When we go out to paddle, we are hoping for a quiet outing.    Some lakes are noisy spots.     The more homes on a lake, the more likely we will encounter noise, particularly power machinery.    Some of the noise comes with power boats.    Some comes with loud people, unnecessarily.     One of the spots we are cautious of is Paul Lake.     Because the lake is surrounded by steep slopes, the acoustics amplify noise across across the lake.     The best way to avoid the noise pollution problem is to go early in the morning, or a weekday morning, or off season.    We usually paddle the lake three times each year so we purposely plan for the best times.  On a sunny morning with no wind, I launched my boat early and paddled the east end of the lake, a 5 km route.

By a beaver lodge there was a bear and an eagle on watch.    There may have been beaver kits in the lodge.   I have spotted a beaver swimming in the lake in past years.   At the east end of the lake, there were western painted turtles sunning on wet logs.     Loons were diving and there were ducks all over.     Blackbirds and marsh wrens were heard and seen in shallow, marshy bays.

There was one fishermen with a wharf boat who thought he should bring a music device and play his music while fishing.     I could hear it right across the lake.    When we left he turned on his noisy engine and slowly crossed the lake, filling the whole valley with jarring decibels of pollution.   Most of the paddle along the south shore was quiet, with only the calls of birds.

A few more boats were arriving as I paddled back across the lake.    I was done before the din.

I will return for one more paddle of Paul Lake, probably in the fall when quiet is restored to this potentially-tranquil spot.