Crow Lake, Ontario

Taking advantage of a few warm days before the arrival of the mega-storm Sandy coming in off the Atlantic last week, I went paddling in Ontario for a few days. The trip out on Crow Lake was interesting as the winds were beginning to be felt although the clouds and their rain still held back for another day.

I launched at the east end of the lake and headed out into the waves. I actually enjoy paddling to windward and so tried to adjust my strokes to the wave interval to take advantage of whatever down-slope they could offer. In fact, there wasn't much this time around as the waves were newly formed and not really large enough for me to gain much advantage. It takes more fetch and sustained winds that the lake offered.

I landed on a small island about half way down the lake knowing that there was a geocache hidden on it somewhere. I didn't have its coordinates, but knew it was located near a "circle of stones, not far from a picnic table". That was all I needed to get me going on a search. It didn't take long before the picnic table and the circle of stones was found and then a short search revealed the hidden container with it's log book and the selection of trinkets common to many geocaches. There was nothing in it to write with and I didn't have a pen with me, so I took some photos instead, one of them seen above. The cache owner will know I was there.

I decided rather than continue to the end of the lake, it was time to head back, so I circled the island and let the wind blow me back to the car. By this time there were streams of wind-drift bubbles to follow and small waves to try surfing on. A gaggle of Black Scoters calmly swam out of my way. I guess they also like a windy day on the water. They are not common where I live so it was a treat to see them.

The landing beach appeared in no time and I was soon in the car heading home from another fun few hours on the water.