Crooked Lake must have hit the sweet spot for a lot of our folks, as our turnout increased substantially in spite of the high winds and waves. Speaking of which, the winds were coming from the West, which of course is right down the line of the basins of Crooked Lake, making for some fun wave action. On the plus side, they were coming right at us heading out (and with us heading back, although somewhat diminished at that time), making it easier to handle the chop. Mike, Mark, Dan, Lori, and I headed straight across the first basin, then settled in a calm area near the far side to see who followed. Not seeing anyone, we just assumed the wind/waves scared them off, and so we continued on our merry way to the end of the chain, took a social break, then headed back. We were rather surprised to see Larry and Keith hanging out on shore upon our return; we figured they just hung around to rejoice in our safe arrival. Turns out Keith, Fred (apparently a sign of the apocalypse; Fred was back!), Larry, and Steve (Evertson) took the path less traveled and headed out along the shoreline to circumnavigate the main basin. With Steve, Keith, and Larry all in “classic” canoes, that must have been entertaining running cross-wind/cross-wave, but they all made it around and back without sampling the waters. Once all were safely ashore, Keith broke out the cookies, some of Louise’ finest chocolate/ chocolate chip confections. Keith did note that he felt some obligation due to my commenting on the lack of cookies on our recent prior outings, but if that’s what it takes to get him back out… Speaking of Louise, Keith says she’s had some medical challenges lately, so let’s keep her in our prayers for some fast healing. Louise has long been a special part of our group, and we hope to see her back soon. Many thanks to Mike for calling a great outing, and to Louise for providing some excellent post-paddle cookies!
Steve
