when it finally sounded like it was on the other side of the island and I could barely hear it. When I rolled over and tried to get a little more sleep, in some seemingly strange twist of humor, it apparently made its way back to the limb above my tent and started squawking all over again. This time, as the crow began to squawk, a frog chimed in and began croaking loudly. Literally, within a few seconds, two ducks then started quacking. At 7 am, I couldn't help to just laugh at this symphony of wildlife playing outside my tent. It was like nothing I've ever heard. It was like some sick, twisted version of Mother Nature's alarm clock, signaling me to wake up.

The sky was overcast and some light rain fell on and off through the morning. When the rain stopped, a few of us paddled back over to Bolton Landing and had lunch back on Main Street at Fredericks Restaurant & Lounge. After lunch Tom and I paddled back, this time taking a southerly course, and rounding Green Island to get a good look at the Sagamore Hotel from the water.

We encountered some very light rain and when the thunder roared nearby, I started paddling faster. Some lightning was striking over the mountain range and we could see storms in the distance to our north. It looked like the storms were beyond our island campsite in the distance and it looked like the moving storm was going to miss us, so we just kept paddling towards our island. Eventually it cleared up as we landed back at our campsite and the storms could still be seen in the distance to the east over the Black Mountain.

The rest of the day was spent gathering firewood and swimming. I even snuck a short nap before eating dinner. After dinner, the sky had fully cleared and as the sun set, it cast a beautiful hue on the mountains. While the others were content on starting the nightly campfire ritual, Anthony, Kathleen and I decided to enjoy the rest of the evening with a night paddle. At about 9 pm, after donning our kayak lights and headlamps, we launched into Lake George under a beautifully clear sky. We began a northward course, traversing around a few of the state owned islands and slowly crossing the open waters of the lake to approach the eastern shore of the lake. While paddling the open water, and before it got fully dark out, we could see only the north star, but as the last remnants of sunlight faded from the sky behind the mountains, the stars began to light up gradually like a planetarium. With each stroke of our paddle, the sky got darker and as it got darker, more stars were revealed. As we made our way to the opposite shore, we enjoyed this amazing, clear sky, filled with a seemingly endless amount of stars. Very little ambient light along the shore of the lake and a very clear Summer night sky provided conditions for a spectacular view above. As we continued to paddle, some bats flew into the beam of our headlamps. There were very few boats and the lake was still and quiet.

It was a most peaceful night and one made only more perfect paddling! When we finally approached the shoreline, we explored the forested, rocky banks and saw more bats in a addition to some fireflies which periodically lit up in the forest ahead. In addition, we also viewed some beautiful, rustic old Lake homes, many of which were lit up in such a way that they could be featured on the cover of Architectural Digest magazine. We took our time as we paddled along the coast, enjoying every moment of the fellowship, the peacefulness, the paddling, and the beautiful scenery on the shoreline and in the sky above. At about 10:30 we rounded 14 Mile Island and began our open water crossing back to our island campsite. As we paddled the open water, we observed a number of shooting stars in the sky in front of us. Mother Nature's Fireworks. I used the GPS waypoint for our campsite to help determine which of the few flashing red navigational lights in the distance was from our campsite. Maureen's voice soon came over the VHF and she asked if we were ok, since she hadn't heard anything from us. When I assured her we were just fine, I told her to go to the cove of our campsite and look to the south. From there, she was able to see our lights getting closer to the island. Tom shined a very bright headlamp from our cove. With Tom's headlamp as a beacon, we could clearly see the cove at our campsite, even though it was more than a mile away. We landed a little before 11 pm after close to 4 miles of paddling.

On Wednesday, our last day on the island, we awoke to a such a beautiful day that we did not want to leave. After breakfast, I fed a few mallards and their babies with pieces of a bagel. One of the ducks ate from my hand and as I talked to it, Dene called me the Duck whisperer. As it got later in the morning, I took one last swim in the lake near my tent. As I was standing in the crystal clear water, a large fish swam over near my leg and just hovered in the water near my leg. I stood still in the water and it moved a little closer. When I moved my leg a little it backed up but did not swim away. Interestingly, this was the same fish that visited Tom the previous day when he was swimming. I could tell it was the same fish because it had a small white flap of skin hanging from its mouth. Although there was no hook in it, it looked like a hook may have been removed from its mouth at one time. After splashing around a bit and swimming a bit farther offshore, the fish swam away. After my swim, as I was getting ready to get out of the water, the fish returned near my leg. I hung out a bit longer and just watched the fish hovering around my leg. I wondered if maybe he wanted to take a bite. I bid farewell to the fish and Tom and I started packing up the tent and hauling gear down to the kayaks.

A number of snafus soon ensued. As I was getting ready to enter my boat down at the cove, I slipped on a mossy rock. Luckily, I was holding my paddle and I instinctively used it to to break my fall. I heard something crack and I was just glad it wasn't my head or my neck. After I recovered from the shock of almost breaking my neck, I examined my paddle. Examination of the paddle shaft revealed a crack at in the midsection where the adjustment pins are. It was still usable however it was going to have to be replaced since a little more pressure was certainly going to cause its demise. We finally launched at about 11:45 am and took a slow paddle back to the Lake George Kayak Company boathouse at Green Island. At 12:45 pm, after about 2.7 miles of paddling we landed at the boathouse. Although I have exited my kayak from docks in the past, I had some difficulty getting out of my boat again at this particular dock. I couldn't use my broken paddle to help stabilize me, and I ended up getting my knee stuck in an awkward position in the cockpit of my kayak while trying to exit. After trying to dislodge my knee and stabilize my boat at the same time, my boat leaned over to the side and I was half out of my kayak with part of my back in the water. Tom came over to assist and then I accidentally began to destabilize him as I tried to dislodge myself. I was sure the guys working in the boathouse were getting a big kick out of this whole scene. After I was sure I needed some more assistance from land, I let out a yell to Maureen who was already on the dock.

She quickly came down and assisted from land as Tom tried hard to stabilized my boat from the water alongside me. As I tried to lift myself out of my boat and onto the dock, I almost landed in the water and Tom's boat ended up getting swamped with water in the assist. It must have been a hilarious sight if anyone was watching but I was glad there are no pictures of this. Maureen finally grabbed my PFD and with a few effortful heaves, finally was able to hurl me onto the dock. Ugh. What a way to end the week! On the last day of paddling at Lake George I made my second dramatic exit from this dock.

While the rest of the group decided to head back to NJ after packing up, Tom, Amy, Maureen and I walked into Bolton Landing and had lunch at the Lakeside Lodge and Grill. After lunch, Tom and I went down the road in search of a motel room for our last night at Lake George. We finally settled into a room at the Huddle Bay Motel & Cottages. Upon our arrival, the owners, Ed and Anita, greeted us and were very hospitable. We spent the rest of the day lounging, poolside at the motel and since we were the only guests, we had the entire pool to ourselves. Later that night, we took a drive into Lake George Village. There were many shops, restaurants and attractions in this area and the street was crowded with people. We at dinner outside on the porch of an Italian Cafe and then walked around for a little while before heading back to the motel for a good night sleep. On Thursday, after checkout, we had breakfast at the Country Diner in Bolton Landing before starting our drive back to the Jersey Shore.

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MORE LAKE GEORGE 2008 TRIP REPORTS
Paddling to the Island	Circumnavigating Dome Island	Hiking Black Mountain