Port Louisa Loop

For the first time since I got the Red Kayak, I decided to invite some others to join me.

Naturally this was the time I got (just a little) lost, took two hours longer than planned to get back, had to navigate seven portages and ended up paddling into a strong headwind.

But it was fun! It was much more of an adventure than the quiet wildlife watching I have done so far.

We put in at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge, just up the road from my first kayaking trip. But this time I had the bright idea of making a big loop instead of backtracking. Obviously, I've gotten much braver with my navigation skills though not necessarily better.

The six of us headed out in with three borrowed kayaks, a square stern canoe and, of course, the Red Kayak. A tip here for novice paddlers - square stern canoes are not made to paddle! They are used with either oars or a motor.

Several combinations of people tried the canoe with limited success so in the end I gave up the Red Kayak for the day and shared the canoe with a co-worker who just thought she was bad at paddling (she wasn't, it was the canoe).

Anyway, we wandered through the refuge and went up the main lake where we encountered the headwind. We crossed over on the "Lateral Ditch" then headed back up into the refuge, relieved to get out of the headwind and into the backwaters. We had our first portage at the Fox Pond structure. That was when I realized I should have done some scouting.

Taking out and putting in was a little challenging at all the portage sites. In fact the only guy in the group managed to land in the water as he tried to make that first exit. He wondered why we didn't give him a hard time about it. Speaking for myself, I figured there was a pretty good chance I'd end up in the same position before the day was over. As long as someone had to fall in though, we liked that it was the token male.

As we entered Fox Pond I felt like our trip had taken a turn for the better - we saw cormorants, pelicans, geese and coots plus the scenery is beautiful there. Granted, it was already past the time I'd expected to be taking out but I thought we'd be making good time at that point. Yeah, right.

The water was high and we realized too late that we had actually gotten out of Fox Pond and were paddling across a flooded field. Which didn't mean we were lost, it just meant taking out and putting in three extra times.

Three extra times up and down steep, rocky banks.

We crossed the road (where the Running Wild road race is held each August) and got into "Prairie Pocket" for the final stretch. Almost. It turns out there was a road that didn't show up on the map and so we still had three MORE portages.

After 4.5 hours paddling 9 miles we ended up in the parking lot right where we started. Which is really pretty cool. No shuttling needed and we didn't have to backtrack.

It was fun having friends along to share the adventure (and the adversity). Plus someone had thought to bake cupcakes to share with the group at the end of the trip. They were yummy and we had earned them.

Mother's Day on the Marsh

Though I hadn't planned on my outing today being a Mother's Day celebration that's exactly what it turned out to be. It's not that my kids went along - the son is not home and the daughter was sleeping in.

It's that Cone Marsh Wildlife Management Area was teaming with moms.

The canada geese were everywhere - at least 4 different pairs honked and scolded at me as I paddled along the the marsh's edge. They didn't venture far from cover though - probably keeping their goslings gathered in close.

Not too far from the boat ramp I found the pair of trumpeter swans that had been released from there a couple of weeks ago. I was glad to see them still together though they won't nest this year - actually it will be at least three more years before they are mature. Even though they didn't have a nest or young, they didn't like having me around and continued to "trumpet" as long as I was in sight.

There were coots and mallards on top of nearly every muskrat hut. Countless pairs of red-winged blackbirds were busy making nests in the bulrushes. (They scolded me, too.)

In fact, at one point the sounds of scolding birds was pretty darn loud. Over the din I even heard a turkey gobble and a pheasant crow. There were several other birds thrown in the mix that I couldn't ientify. My husband tells me one of those was probably a pied-billed grebe.

I'm not great with bird ID and I didn't have binoculars but I think I may have seen two sandhill cranes. They have nested at Cone Marsh in the past so it's a possibility.

It was a good time to visit this beautiful cattail-bulrush marsh. The water is high and the vegetation still short so I could get back to some nooks and crannies that won't be accessible in a few weeks. I've got to go back in July though when the marsh mallows are blooming. Judging from the stems of last year's plants - they are going to be gorgeous.

And I will definitely visit again next spring. I might even make it a Mother's Day tradition but next year I'm going to wake up my daughter and take her along.