The Camo Kayak finally joined me today and we repeated a trip on Odessa that we had made about a year ago by canoe. We put in at Sand Run Access and headed south.It was a beautiful morning. There was no wind and the water was like glass. The only sounds were the dipping of our paddles and the gliding of our kayaks on the water. Well, except for croaks, squawks, whistles and various other calls of birds along the way. Sometimes the peace and quiet is almost deafening!
After we got around the bend, we ventured north into what we knew would be a shallow spot. We were able to get through by kayak but a canoe probably wouldn't have made it at this water level. It was a bit of work paddling but worth it to really get off the beaten path. We knew it would only be us and the wildlife out there.
There seemed to be even more pelicans, egrets and great blue herons than the week before. There were some of each in sight throughout our whole trip. In the case of the pelicans, we could usually see at least a hundred and sometimes closer to a thousand.
While we were back on Little Goose we also saw: a doe with her two fawns, a racoon, sandpipers, cormorants,
When we came out of Little Goose, we paddled toward Horseshoe bend to check out the watersnake hot spot. There is a beaver lodge that always seems to have watersnakes lounging on it. We weren't disappointed. Several large diamondback watersnakes were hidden among the sticks. We almost missed seeing one that was hidden in plain sight, laying straight as a stick on the side of a log. These non-poisonous water snakes are found in only a few places in Iowa.
