07/19/2005 – Memories - Fowl River

Launch: Memories Fish Camp at the upper end of Fowl River, off Fowl River Road. Launch Cost: $3. Route: Southeast on Fowl River for about 45 minutes and back. Distance: 3.9 miles. Average Speed: 2.9 mph. Time: Approx. 1.5 hrs. Pace: Slow. Weather: Partly cloudy, warm and not too humid. Kayak: Pedal. (Got the parts in to fix the Hobie Kayak so I had to take it out today for a test pedal.)

(1) Above left: Normally a few geese will greet you at Memories Fish Camp on Fowl River. Today, some new ducks were nosing around and the one on the right looked like it was having a bad hair (feather) day. (2) Above right. At the end of today’s trip, the two white ducks were still there. They appeared to be enjoying the full moon.

(3) Above left. There were a few spider lilies in bloom and several nice sized native rhodendron bushes full of white blooms. Also saw some of the old buzzards flying in to roost. Today however, it was the clouds that mesmerized me. There were puffy clouds nearby and in the distance, the plowed field type clouds. To be looking down seeing these clouds and depths of reflections made it feel like I was flying rather than kayaking. (4) Above right. No boats today to ruin the reflections.

(5) Above left. There was a dazzling light show in the sky. The reflection of the sky on the water made it even better. (6) Above right. It was amazing to glide slowly along the water with clouds of fire beneath me (or so it looked). Just when you think you’ve seen some great sunsets, you experience one even better. My eyes and soul are sated again.

“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson