What will most likely be our final paddle of the season turned out to be a lovely day to be out on the water! We had bright sunshine and moderate temperatures in the 60s. Unfortunately, there were some gusty breezes creating some challenges when paddling into the wind! We all met at Waller Mill Park this day to explore the nooks and crannies of the Waller Mill Reservoir. We had two canoes today: Ron and Sue, Steve and Stephanie (aka "bow fluff") and 14 kayakers: Catherine, Dan, Jack, Jill, Bruce G, Kim, Bill, Kevin, Gayle, Charlie, Steve, Debra, Samuel and me, Phyllis. We were also met at the parking lot by our friend Jim Arend who used to do a lot of TG events but has since gotten into softball and pickle ball. Jim had some kayak storage racks to give away and thought one of us might make use of them. Catherine took them for the upcoming TATC Silent Auction. We launched our boats and headed through the tunnel under Airport Road to begin our exploration of the reservoir. At Bill's suggestion, we went counterclockwise this time! While paddling in the "fingers" of the reservoir, we were protected from the gusty winds. We saw heron, kingfisher and many turtles. There were still some pretty fall colors but many of the leaves had already fallen-likely due to the drought we've been having. Once exiting the protected nooks, we were paddling into the wind and this was particularly challenging for the canoes! But they hung in there, eventually turning back about 3/4 of the way into the trip. Some kayaker turned back as well. The rest of us continued on, stopping to admire the small exposed cliff area of fossilized scallop shells-thousands of years old. The trip back to the launch site was fairly quick as we now had the wind at our backs! Once back, everybody loaded their boats before heading to the picnic tables to eat our lunches in the warm sunshine. Thank you to all for participating in this great trip! Total mileage: 6.7 miles. Another fine day for the Tuesday Group! ~ Phyllis
Many thanks to Bill for being our stalwart and constant photographer! View his photos!!!
Thanks Phyllis for leading this trip in the beautiful Fall colors! Thanks for the dark chocolate too! I thought the counterclockwise 6.7 mile paddle around the reservoir was great! No captions this week. too many things on my to do list!! Bill
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HE2avzDh4hZSLaGs5