Near the end of the paddling season, the bays were freezing over and snow and frost covered the vegetation on the shoreline. I wore ski gloves to paddle and kept the outing under an hour.
Winds were cold. The end of the season had arrived. I broke ice on one of the bays:
At this point the first day of kayaking in 2023 was March 13 and the last day was November 12th. Three months to the first spring paddle in 2024…
On a grey, cool, windy, and rainy morning I headed out for my 73rd day of paddling in 2021. I launched at Edith Lake and paddled around the shoreline of the lake for 2 loops.
Even the ducks were sheltering in the cool and wet conditions, but with a spray skirt, gloves, and a waterproof paddling jacket I kept up a steady pace for 75 minutes.
The winds picked up and the temperature dropped, a good motivation for steady paddling along the lakeshore.
Although Edith is a popular fishing lake, there was only one boat on the water when I started and none when I left.
After a summer of paddling in warm conditions, it’s time to break out the cool weather gear until the end of the paddling season.
I have paddled most of the local lakes, but there are a couple I still want to do, including Red Lake, Saul Lake, Hyas Lake, and some others, all by the end of the season.