waterlily paddling

for Angelee




Had a great paddle yesterday (thanks for the encouragement!), esp. as it was the first trip in almost a year. Paddled 1 1/2 hours downstream from the dam on the Crowe River. Saw:

 
small turtle
perched at the very tip
of a tree snag



This is a very deserted stretch of the river, as it's south of the dam, so inaccessible to Crowe Lake. No houses or cottages once I had gone the first few hundred yards. Even the solitary loon seemed lonely, and kept sharing his haunting call, while carefully watching my slow progress.

I picked the right time for the trip, as waterlilies are in full bloom:


so much enlightenment
rising from the muck
of sewage bay



(yep, the Marmora sewage plant empties into this stretch of The Crowe)

There is almost no draft on my tiny kayak - for much of the trip I was paddling near shore in just over a foot of water. On the edge of a large patch of lily pads:

 
BUMP!
basking muskie head
then swirling tail

(not exactly a Moby Dick encounter, but muskies are the northern freshwater equivalent of salt water barracudas, or perhaps the huge alligator gars of the Florida everglades)

After the encounter with the muskie, I noticed a brave little mother mink swimming across open water with a mouthful of vegetation. We parallel paddled for a few hundred yards, me praying the muskie wouldn't see her.

 
almost home
great blue heron soars
from the turtle's perch








                                       
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ayaz daryl nielsen has left a new comment on your post "waterlily paddling":

hmm, some envy. . . our last canoe trip was on the Missouri R. in Montana,
eagle swept down, snatched a fish about ten feet from where we were gliding along -
well, best to your day, Chris

Posted by ayaz daryl nielsen to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 31 July 2016 at 04:31