As always, another great Tuesday Outing with the Tuesday Group. Margaret and I were going to beat Bill and John to the Hardies’ for breakfast but they were already there when we pulled into the parking lot at 7:40. We four had a good meal and then headed to the put-in at the Boat Ramp there on Old Hwy. 17. Christine and Frank were already waiting for us as we pulled into the lot. I had brought my third kayak in order for Christine to use and this was the first time I had tried to carry it tied on top of our other two and it worked out great. All together we had 9 paddlers today and you could not have asked for a better group or weather, a few clouds, to keep back the sun, the west winds that help to bring us back from across the lake and low temperatures.
Today we had Mike M, Frank & Christine, John F, Ken V, Bob A, Margaret & Bruce, and for about half the trip Bill B.. He had a luncheon to get to and he turn back about 11:30 after we had made it almost to the burned out area of the Wildlife Refuge. We got to talked to a ranger there on the Suffolk side of the lake and she said that they lost about 4400 acres to the last fire they had about 2 years ago. Some of the same area that burned about 5 years ago also was burned again with the 2011 fire, but much hotter this time because there is nothing left. The boat dock we had our lunch on was saved because the fireman had big pumps there to wet down the dock as the fire raged by. This dock is on the Suffolk side of the lake where you can drive down the Interior Ditch Road. From here we headed straight east across the lake and came right to the Feeder Ditch that carried us back to the dam. We did not have any rain until we reach the dock and was loading our boats, then a brief shower hit us and it sure felt good.
We did get to see a raccoon and a Bald Eagle and now after the fire you can see their nest atop a dead tree. Bob A. thinks this is their old nest that made it through the fire and is still looking good. Hope Miss. Eagle was not sitting on the nest when the fire went by, I am sure it was a hot time in the old tree that night. John F. had his GPS and he recorded 14.3 miles that we paddled, this was two miles further than I had plan but everyone agreed to tack on the extra distance and we had three out of boat stops to rest up and have snacks and lunch. All had a great paddle and wanted to do this one again, hopefully this summer.
Bruce
View Bill B's pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/Tues130521LakeDrummondPaddle114MilesBruce?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjczpT0vPz0Bg&feat=email
View Bruce' pictures: https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=42d1880066d9bdab&id=42D1880066D9BDAB%212495&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos&sff=1&authkey=!AEK510SM76ye4SA