WAITING FOR METEORS

Laying on the granite beach on a Sierra mountain high lake in the darkness has become a customary occurrence for me. The new moon is only a sliver. That will only enhance tonight's viewing of the night sky. Overhead the blueish-white stat Vega gleams in gleams down. While in between two the east mountain peaks, Saturn and Jupiter seem to be chasing each other as they climb in the sky. A fuzzy band of light in the sky, known as the Milky Way, spans across the heavens. And of course, the Big Dipper and (Polaris) points to the north.
It's more than dazzling. It's mind-blowing. To think that our galaxy, is so big, so endless, and so unknown. It is only the most remote regions on earth, like here in the high Sierra-Nevada mountains, where the night skies are dark enough to put on a show in this heavenly body.

"You can feel the stars and the infinity of the sky since life, in spite of everything, is like a dream." attributed to painter Vincent Van Gogh.

However, patience will be needed, for tonight's main attraction. The Perseid Meteor shower is a dazzling display of nature's fireworks that come every August. It is more of a sprinkle than a downpour. There's a waiting period between each burst of fiery light that requires determination and maybe a little luck.
"You never know when one of these fireballs is going to shake you to your core," Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York told NPPR in a radio interview, "The unexpected thing is what you should be hoping that you're going to get, which is a nice big bright one that's going to outshine all the stars - that's going to look like it's going to scare you."
 

Seeing the meteors streak across the sky was a bonus while being on this alpine lake. At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake has no trouble touching the heavens. Sitting about 100-feet higher than Lake Tahoe in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the lake is the perfect backdrop for kayak camping. Offering pristine blue water, textured granite shore, and by day awe-inspiring views, one could find no better wilderness for solitude and tranquility.

For three years in a row, I have led members of Bayside Adventure Sports, a Sacramento faith-based group, on a one-of-kind kayak camping trip to the far end of the lake. During the days, we'd explored the coves, bays, and islands of the lake, slowing meandering around glaciers exposed granite boulders dotting the shoreline. And once again, after dinner, we'd enjoy a breathtakingly stunning sunset across the western horizon during a cruise on the breathless water of the lake. 

After our sunset paddle, we'd normally have retired by a cozy campfire. But without fire restrictions, we would have to depend on the meteors to light up the night. We reclined along the rocky beach, looking towards the sky. There is a dazzling array of stars above us. In quiet contemplation, Our thoughts navigate us through time and space. How long does it take the light of the stars to touch the earth? Can those satellites see us from above? Where are those meteors?

"The one thing that I always recommend that everybody bring with them when you watch a meteor shower is patience," Faherty told NPPR.

 
We wait, stare and ponder, then in an instant. Our thoughts are suddenly disrupted by a flash of a meteor's tale. Fourth of July-like oohs and awes charge the air as the fireball streaks across the sky. But, the shooting star is gone much too quickly. However, it's an experience we will remember for a lifetime. Seeing a falling star is always special, however, catching it with friends while kayaking a high Sierra lake is simply magical.

Keep up with Outside Adventure to the Max, on our Facebook page and Instagram and now on Youtube.

LOON LAKE RHAPSODY

I wish, my dear, dear friends, that you could share this divine day with me here. The soul of Indian summer is brooding this blue water, and it enters one’s being as nothing else does. ---John Muir

There was an undeniable feel of magic in my paddle and exuberance in the movement of my kayak while skimming across the cobalt-blue of the lake. In each stroke the far-off peaks loomed closer, the shimmering water appeared cleaner and the wilderness became ever so clear. A small party paddlers accompanied me on this trek to adventure and serenity. No cell phones or text messages allowed, this place is more akin to the handwritten words of Thoreau, Emerson and Muir. Yes, to truly appreciate the enchantment of this lake was to paddle it.

At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake sits in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just to the west of its famous and much bigger neighbor Lake Tahoe and within hiking distance to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness. Four other lakes and reservoirs are the also included in this recreation area spanning over 85,000 acres of forested rugged terrain. Union Valley Reservoir is the largest with some 24-miles of shoreline. While other lakes include Ice House Reservoir, Gerle Reservoir, and Wrights Lake.

Loon Lake was created in the 1960s by the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District as part of a network of mountain hydropower plants. The nearby is Loon Lake Chalet, is a popular winter recreation destination, but in summer people flock to the lake with its three campgrounds and the boat ramp provide areas perfect for camping, hiking and kayaking.

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has hosted this two-day overnight one-of-a-kind camping experience in August at the lake for the past decade. By day we explored the coves and bays while meandering around sun bleached granite boulders that look like an armada of islands dotting the lakeside. We even saw a bald eagle perched high above the lake in his tree top surveying his kingdom. While at night, we lounged along the rocky beach looking towards the heavens while viewing the Perseid Meteor Shower. The darkness was interwoven awed responses of,  "Oohs and ahas and There goes one!" when a meteor streaked by, stretching out its long tail across the sky till finally burning out in a glorious display of fire raining from the sky.

All the meals, camping equipment and kayaks were provided for paddlers and first-time campers to enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out, freeing them to only de-stress and unwind in the realm of nature along this alpine reservoir.

In a letter to friends, while visiting Lake Tahoe, naturalist John Muir wrote of the lake's hypnotizing charm as he said,  "As I sauntered through the piney woods, pausing countless times to absorb the blue glimpses of the lake, all so heavenly clean, so terrestrial yet so openly spiritual.”

And for anyone who has spent time at Loon Lake they can relate. Its sapphire blue of the water gleaming against the shadows of mountains is a magic waterway to tranquility and bliss.

If you want to go Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS: Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

OVER THE BOW: LOON LAKE

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream” – Vincent Van Gogh

Clear skies the group, mostly 20 women boaters getting ready for their first trip on water. The pristine blue water and textured granite shore of lake creates a post card like vision. There is a lot more water than the year before. California's drought seems like a distant memory with views of patches of snow can be seen on the horizon of mountains, while the cobalt waters of the lake are brimming up along the rugged shoreline.

At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake sits in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Nestled up close to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness, the recreation area is capped by the majestic granite peaks and traversed by lakes, reservoirs and streams spanning over 85,000 acres of forested rugged terrain along the Crystal Range.

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has hosted this two-day overnight one-of-a-kind camping experience in August for last decade. During the days, paddlers escape the heat while exploring the pine scented lake's many sapphire colored coves and bays and textured granite islands.

 At night the campers are treated to a night-time paddling experience to view the Perseid Meteor Shower.
All the meals, camping equipment and kayaks are provided for paddlers and first time campers to enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out, freeing them to only de-stress and unwind in the realm of nature.

If you want to go  
Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS:Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

THE STORY OF LOON LAKE: A CAMPFIRE TALE

 “The world is indeed full of peril and in it, there are many dark places. But still, there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” –J.R.R. Tolkien

The fire was burning to its last. Everyone else was asleep after the day's paddling on the Western Sierra's Loon Lake. It was just me and the grizzled old storyteller who had shared tales all evening with the folks around the fire. But he saved his best story for me.

"It sure is pretty up here." I told him, "But I can't figure out why they call it Loon Lake. There aren't any loons in California anywhere I've seen."

Now loons are large water birds with rounded heads and dagger-like bills. Their eerie calls echo across clear lakes of the northern wilderness. Less suited to land, loons are powerful, agile divers that catch small fish in fast underwater chases.

"Back in Minnesota on a night like this, " I said with a bit of homesickness in my voice, "I could hear the loons calling across the lake. I've come to miss them since moving to California and sure can't figure out why they call this place Loon Lake. There is not a loon within 2,000 miles of here."

"It wasn't always called Loon Lake you know." grumbled the Storyteller, "At one time, the Washoe called it the Valley of the Medican."

"The Medican?" I asked.

"Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Abominable Snow Monster, if you believe in that kind of stuff," he said. A hush came over the trees and the embers again ignited with a pop. I could see his eyes in the glow of the flames.

A long pause followed. He straightens his Fedora. Then took a flask from his jacket's pocket.  Opening it, he then took a swallow and then looked at me from across the fire and said, "You do, don't you?"

Now, all through Northern California, there are tales of Yetties and Bigfoot sightings.  The mythological ape-like creature is said to inhabit its forested regions. Folklore has usually described Bigfoot as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid, yet scientists discount its existence.

"California had loons a long time ago." he said as he leaned over to stir the fire with a stick, "Thousands of them. But the Medican ate every one of them. That's why they're none here today. For their survival, over time they changed their migrating routes to avoid the monster. Otherwise, there might not any loons at all. Legend had it that the Medican would swallow them whole. But that's not the worst of it. With the loons gone. The monster needed another source of food. So, it turned to the local native children."

"Terror swept through the nearby village when they learned this. They knew they had to devise a plan to kill the monster. But how? The creature was so big and so powerful, that spears and arrows would never work."

"But, that night, a medicine man had a vision of the monster's weakness. He saw that the fierce and terrible Medican could not swim and would sink like a stone if lured into the deepest part of the lake."

"But wasn't this lake built back in the 60s?" I questioned

"It was a long time ago, kid." said the Storyteller, "Legend says, that the lake then was even deeper than Tahoe.  But let's get back to my story. "

"How can we get the Medican into our canoes to bring him to the center of the lake they asked the medicine man. And what shall we use for bait? There seemed to be no answers."

"Then Two Paddles spoke up.  He said he could go to the land of the sky-blue waters and bring back a loon to the valley. He told them when he returned it would be winter and they could lure the Medican onto the ice of the lake. Hopefully, it would then break through and sink to the bottom."

"Now Two Paddles was the bravest of all the braves. He had paddled area lakes and rivers and had traveled to the far north to learn how to paddle like the Eskimos. He left the next day down the Truckee River, portaging the Great Basin to the Missouri River and then up to Mississippi to its source and the home to many loons. Using lumps of sugar, because everyone knows that loons love sugar, he caught the bird that would be used as bait."

"He hurried back along the same route, returning to the valley on snowshoes with the loon in a basket.  It was now the dead of winter with the lake encased with a sheet of ice. The villagers told him that so far, no children had been eaten but the monster was very, very hungry.  Just then they heard a terrible howling echoing through the mountains. It was the Medican.  They had little time to waste.

"The next day, Two Paddles trudged out to the center of the lake leaving behind him a trail of sugar lumps and staging a large pile of sugar at the center of the lake. Under his feet, he could feel the ice weaken. His trap was almost set. He returned to the shore and released the loon. The loon scooted along the ice eating up the sugar along the way until it reached the center of the lake where Two Paddles had poured the largest pile of sugar.  The loon consumed the sugar quickly by gulping it down till it could barely move."

"The scent of the loon, by now had filled the mountain air. A roar came out of the trees. It was the Medican. Fierce and hungry it raced toward the hapless loon on the weakening ice. It grabbed the loon and howled with delight, then opening its mouth, the monster tossed it in swallowing the loon whole."

"At first there was nothing, as the entire valley held its breath.  But then there was a large thunderous CRACK, followed by another and another. It was the sound of ice breaking under the monster.  Two Paddles looked on to see his trap had worked. The sheer weight of the sugar-stuffed loon caused the loon-stuffed Medican to break through the ice. He heard the monster shriek and wail as it sunk into the frozen water fighting to cling to the ice. And then there was no more as it plunged into the depths of the lake."

"So, to this day," smiled the Storyteller, "They call it Loon Lake in honor of the bird that saved all the villager's children that still sing, a loon full of sugar helps the Medican go down."

Current Adventures Kay School and Trips provide an overnight camping trip to Loon Lake for the meteor show across the heavens. The lake renders the perfect backdrop for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower during its peak in the month of August. The Crystal Basin Recreation Area's lake on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just west of Lake Tahoe, offers scenic beauty, limited crowds and no light pollution. Tucked away and only a short drive from Sacramento, California, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has been hosting kayaking campers for the meteor shower for nearly a dozen of years. With meals, camping equipment and kayaks provided, paddlers and first-time campers enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out.

If you want to go

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS:Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

STARRY STARRY NIGHT....LOON LAKE PART I

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”--Jack London

"There goes one!" a voice calls out in the darkness.

"Where? I didn't see it," says another.

"Through the Big Dipper. It had a bright tail."

"Oh man! I missed it. What is that?

"An airplane." says another.

"Geez, were not going back till I see one."

Lost in space between the stars in the heavens and the serene of the lake, we are adrift in the magic of the night. The constellations, Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Ursa Minor shine brilliantly in the moonless sky as our eyes focus toward the east in anticipation of catching falling star.
There are less than a dozen of us floating in the tranquility of Loon Lake. Our bobbing armada of kayaks are lashed together by our fingers tips as each boaters holds tightly to the boats between them. Colored glow sticks dangle in the shadows of our figures while some of our headlamps give an eerie glow. It's just after ten and there is a slight gleam over the mountains. It seems like the whole universe is presented before us.

Loon Lake renders the perfect backdrop for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower during its peak in the month of August. The Crystal Basin Recreation Area's lake on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just west of Lake Tahoe, offers scenic beauty, limited crowds and no light pollution. Tucked away and only a short drive from Sacramento, California, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips have been providing overnight camping trips for the meteor shower for nearly 10 years. With meals, camping equipment and kayaks provided, paddlers and first time campers enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out. 

"I love the night time paddle,  says long time lake
visitor Djuna Archer, "It's looking up at the stars. This time we have no moon so its beautiful. It's quiet, serene and lovely."

This is our second time out on to the water. We had kayaked the length of the lake earlier during the day, however at night, the lake takes on foreign appearance. The California drought has taken a toll on Loon Lake, dropping it excessively. It is lower than most can ever remember. Just finding our kayaks on the shadowy lake shore is an adventure in itself. In line, we are an illuminated parade of headlamps over the rocky beach to the boats and then, one by one we drop our kayaks into the water and drift into darkness. We follow the leader,  Current Adventure's Dan Crandall's glowing head-ware to the center of the reservoir.

In the middle of the lake we group together and lean back looking at the stars. The day time heat is gone and a coolness brushes over the water. Our voices and the sound of the kayaks bumping together breaks the silence of the lake. We feel the slight vibration of the water below us as the rocking bows gently remind us we are not on solid ground. There is the mystery of water below us and a dazzling array a stars above. Our thoughts navigate us through time and space... How long does it take the light of the stars to touch the earth? Can those satellites see us from above? I wish I could stay here forever.

"Especially in the dark nights," naturalist Henry David Thoreau said long ago while night fishing on Walden Pond, "When our thoughts had wandered to vast and cosmogonal themes and other spheres, to feel this faint jerk, which came to interrupt our dreams and link you to nature again."
  

Our thoughts are disrupted by a flash of a meteor's trail. Fourth of July oohs and awes charge the air. But, the shooting star is gone much to quickly to fully enjoy its splendor. The Perseid shower is known to rise gradually to a peak, then fall off rapidly afterward. We have just missed the peak by a couple of days. The meteor shower is more of a sprinkle but intermittent with wonder and laughter from our group on the lake. Seeing a falling star is always special, however catching it with new friends while kayaking a high Sierra lake is simply magical. It is an experience we will remember for a lifetime. Dan left a light flashing on the shore so we could find our way back. We had a campfire, a couple of bottles of wine and a full day of paddling waiting for us tomorrow.


If you want to go
Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips 
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS:Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

This Outside Adventure to the Max was originally published On August 21 2015.

RETURN TO LOON LAKE PART III

Long ago when the Ah-wah-nee-chees were a young nation the rivers and lakes were the home to the Fish-women (Mermaids). These were beautiful creatures, having the tails of fish and the upper bodies of women. They could not leave the water, but would often sit on the rocks in the shallows, or around the edges of the deep pools, combing their long black hair, and chanting luring songs to the warriors. -- Miwok Folklore

Climbing up the road out of Georgetown, California; I curved in and out of the trees until hitting a stretch of blackened trees. A forest fire roared through the year before leaving devastation in its wake. I remember watching the news reports then and hoping that the firefighters would contain the fire before it reached the Loon Lake area. Climbing and winding through the smoke tainted toothpicks trees and grim reminders of blackened clear areas, I felt a great relief when I was in the tall green pines again miles from one of my favorite California lakes.

Loon Lake sits in the northern section of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in the Eldorado National Forest along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Nestled up close to the federally protected Desolation Wilderness, the recreation area is capped by the majestic granite peaks and traversed by lakes, reservoirs and streams spanning over 85,000 acres of forested rugged terrain along the Crystal Range.

Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips has hosted this two-day overnight one-of-a-kind camping experience in August for almost ten years. During the days, paddlers escape the heat while exploring the pine-scented Loon Lake. At night campers are treated to a night-time paddling experience to view the Perseid Meteor Shower. All the meals and paddling gear are provided, freeing kayakers up to only de-stress and unwind in the realm of nature.

Clear skies greeted me and the group of 20, mostly women boaters getting ready for their first trip on the water. I looked out over the pristine blue water and textured granite shore of the lake while unloading the kayaks.  At 6,378 feet, Loon Lake features 10 miles of boulder-lined shoreline with awe-inspiring views, however, last summer's drought had taken a toll on the mountain reservoir. It was about 50 percent of its normal level and the lake's crystal clear water was significantly lower. Our usual hidden-away paddling destinations and coves were now parched and dry. Our popular visit to the tunnel on the east end of the lake turned into a hike instead of a paddle.

The last on one on the water, I was following the group keeping my eye on their struggle and progress. It was a learning experience for some. Many hadn't paddled since their childhood days of summer camp, if ever at all, while some with kayaking in their blood speed ahead towards the distant mountaintops. We formed a long line across the lake connected by this same experience of peace and reflection. On the water, I melded into quiet meditation as I paddled along in pursuit. The natural surroundings of lakeshore, sky and water had raised my awareness and heightened my spiritually once again.

The lake might have been low, but the trip was full of laughter and springing with new friendships as the boaters paddled along the lakeshore. Each paddler shared the enthusiasm of kayaking with one another while embracing the beauty and calm of the day's journey. At dinner and the campfire afterward came more laughs, some wine and camaraderie.
"It's was a pretty good group," said Current Adventures Kayak School & Trips' Dan Crandall, "Most of them are doing something they have never tried before and enjoyed it. They all came as strangers and are leaving as friends. They will all probably end up paddling together. That's kayaking."

If you want to go contact:
Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips
PHONE: 530-333-9115 or Toll-Free: 888-452-9254
FAX: 530-333-1291
USPS: Current Adventures, P.O. Box 828, Lotus, CA 95651
info@currentadventures.com
owner Dan Crandall dan@kayaking.com

STARRY STARRY NIGHT....LOON LAKE PART I

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”--Jack London

"There goes one!" a voice calls out in the darkness.

"Where? I didn't see it," says another.

"Through the Big Dipper. It had a bright tail."

"Oh man! I missed it. What is that?

"An airplane." says another.

"Geez, we're not going back till I see one."

Lost in space between the stars in the heavens and the serene of the lake, we are adrift in the magic of the night. The constellations, Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Ursa Minor shine brilliantly in the moonless sky as our eyes focus toward the east in anticipation of catching a falling star.
There are less than a dozen of us floating in the tranquility of Loon Lake. Our bobbing armada of kayaks is lashed together by our fingers tips as each boater holds tightly to the boats between them. Colored glow sticks dangle in the shadows of our figures while some of our headlamps give an eerie glow. It's just after ten and there is a slight gleam over the mountains. It seems like the whole universe is presented before us.

Loon Lake renders the perfect backdrop for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower during its peak in the month of August. The Crystal Basin Recreation Area's lake on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just west of Lake Tahoe, offers scenic beauty, limited crowds and no light pollution. Tucked away and only a short drive from Sacramento, California, Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips have been providing overnight camping trips for the meteor shower for nearly 10 years. With meals, camping equipment and kayaks provided, paddlers and first-time campers enjoy a cozy "roughing it" in-style camp-out.

"I love the night time paddle,  says longtime lake visitor Djuna Archer, "It's looking up at the stars. This time we have no moon so it's beautiful. It's quiet, serene and lovely."

 This is our second time out on to the water. We had kayaked the length of the lake earlier during the day, however, at night, the lake takes on foreign appearance. The California drought has taken a toll on Loon Lake, dropping it excessively. It is lower than most can ever remember. Just finding our kayaks on the shadowy lake shore is an adventure in itself. In line, we are an illuminated parade of headlamps over the rocky beach to the boats and then, one by one we drop our kayaks into the water and drift into darkness. We follow the leader,  Current Adventure's Dan Crandall's glowing headwear to the center of the reservoir.

In the middle of the lake, we group together and lean back looking at the stars. The daytime heat is gone and a coolness brushes over the water. Our voices and the sound of the kayaks bumping together breaks the silence of the lake. We feel the slight vibration of the water below us as the rocking bows gently remind us we are not on solid ground. There is the mystery of water below us and a dazzling array stars above. Our thoughts navigate us through time and space... How long does it take the light of the stars to touch the earth? Can those satellites see us from above? I wish I could stay here forever.

"Especially in the dark nights," naturalist Henry David Thoreau said long ago while night fishing on Walden Pond, "When our thoughts had wandered to vast and cosmogonal themes and other spheres, to feel this faint jerk, which came to interrupt our dreams and link you to Nature again."  

Our thoughts are disrupted by a flash of a meteor's trail. Fourth of July oohs and awes charge the air. But, the shooting star is gone much to quickly to fully enjoy its splendor. The Perseid shower is known to rise gradually to a peak, then fall off rapidly afterward. We have just missed the peak by a couple of days. The meteor shower is more of a sprinkle but intermittent with wonder and laughter from our group on the lake. Seeing a falling star is always special, however catching it with new friends while kayaking a high Sierra lake is simply magical. It is an experience we will remember for a lifetime.

Dan left a light flashing on the shore so we could find our way back. We had a campfire, a couple of bottles of wine and a full day of paddling waiting for us tomorrow.

 

Part Two of my trip to Loon Lake next week in Outside Adventure to the Max.