Lake Time

 

          Lake Jocassee doing summertime, ninety-five degrees in the sunshine with a little slight breeze swimming across the clear blue water. A grand day for paddling! We, W and I backed down the boat ramp about 10:30 am and almost backed right onto a kayak resting and waiting to be set afloat. The pilot of said kayak was not a happy person when he saw how close I had come to his personal watercraft. No blows were exchanged and we parted on civil terms. Later during our canoeing adventure we crossed paths and he apologized if he came across as being angry and rude. So we were all good and I can sleep easy tonight. I have never seen as many kayaks, SUP"s, and canoes on this lake as we saw today. There was even a group of those SUP's with motors on them and the board was a couple of feet above the water. They moved fast and looked like a lot of fun. The water level was a foot below full pond, which means that there is very little beach area. If the water level is five feet low or lower it is much easier to pull up on the sandy shore and get out to stretch. 

We paddled along the shore line when we left the remote boat ramp. Our general direction was toward Fishers Knob, but it was not our goal. We were just an old man and a young boy enjoying us some lake time. Staying close to the waters edge took us in and out of the numerous coves. We sought out the overhanging limbs and shady areas which allowed us to find relief from the hot sun. After an hour our butts were tired and cracked and stiff from sitting with bended knee and steady placing the paddle in the water. Former small available sandy locales were all under water. My not so nimble body needs a close lake bottom to step onto when exiting the canoe. We finally found a bushy place at the back of a cove and we could steady the bow enough for W to hop out and stabilize the canoe for me to struggle out and stand in the water. I'd been sitting over an hour and I was stiff. The cove bottom was sloped enough for us to walk to deeper water and splash and duck under the water to cool off. Not being very hungry we ate snack stuff and took our lunch back home with us. 

Our return paddle was as close to a bee line as we could get and therefore much faster. When we landed at the boat ramp a person said, "You just beat the storm". I had no idea what he was talking about until I turned around, the sky was black behind us and slowly moving toward us, we quickly loaded the truck and got off the ramp, freeing it up for others. We left the Park and didn't get rained on till we were cruising down the highway. Drove into three different heavy showers. No trouble driving home, no problem backing down the driveway and no difficulties unloading the canoe and gear. 

Lazy on the Lake

Turtle