Golden Lake proved to be a “golden” paddle this evening. Although we missed a few regulars, we still had a considerable turnout. I suspect more than one person was just happy to see some other souls after spending too much time sequestered at home. Canoeists increased their representation to 4 on this paddle: Tadd, Steve Evertson, and Larry paddled “North American style” canoes, while I brought along my “Hawaiian-style” outrigger canoe. The rest of the gang stuck with the double blade.
Upon launching we followed our traditional path of heading in a northerly direction across Golden Lake to Pigeon Creek, and on into Hogback Lake. Water was glass smooth, and I think we only saw 2 fishing the boats the whole trip (and some recreational kayakers off to the side of Golden Lake upon our return). The only real challenge was Pigeon Creek, though not because of any inherent issues with the creek. It was actually clearer than usual of logs and such. The real problem was the Pigeon Creek Air Force: all those pesky little flying things like mosquitoes and biting flies that like to annoy you as you paddle. Thankfully there were a fair number of dragonflies around keeping things in check. But I still found that paddling briskly through the creek/channel was the best way to keep the pests at bay. It actually wasn’t too terrible, and overall we had a pretty benign paddle: we headed out, we headed back, a few of us added some distance by circumnavigating the lakes, and everyone had cookies, courtesy of Tadd’s mom. Tadd says his mom has discovered a new reason for existence in this life: to make cookies for the paddling group. With Louise and her cookies absent, we were grateful for her new purpose in life. Not to mention the cookies were delicious!
Many thanks to Dan for calling this trip!
Steve
