100 Miles – Days 22 & 23
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was bright and sunny, today (11/8/2011) was cold, with constant rain. While unloading my kayak I met with one of the only year-around residents of the park, (Who by-the-way, owns one of the local book stores.), as she was walking her dog. I’ve seen her out many times during this 100 mile paddle, but this was the first time she spoke to me.. “Seems you’re only out during windy and bad weather.” she said. I thought, “Where were you yesterday?”.
Devil’s Lake is stocked with trout, and right now they are spawning. This means they are hanging out right near the surface and pretty distracted. When passing by in my kayak I think I could almost just reach in and grab one. One of the fisherman I run into many mornings on the lake, chose today to leave his waders at home & noticed that the trout stayed just out of reach. Oh well, maybe he should try kayaking too! On the other hand, the local bald eagle had an easy meal. I watched him swoop down and lift a big one right out of the water! I actually have a bit of video for you at the bottom of this post.
Devil’s lake is a great place to be in the summer for sure, but I have to admit, I do like the cool rainy season most. Right now I practically have the lake to myself. It seems like the park’s many critters are much less shy this time of year as well. I have almost daily close encounters with a variety of animals and birds who share the lake. Once the snow begins flying, even they will be few and far between.
If you look at the picture above, you can see the white head of the eagle standing out against the bare tree. Over time, the eagles have become less and less concerned with my kayak. They let me get up pretty close now. My little waterproof camera can’t possibly get close enough to offer those fantastic “National Geographic” type shots. Taking a bigger camera out on the water is a big risk that I just haven’t been willing to take yet. Still, sometimes you have to just put the camera down and enjoy the experience.
Below is about a minutes worth of raw video I shot of the eagle enjoying his breakfast this morning. With the wind, waves and rain, it was a pretty daunting task to hold the camera steady!
31 miles to go. 11 days on the water until I complete my goal. It might snow tomorrow…