We have had a great couple of days here in Sioux Falls for
this time of the year, and a change seems to be coming beginning tomorrow.
The forecast for today called for
“breezy” conditions, with winds from 15 to 25 mph and gusts to 30 mph.
Still, Dave Finck and I decided to take
advantage of an otherwise really fine day.
He picked me up with his van and kevlar Wenonah canoe
strapped on top at 8:00 a.m., and we drove west on Highway 42 and north on 459
th
Street to Grass Lake. I have normally visited Grass Lake a couple of times a
year, but I think that it has been at least a year since my last cruise on
it.
It seems to have been
unchanged since my last visit.
Grass Lake has a rough launching pathway that is just a rocky
trail.
We went down the trail and
then over to the right side of the shoreline to launch in a smoother spot.
A strong wind was apparent as we shoved off and headed west
along the northern shoreline. The
wind was coming from the southeast, so we made a rapid passage down the lake in
a following sea with waves of about a foot in height pushing us along.
As we cruised west, it occurred to us that the passage back
to the launching spot might be a bit more challenging.
Still, we pushed on toward the western
end of the lake – about 1.5 miles from the put-in.
The landscape is quickly losing its color and reverting to
the brown cover that will last until next spring. Many of the trees are changing color now, and the sight is
beautiful even though it signals a return to the dreaded winter months.
Our cruise this morning was highlighted by a very large
flock of while pelicans.
It seemed
to us that there were upwards of 200 of these magnificent birds lounging around
a rocky outcropping extending out from the northern shoreline about a mile west
of the put-in.
This is the spot
where I have quite often come across large groups of waterfowl, especially
pelicans.
We cruised in as close as possible, and they seemed to
tolerate this approach.
Eventually, they decided to move a couple hundred feet toward the
southern shore.
We continued on another quarter mile or so and then cut
across the lake to the southern side.
As we turned and faced into the wind and waves, we found ourselves
straining to keep on course heading east.
We decided to keep inshore and paddle within a lee formed by
the high banks on the south shoreline.
This eased our passage markedly, and we thought that moving on down the
lake to the east end and then across to the north side would be the best
option.
First, though, we passed by the old windmill on the
southwestern shore that has been one of my most photographed sights on the
lake.
After all this time, it
still stands, although perhaps a little more worn each year.
As we moved along the southeastern shoreline, we spotted a
sign that had been peppered with bullet holes.
I felt a great need to land the canoe, climb the steep bank
and check out the sigh.
I hoped
that it would read:
“no
shooting.”
No luck!
It was a sign identifying the
collaboration of agencies to manage some aspect of the lake.
The sign has apparently become a target
of sorts for people with a great need to blast away.
The climb up the bank was hard enough, requiring me to grab
brush and grasses to help get atop the slope. I thought that I had found a
better way to get back down to the canoe, but I fell into an unseen hole in the
brush and got scratched on my neck and hand.
Worst, though, I cracked a bent-shaft paddle of Dave’s that
I was using as a walking stick of sorts.
But, I got the photograph!
We spent about an hour and a half on this windy lake
today. It was a strain paddling
into and across the wind and waves, but my fall climbing down from the high
bank was our only incident, and, of course, the crack in Dave’s paddle.
Other narratives of cruises on Grass Lake at various seasons
over the years can be found in the menu on the right side of the blog in area
waterways.
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