A Season’s First Paddle

A season’s first paddle elicits mixed emotions. I am excited about getting back out on the water as I look forward to breathing in fresh air, feeling spray against my face, seeing various water birds, and hearing waves lap against the hull. I am also apprehensive. I wonder if I will be able to find all my gear after it being stored for the winter. If I find it, will it be in good condition? How many cobwebs, spiders, and rodent nests will I need to clean out from inside my kayak when I take it down from storage? Will my forward stroke be as strong as it was last fall?

The first paddle of the season also means trying out new gear obtained over the winter. Last fall I purchased a NRS cVest PFD to replace my old original PFD but did not wear it before I put my boat and gear away for the season. I also recently acquired a new NRS H2Core Silkweight long-sleeve shirt that I was looking forward to reviewing after wearing it for a few paddles.

Fortunately, there were no live animals or nests inside my Dagger Zydeco 9.0  when I took it down, just some old dried leaves, a couple dead stink bugs, and a little water, sand and gravel indicating that I had not done a very good job cleaning out my boat when I last hung it up. I easily loaded it on top the car, strapped it down, and headed to one of my nearest go to paddling locations.

258 acre Cross Creek Lake offers three put in locations, the nearest less than eleven miles from home. Under a partly sunny sky and a temperature around fifty, I pulled into the unloading area near the docks and ramp, but the docks were not yet in the water. The low level docks that usually float near the ramp had not yet been installed after being taken out for the winter. They were still sitting along the edge of the parking area.

As I started to take my boat off its racks, I was also surprised how windy it was. I had not noticed any wind back home when I loaded my boat on top of the car.  Now it was blowing hard enough that I had to make sure it did not catch my kayak as I lowered it down. As I carried my boat toward the lake, I saw that the wind was whipping up some large ripples, large enough, I later learned, to splash across my deck even though they were not cresting.

I managed to remain dry when entering the cockpit by slipping down into it from a concrete dock abutment that reached out into the lake. With the wind at my back, I paddled the most direct course I could toward another dock area at the eastern end of the lake. Along the way I passed at least a dozen small boats, each with one or two anglers fishing.

Thirty minutes later, as I neared the eastern end of the lake, I saw what I expected. The low-level kayaking dock had not yet been put into the water. Rather than getting out of my boat to stretch, I stayed in the cockpit, resting for a few minutes and drinking a few swigs from my water bottle, before heading back across the lake.

As soon as I turned around, I felt the wind blowing almost directly onto my face. Rather than paddling a beeline through the middle of the lake and directly into the headwind, I paddled toward shore in search of a wind break, but found none. Not wanting to be pushed backward, I kept paddling at a steady pace, focusing more than usual on making sure each stroke was efficient and hopping my return to the car was not too taxing.

Forty-five minutes after turning around, I was back to where I started. My hands and feet were a little cold but my core was warm. I quickly took my kayak out of the water, carried it up to the car, placed it on its cradles, and strapped it down.  Then I stowed my gear and was headed back home.

As I drove country roads across rolling hills, I thought about how satisfied I was with my new PFD and new paddling shirt. Upon reflection, my forward stroke felt pretty good, especially when I was paddling into the wind. All in all, it was a good, if short, season’s first paddle. I felt both tired and refreshed, a bit challenged but also invigorated, and I was already looking forward to my next paddle.

Hiking, Cycling, and Kayaking Near Wellsburg, WV

I never thought of my home town of Wellsburg, WV as an outdoor playground because it is not, but that seems to be changing. While growing up in Wellsburg I would play and hike in woods near my home, ride my bike around town, and occasionally fish and swim in nearby Buffalo Creek. Over three days, however, I recently enjoyed day hiking, cycling, and kayaking, all about twenty five miles or less from town.

The Appaloosa Trail
At Raccoon Creek State Park

Last Wednesday I hiked a five and a half mile loop at Raccoon Creek State Park, PA, about twenty five miles from home. The temperature was a little warm for early October and the leaves had not yet started to turn. Since it was a week day, I saw only two other people, two teenage boys, while I was out on the trail. Other than the occasional low flying jet on its approach or departure from Pittsburgh International Airport, reminding me how close I was to civilization, I could have imagined that I was in a remote wilderness.

I did not know about Raccoon Creek State Park while I was growing up. In fact, I never heard of it until I moved back to the area about three years ago. I have since hiked about every mile of the forty-four miles of trail in the park. In addition to regularly day hiking there I have also kayaked on its 101 acre lake.

The Brooke Pioneer Trail
Near its Northern Terminus

The next day I cycled twenty miles on the nearby Brooke Pioneer Trail and Wheeling Heritage Trail. Parking at Smith Oil just south of Wellsburg, I rode south on the Brooke Pioneer Trail, a paved rail trail. At the southern end of the wooden trail bridge over Short Creek and the Brooke County and Ohio County line, the trail becomes the Wheeling Heritage Trail. I have cycled this trail all the way to the southern end of Wheeling, but this day rode just past the Pike Island Lock and Dam before turning around and riding back to the car.

I did not ride the Brooke Pioneer Trail when I was young because it did not exist. What is now a paved rail trail was, back then, an active rail road. The Brooke Pioneer Trail started being developed about twenty years ago. While the trail surface is completely paved, amenities along the trail, like shelters and outhouses, are still being developed. This superb rail trail, offering beautiful views of the Ohio River, is also filled with local history and lore. I hope that Wellsburg business will learn to be more cyclists friendly and better promote themselves to people using the trail. Once a trail connection is made from Wellsburg to the western terminus of The Panhandle Trail in Weirton, a cyclist could ride from Wellsburg to both Pittsburgh and Washington, DC and points in between. That also means that cyclists from Pittsburgh and Washington could also ride to and through Wellsburg.

Cross Creek Lake, Washington County, PA

After hiking on Wednesday and cycling on Thursday, I took one of my kayaks to Cross Creek Park in Washington County, PA and kayaked on the parks 258 acre lake.  I could have kayaked on the nearby Ohio River but I prefer not to paddle against a current and dodge river barges. With a picnic area, playground, toilet facilities, and launch site with docks and a ramp less than eleven miles from Wellsburg, Cross Creek Lake is the closest flatwater kayaking I have available to me.  It is near enough that I am willing to drive there to paddle for just an hour or so, but the lake is also large enough that I could easily paddle for three or four hours  if I wanted to.

I could not have kayaked at Cross Creek Park when I was growing up because, like the Brooke Pioneer Trail, it did not exist back then. It opened in 1984 and is still being developed, the access area nearest to Wellsburg opening only in the past year or two. I hope that eventually a few more miles of hiking trails and even cycling trails will be developed there so that I can enjoy all three of my favorite outdoor activities in one location.

Back to Cross Creek: Kayaking

I returned to Cross Creek Lake County Park yesterday for the first time since I served as a lost hiker for a mock search and rescue.  This time I went to the park to go kayaking.

Cross Creek Lake is a 258 acre Big Bass and a Panfish Enhancement Lake located in western Washington County, PA.  Horsepower is limited to 10 HP or less but that did not matter much yesterday afternoon because I saw only three small fishing boats during the hour and a half I was on the lake.  I almost felt like I had the lake to myself.

I put in at Lynn Portal Road Boat Launch primarily because it is the closet to where I am living, but unlike the County Park Road Boat Launch it also offers a low floating dock great for getting in and out of a kayak.  Since it is located in a shallow no-wake zone, entry into and exit from kayaks is easier.  There is a concrete handicapped parking pad next to the dock that makes it convenient to unload and load.  The main graveled parking lot is just a few yards above the dock, an easy walk.  A new restroom facility with one side dedicated to men and other to women sits at the end of the parking lot.  One or two picnic tables are nearby.  There was only one other car in the parking lot when I was there probably belonging to a couple fishing from the bank nearby.

With the sun shining brightly on the warm and humid afternoon I occasionally splashed my face and bare arms with water to cool down and made sure I stayed hydrated.  My paddle occasionally became tangled in weeds when paddling through shallow areas near shore but they were easily removed.

While paddling I saw fish in the clear water and a few jumping in the distance.  Several water birds rested on trees or bushes near shore until I approached and then they flew away.  Once, when paddling about fifteen yards from shore I saw some bushes move.  On closer inspection I saw a mother raccoon and three or four baby raccoons drinking from the lake.

While I did not explore every cove and inlet I did paddle from one end of the lake to the other, from the Lynn Portal Road Boat Launch to the breastworks at the opposite end of the lake and also an area where large earth moving equipment was excavating, perhaps developing a new use area.  During the hour and a half I was on the water I paddled 5.5 miles according to my GPS.

My paddle at Cross Creek Lake County Park was only my third paddle this season and the first time ever to paddle my Necky Chatham 17 on fresh water.  While I missed the expanse of Jamaica Bay, my former paddling location, I did not miss the Bay’s power boat traffic or occasional garbage.  Cross Creek Lake, in comparison, was almost pristine and secluded.

LOST

            It’s only a little after nine in the morning, and I am already lost. I am lost in thick woods that I have never been in before. I’m not going to panic however, even though I have never before been lost. I pull a four foot by six foot waterproof green nylon tarp out of my day pack and spread it on the damp ground.  Fortunately I also have a closed cell sleeping pad strapped to the bottom of my Kelty pack.  I unstrap it and unroll it flat on top of the tarp.  I have water and food and am now ready to stay where I am until found, so I sit down on the pad and tarp to wait.

One of my rescuers approaches

            Not long after I am down I realize that the mosquitoes are ferocious and that I forgot my insect repellent at home.  I pull a mosquito net head covering from my pack and put it on over my head. I drag the sleeping pad off the tarp, lay the pad back on the bare ground, and drape the tarp over my body to keep the dozens of mosquitoes from biting me.  I am beginning to wish I had worn longs pants and a long sleeve shirt rather than the t-shirt and hiking shorts I am wearing.

            An hour has now passed, and I crawl out from underneath the tarp, locate my water bottle, and take a long drink as hundreds of mosquitoes swarm upon my bare legs and arms in search of blood.  Crawling back under the tarp I wonder how long I can keep this up.  The mosquitos and I repeat this dance on what seems like an hourly schedule.

            It is now three hours since I became lost, and I am starting to feel a little hungry. After all, I have not eaten in over four and half hours.  I locate the Cliff Bar in my pack, unwrap it, and discover it is peanut butter, (yum), one of my favorite flavors.  As I devour it, I wonder if mosquitoes have a sense of taste and what the thousands of them nearby think about the flavor of my blood. I am also beginning to wonder if I will ever be found by anything other than these ferocious vampires of the woods that hover above the netting covering my face .  I have not heard a barking dog or a human voice all morning; although if I allow my imagination to run wild, the mosquitoes buzzing near my ears sound like distant human voices.

At Base Camp

            Eventually, after nearly five long hours, I start hearing what I think are real human voices rather than the whine, hum and buzz of the mosquitoes, but I do not hear any dogs barking.  The voices seem to be getting closer. I hear twigs snapping and branches breaking and then footfalls.  Now I see my rescuers walking through the dense foilage. Thank heavens I am found.  My three rescuers tell me that they have been searching for me over two and half hours but that they had a large search area to cover.  I later learn that the dogs had been recalled because it was too hot for them to follow a scent.

           Back at base camp, the organizers of the event, members of the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Group, thank me for being “lost” for their mock Search and Rescue.  They apologize that I was in the mosquito infested woods for nearly six hours, and that sometimes victims are found in less than an hour, and sometimes it takes a lot longer. As I drive away, I wonder who the mosquitoes are feeding on now.