Lake Lakota - Late Spring 2013

When I last visited Lake Lakota in March of 2012, the water had receded so far that the paddling opportunity was just not worth the drive from Sioux Falls.  As the spring and summer wore on, the condition of the lake only worsened.  But, I received a report from a paddler just yesterday that the lake had filled during the rains of this spring and had even more surface area than normal.

So, Dave Finck and I decided to visit the lake this morning.  Overnight, a dense fog descended over southeastern South Dakota and I drove the 28 miles south through limited visibility.  We met at the lake at 8:30 a.m. as the fog started lifting over the lake.  With the fog just beginning to dissipate, the landscape had an ethereal look and the surface of the lake was mirror smooth with no wind.

The dock has not been installed at the launching ramp, and there are warnings about debris in the water.  The site was deserted, as usual at that time of a weekday.

We set off a clockwise circuit around the lake, moving along the southeast shoreline. 

 Very quickly, we moved into one of my favorite inlets just southeast of the launching point.  This is a drainage area for streams flowing from the north into the lake.  At first, it looks like a bay extending east, but soon the bay narrows as feeder creeks enter the main body of water.

A kayak can move up this inlet for a few hundred yards through interesting landscape.

 Today, we came across some large raptors flying about us from their perch high above in a tall tree.

Exiting the inlet, we continued our movement south toward the dam and spillway.  As the fog disappeared, a light breeze came up and hastened the disappearance of the fog.  Soon, the sun was peeking through the clouds.

We continued past the dam and began our return trip along the western side of the lake to the public access area – a public access area that has closed for now because of a road washout. 

 The lake has an upside down “L” shape, and after passing along the western shoreline of the main body of the lake, we made the turn west into an arm that leads to the inlet of Pattee Creek.  Normally, this arm of the lake is filled with aquatic growth, especially reeds growing in the shallower water. While this arm has always been passable during my previous visits to the lake, today the depth was such that a kayak could easily cruise through to the inlet of Pattee Creek.

As we moved down toward the road that crosses the creek and normally forms the end of passage for a kayak, we saw that the bridge had washed out.  There had been large culverts under the road, but the culverts and the road have washed out. 

We entered Pattee Creek to explore the western flow, but there was a barbed wire fence across the creek preventing further passage.

Returning down the northern shoreline toward the launching ramp, we came across a lone fisherman with his dog out in a motorboat.  We shared pleasantries and enjoyed the moment of the guy with his dog.  I always like the sight of a person out in nature with his dog; what better friend that a trusting and loving dog!

 We spent about an hour and forty-five minutes on the water this morning.  It was a good contemplative cruise under ideal conditions.  I am so glad that Lake Lakota has been restored.  I always enjoy my cruises on this lake.

 For those who would like additional information about Lake Lakota, please be sure and check out the previous narratives located on the area waterways menu on the right side of the blog.

The complete set of photographs that I took this morning at Lake Lakota can be seen on my Flickr account at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157634050282959/

Lake Lakota: Early Spring 2012

Taking advantage of a great paddling forecast, I decided this morning to head out to Lake Lakota for a cruise around this scenic setting and to check out the advancing spring. Lake Lakota is a part of the Newton Hills State Park and is less than 30 miles from my eastside Sioux Falls home.

I left town about 10:00 a.m. into the lingering traces of a widespread fog that blanketed the area, a temperature of about 50 degrees, and very light winds. I was looking forward to cruising around the perimeter of the lake and finding glimpses of waterfowl and perhaps other critters out and about.

When I arrived, I was astonished to find that the lake was in a state of serious contraction due to exceptionally dry conditions this winter and spring. The shoreline had retreated about 25 feet or so all around the lake along with a drop of about 5-7 feet in water depth. A mud flat extended from the water’s edge to the shoreline. The water depth in the remainder of the lake varied from a few inches to well over the length of my double-blade paddle.

I cruised around the perimeter of the lake, but the several inlets extending from the surrounding watershed had largely dried up. Still, I was able to travel up to the dam and then back and up into the western arm, although that arm slowly diminished in depth until the final 50 yards or so were first marshy and then dry. At the end of the arm, I found myself drifting along in water only a few inches in depth until further forward progress was impossible.

There was little wildlife visible today. Since there was little wind, the sound of bird life among the shoreline trees was constant and there were a few ducks on the water. Unlike last spring, no pelicans were visiting today. I did see turtle heads peeking up from time to time and even saw a couple of them below the surface in the very shallow waters of the western arm.

There was one guy out fishing from the shore. We spoke briefly, and he told me that he had not seen Lake Lakota this dry in 25 years. Still, he said, “however it goes, it is a beautiful day.” It was a nice sentiment and left me smiling.

It is not likely that people would be able to easily use a fishing boat under the current conditions. The dock has not been put in and the concrete boat ramp ends just before the water. So, I would guess that it would not be very easy to launch a boat from a trailer.

I think that the condition of Lake Lakota is such that it cannot be recommended as a paddling site for now. Perhaps we will have big spring rains and the lake will fill up again. I certainly hope that takes place. For a look at Lake Lakota under better conditions, check out the many narratives found under the area waterways inventory on the right side of the blog.

A word about the photos: My usual camera has developed a defect, and I borrowed my wife’s camera. Somehow, the date stamp was activated, and in the process of trying to turn that feature off, I lost all the photos that I took from my kayak. When I noticed that the photos had disappeared, I took another batch from the shore after returning. I was not able to get the date stamp removed until I got home and fiddled with the camera. The date stamped on the photos is also a day off. Irritating!

Lake Lakota - August 2011

We finally escaped from a prolonged heat wave here on the northern plains; this morning the temperature was in the low 60s, the skies were clear, the wind moderate, and the high only expected to climb into the mid 80s. For the past month or so, family events and then the heat have moderated my kayaking. I have taken people out on Lake Alvin a couple of times, but my routine summer cruising has been on hold. This morning, I left home around 6:00 a.m., had my usual bagel, coffee, and an hour for reading my latest novel before heading out to Lake Lakota, a part of Newton Hills State Park.

I arrived at the launching area by 7:30 a.m. and, as expected, found it deserted. My last trip to Lake Lakota was in early April, and the first hints of spring growth were visible. Mostly, though, the area was still clothed in the drab brown that follows the snowmelt. Today, the area looked transformed and predominately green: grass, flowers, leafed-out trees, and a good share of the lake surface.

As I moved my kayak over to the launch area, I saw a pair of pants lying on the surface of the ramp: jeans, belt, and some loose bills both on the ramp surface and in the pockets of the jeans. There was no identification. I wondered how a person could forget his pants; was he so absent minded or was he wasted so much that he was unaware of his circumstances. I hung the pants with the cash on a posted sign and took off. When I returned two hours later, there was a parks guy driving a mowing machine. I let him know about the pants and the cash, and he told me he would take them to the park office for Newton Hills.

The lake was tranquil, and I began my usual clockwise circuit, heading left (east) from the dock. There is an inlet on the eastern side that extends back into the bush for a few hundred yards, and I always move up into this creek-like flow until I reach the point where further travel is no longer possible.

I like to sit quietly in the kayak to listen to the sounds resuming after my passage. This seems to me like a special place where I can listen to the backwaters sounds of wind in the trees, insects, and bird life.

Continuing on my cruise around the shoreline of the lake, I headed south to the dam and spillway for Pattee Creek. The entire lake is within Newton Hills State Park, so the shoreline has no visible reminder of the larger outside world.

There is a great deal of aquatic growth on the lake now and extending in deep banks of seaweed-like plants just under much of the surface. The surface growth generally extends out about 10 feet from the shoreline on much of the lake. Even away from the shoreline, however, there are walls of plant growth that are several feet deep. This degree of growth seems present in the summer, but it is not so evident during the spring and fall. I imagine that motorboats would have some difficulty in keeping propellers clear of this growth, and fisherman would have the same trouble in casting their lines. A kayak, however, can just glide over most of the aquatic growth. Motorboats would seem restricted to the open areas in the center of the lake.

From the dam, I cruised back down the western shore and into the arm that extends west to the Pattee Creek inlet, and this is where the surface growth is most intensive. As I moved through heavy plant growth, my kayak slid along the surface and my paddles brought up heavy “seaweed” with each stroke. I was reminded of my snowshoeing this past winter. I was, in effect, skimming along the surface of pretty deep plant life. It was not quite thick enough to be “poling,” but it was certainly not normal cruising. Once, I found myself aground and thought about how unpleasant it would be to have to exit the kayak and wade through the muck to a deeper spot.

In any event, I was able to move back into deeper water and continue on. I noticed that there were streaks of clear water weaving through the seaweed, and I headed over to these river-like passageways through the plants. It seemed rather like following a lead in the polar seas between ice floes.

This was a good contemplative cruise, and I enjoyed it very much. I was out for an hour and a-half and was able to experience a variety of waters. On most of my cruises, I try to pick up six bottles or cans that I find floating or embedded along the shore. That is about what I can fit into the bottom of my kayak without feeling crowded, and I did that today.

Lake Lakota - April 2011

Here in Sioux Falls, the weather has been wonderful today. Upon learning of the probable weather for this week, it was clear that a kayaking cruise had to be on my agenda today. This seems likely to be the last such day for the week; there is even snow forecast for this week in southeastern South Dakota. North of here, in the Watertown area and further north, there is still ice on lakes.

This morning, I left town about 8:00 a.m., and the temperature on a bank I passed read 46 degrees. The forecast called for a high today of nearly 70 degrees.

Lake Lakota is part of the Newton Hills State Park and located just south of Canton. It is about a 25-minute drive from our eastside Sioux Falls home. The lake is set within the boundaries of the park and is a protected nature area. This is a very tranquil spot, surrounded by trees – mostly coniferous trees that provide nice color regardless of the season.

The public areas of the lake are set in a hollow among low hills. The launching area is on the north central part of the lake and includes picnic areas, a swimming beach, a boat ramp, toilets, and new this year is a fishing pier just to the west of the swimming beach.

The wind was light when I launched my kayak. There was a flat calm on some sheltered parts of the lake and light waves elsewhere: a wonderful surface for my kind of nature-watching contemplative paddles.

I set out on my usual circle around the shoreline, heading southeast from the launching area to the first of the bays or inlets. I like to move into these inlets and look for wildlife as well as observe the vegetation along the shoreline and into the trees. These are the areas where I am most likely to see interesting animal life.

Inevitably, I seem compelled to proceed into these inlets as far as I can go in my kayak, then usually having to back out because of the narrowing course of the waterway.

As I moved south on the lake toward the dam on the southeastern end, I saw the largest flock of pelicans that I can recall. There were several dozen of them clustered like a floating white island across the southwestern part of the lake.

As I began my return trip north on this main body of the lake, the flock began slowly moving away from me. I would paddle toward them, and the flock just didn’t seem to close much.

When the flock began to sense that my kayak was close enough, it first split into two parts and then the pelicans began to fly off to circle nearby.

I wondered what would bring so many pelicans to this small (90 acres) lake. Then, I thought about the large number of fish that I saw. In the bay along the northwestern end, I came across large schools of fish that were four or five inches in length. These fish flashed by my kayak. I also saw very large numbers of small fish – fingerlings. It occurred to me that perhaps the SD Game Fish and Parks staff had “stocked” the lake this spring and that the pelicans were having a feast of these small fish.

My favorite part of the lake is the northwestern arm that extends up to the entrance of Pattee Creek. This is the area where I tend see the greatest variety of wildlife. In the summer, there are large lily pads and lots of aquatic grasses on and just below the surface. Big frogs are frequently seen sitting on the lily pads, and turtles of all sizes are seen.

Today, I came across a great blue heron, ducks, geese, and one turtle.

The water conditions and the lay of the trees, bushes, and grasses are always interesting to me along this shoreline.

I thought that I was alone on the lake, a condition that I usually enjoy in these small prairie lakes on a spring weekday. But then, I came across a guy fishing from the southwest shoreline in that western arm of the lake. We exchanged pleasantries while he was casting his line out into the lake.

The circle of the lake shoreline and my meandering up into bays took me about an hour and fifteen minutes. By the time I began making my way back to the launching area, the wind had increased in strength and the lake had developed a noticeable chop. The lesson for kayaking the lakes of South Dakota: start early in the morning!