As we slip into November here on the Northern Plains,
paddlers are either putting away their gear for the season or taking every
opportunity for what may well be a final cruise of the year. As a retiree, I
have some advantage over my working pals and can go out on a weekday during
“working hours.” As a matter of
fact, I revel in that status!
Today seemed like the best day of the week for paddling, so
Dave Finck and I met at the city park in Garretson for a cruise up through the
palisades. This has come to be
something I have done toward the final days or weeks of the paddling season for
the past several years.
It was sunny, about 42 degrees, and quite windy as we arrived
at the put-in. The wind was
blowing down through the canyon that forms the creek bed at about 25 miles per
hour.
The high quartzite cliff walls that rise up along both banks
tended to provide a lee along the cliff face and to reduce the force of the
wind. Still, we were paddling into
a stiff head wind as we made our way upstream from the put-in just above the
dam.
Paddling along this magnificent waterway, the seasonal shift
into winter was evident. Much of
the leaf cover is gone and the grasses have turned brown. There is little evidence of waterfowl
now, although we did see a flock of robins that seemed to have delayed in their
flight south.
The sun was bright over the cliffs, providing interesting
shadows across the water. I
steered my kayak from cliff face to cliff face along alternating sides in order
to experience the varying effects of sun and shade.
We made our way upstream to the riffles that lead into the
impoundment formed by the dam within the park. Some years ago, there was a single home located at this
point, but now there is another large home visible from the creek.
This is the point, about 1.25 miles upstream, where paddlers
turn and head back downstream.
Along the way back, we came across a flock of 15 turkeys moving through
the grass on the right bank. They
were spread out in a line that moved across the landscape into a grove of
trees.
Along the return route, little paddling effort was
required. The wind just blew us
back, and only an occasional paddle stroke was needed to track the course
downstream.
As has become a feature of a Garretson cruise, we moved
under the arched bridge and into Devil’s Gulch. The wind here was also brisk, and it blew us up the
waterway, past other sets of quartzite cliffs to the feeder stream flowing in
from the woodlands.
We paused within the Gulch to view the changing landscape
and then paddled back under the railroad bridge, through the arches, and into
the main stream just above the “take-out.”
Our cruise this morning was for about an hour and fifteen
minutes, and the distance was about three miles. As we loaded up the kayaks, the wind was reported as 23 mph,
and the temperature was in the mid 40s.
We had on jackets, boots, hats, and gloves this morning. As usual, once we were off the water
and trying to load up the kayaks, the cold seemed to intensify. My fingers didn’t work all that well as
I worked on the knots for the ropes that secure my kayak atop the car.
This was a great weekday morning cruise, and I found myself
enjoying the way the kayak cruised through the water. We all know that there is little time remaining in this
paddling season. Still, I am
expecting to get in at least a couple more cruises this year.
A full set of the photographs for the cruise this morning
can be found on my Flicker page at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157637201467723/
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