OVER THE BOW: LAKE NATOMA

 A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.  ---Crazy Horse

It was an unseasonably warm fall day last month when my wife Debbie and I were paddling on Lake Natoma. On the north shore, we came along the pair of bald eagles sitting in the trees above. I reveled with exhilaration as I watched them loom over the lake, taking in the sights and sounds of everything below them. Then lifting their wings, one after another, they took to the sky, passing overhead on a low flyover to my elation.

"You certainly get excited about seeing eagles," Debbie said, "Didn't you see a lot back in Minnesota?"

I thought about that while floating along as I watched the eagles disappear from sight. During most of my life, I went without seeing bald eagles anywhere. The bald eagle population crashed in the 1950s and 1960s through the use of DDT pesticides. It was determined that DDT and its residues were poisoning bald eagles, causing eggshell thinning that resulting in many failed nesting attempts for the raptors. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species. According to the American Bird Conservancy, in 1963, when the species was at its lowest ebb, there were only an estimated 417 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

But with improved environmental stewardship and federal protection, our national bird has made rebounded across the United States. This includes the growing population in California. According to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, bald eagles can be found in 41 of the state's 58 counties, mostly at lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and some rangelands and coastal wetlands.
 

So yes, with the magnificent bird's comeback, it has allowed more people to get a glimpse of one more often so, it might not be considered unusual like before. But it still does not take away my excitement of seeing one. To Native Americans, the bald eagle serves as a messenger between humans and the Creator. While in the Judeo-Christian faith, the eagle soaring to many offers a theological perspective of restoration, reliance, and hope. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

I think to see one a majestic raptor usually relates to good vibes of positivity and excitement for just about anyone. Like John Denver, sang in his hit song Rocky Mountain "I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly," we all become a bit richer when we see these creatures.

A few days later, I was a leading group of paddlers across the Northern California lake when I caught a glimpse of the whitetail and the white head of one of the bald eagles. A pair of bald eagles have successfully nested along the bluffs of Lake Natoma since 2017.
Their nesting site is a popular area to viewing from a kayak where boaters can see the bird sitting high above. But that night, I had the good fortune to observe the bird near the water level. It was perch in a low hanging tree along the bank.

As I slowly tried to creep forward in the water, I witnessed a double treat of nature. A beaver swam below the fallen tree. While the eagle might not have been concerned about my presence, but the highly territorial beaver was. The beaver slapped its tail against the water with a loud smack and splash. It was a warning to other beavers, but also to the eagle about my proximity to them both.
It took the flight back to its lofty roost on the bluff, flying over my small group of thrilled paddlers.
I paddled away just a richer for the experience of having nature in my own backyard.

The Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma, a volunteer group that works in conjunction with State Parks to educate visitors about the eagle and their nesting site. If you would like to learn more about the eagles, check out their brochure New Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma Bald Eagle brochure.

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CREATURE FEATURE: 13 Places to Paddle this Halloween to see Ghosts, Monsters, and Spacemen

"When convention and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?" Special Agent Fox Mulder

It is no doubt that the waterways of our country are extraordinary places of beauty, history, and of course...lore. It is easy for us to conjure up happy summer memories exciting kayaking trips, and peaceful and serene canoe outings. However, the stories of the lakes or rivers' darker reputation are likely to be floating along with them. Mysterious tales of ghosts, monsters, and space invaders have been infused into their watery realm, possibly activating our overactive imagination.
“These are tricks that the mind plays," declared Gillian Anderson character skeptic Dana Scully in the Television Series The X-Files, "They are ingrained cliches from a thousand different horror films. When we hear a sound, we get a chill. We see a shadow, and we allow ourselves to imagine something that an otherwise rational person would discount out of hand."
But for some, there is no rational theory or explanation. In the backwater of our minds, we are inherently fascinated with the unknown and the unexplainable.
What's out there along the shoreline? A ghost? Or worse, a horrifying monster? Or is just some urban legend meant to scare us while sitting around the campfire on a full moon night in October. Like the X-Files exclaimed, "The truth is out there."
So whether you're, daring or doubtful, here are a few creepy and spooky waters you might want to paddle (if got the nerve) this Halloween or anytime for your opportunity to see a ghost, a flying saucer, or a monster.


Big Moose Lake, New York

Big Moose Lake is the perfect getaway spot. The quiet remote Adirondack lake is known for its scenic beauty and lake hamlet charm. But looks can be deceiving because the lake's placid waters are haunted by the restless spirit of a young woman who was murdered at the lake.
Grace Brown was just a country girl of humble means when she met Chester Gillette in 1906. From an affluent family, Gillette was considered a catch for any girl with his handsome looks and good family.
Pregnant with his child, she thought her it would be happily ever after when Gillette invited her on a romantic getaway to the Adirondack lake. Surely he would propose to her, or maybe they would get married while they were there, Brown must have thought. But Gillette had other plans of evil intent. A womanizer concerned about his social status, Gillette was about to let Brown upend his pursuit of the finer things in life.

The boathouse on Big Moose Lake 1906

On a bright and beautiful day in July, the couple rented a rowboat for a tour of the lake. While Brown reportedly didn't bring any luggage along, Gillette brought a suitcase, camera, and tennis racket. They never returned.
The next day the search party recovered the capsized rowboat and pulled up Brown's submerged lifeless body from the lake. She cuts on her face and mouth as if someone had beaten her. In the meantime, Gillette was nowhere to found.
The police caught up with Gillette at a nearby hotel under an assumed name. In their questioning, he told investigators that Brown had become distraught and leaped from the boat, and not knowing to swim, she drowns. The police weren't having any of it, after they found his broken tennis racket buried along the shore, they arrested Gillette.
The murder of Brown became one of the most fascinating crime stories of the early 1900s. In the subsequent trial, the prosecutor said Gillette planned out the murder in meticulous detail by beating her repeatedly with a tennis racket then tossed her body overboard. He was found guilty and was executed by the electric chair in 1908.
But our story doesn't end there. After over 100 years, people are still fascinated by this tragic tale of a woman who falls in love with the wrong man. Over the years, many books, movies, and even songs have been by the murder. But the most usual postscript is that even today, people claim to see the ghostly spirit of Grace Brown sadly roaming the shore of Big Moose Lake.

Scape Ore Swamp, South Carolina

Paddling at Scape Ore Swamp does not seem to be a recommended activity. First, there doesn't appear to be enough water. And most important, Its number one resident seems to have an appetite for chrome and possibly your aluminum canoe.
Thick overgrowth, oozing with mud and silt, the murky black amber water of the Scape Ore Swamp is a dreadful and eerie scene near Bishopville. And that might be the very reason some say a scaly creature just might refuge to go unnoticed by humans…well, almost unnoticed.
Like in an opening scene of a low-budget horror movie, our story of the Lizard Man began in 1988, after you guess it, a teenager blew a tire on his way home a deserted road late at night. Cue scary music. After putting on the spare, the man looked up and saw something running towards him out of the darkness of the swamp. What he would describe would become legendary. It was a seven feet tall reptilian humanoid with glowing red eyes, green scaly skin, and long black claws. The kid quickly got into the car, locked the doors, and gunned the engine. Trying to speed odd he looked into the rearview mirror and saw the green blur chasing and then jumping on his car. Cue even more scary music.
Swerving in the car from side to side, the teen managed to escape from eh clutches of the monster. However, the side-view-mirror was damaged, and scratch marks were found on the car's roof.

Scape Ore Swamp

Throughout the summer, area law enforcement started getting reports of cars getting mysteriously damaged. Monster type vandalism of fenders being ripped off, the antennas were bent, deep scratches along the body, and chrome trim had seemingly been chewed off. But even more, alarming were the witnesses saying they had seen or even attacked an enormous scaly green humanoid lurking in the woods and swamps.
Overnight the Lizard Man became famous as folks theorized what this creature might be. Was it a long lost dinosaur? A cousin of Bigfoot?
A South Carolina Marine Resources Department spokesperson said the tracks neither matched nor could be mistaken for the footprints of any recorded animal. A local radio station wanted to know and offered a $1 million reward to anybody who could capture the creature alive.
But no ever cashed in, and the Lizard Man is still out there many think inhabiting the swampland. Over the decades, there have been a few sightings along with and some auto maulings. In 2015, a woman claimed to have taken a photograph of the creature with her cellphone, while leaving church. Cue scary music

The Ohio River, West Virginia, and Ohio

The Mothman

 It was the deadliest bridge disaster in US history when in 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic, sending 46 people deaths when they went into the frigid Ohio River. The investigation ruled a structural defect led to the tragedy, but while others suggest a more weird and disturbing theory.
In November of 1966, a year before the deadly accident, numerous witnesses reported seeing a large grey man-like creature with glowing red eyes and wings spanning upwards of ten feet and flying over 100 miles hour.
Skeptical police said the mysterious creature was likely a bird. But more and more sighting reported saying it was a man with wings, possibly an alien visitor or military went horribly experiment, and the legend of the Mothman was born.
Described as a nightmarish demon, many of the terrified townfolk thought the Mothman to be a sinister prelude to doom. And when the bridge collapsed only a year later, many thought the Mothman sighting and the bridge disaster were connected. 

In 1975, in the book, The Mothman Prophecies, the creepy folk legend took flight with conspiracy theorists and fans of the paranormal saying that visitations from the Mothman were a foreboding of disaster. In 2002, a motion picture popularized the creature's prophetic powers. A couple years later,  a 12-foot-tall chrome-polished statue of the Mothman complete with massive steel wings and ruby-red eyes was placed in front of Point Pleasant's historical museum for all to see.
The last sighting of the Mothman happened in 2016 when a man produced a photograph of the creature. How many disasters can we think that came after?

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area Park, Kentucky/Tennessee

The Land Between the Lakes encompasses hundreds of miles of wilderness lakes and river shores between Kentucky and Tennessee.with easy access points for kayaks and canoes to enter the water to enjoy picturesque views of nature and wildlife. It's a relaxing way to get away from it all, that is until you hear the bloodcurdling howls, but then it might be too late to get away.
The Beast of the Land Between the Lakes is said to be a werewolf, a frightening half-man, half-wolf creature that stands over seven feet with fiery eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and long jagged claws.
Stories have been told about The Beast since before the first white settlers came to the area. Legends told by Native Americans recounted how a massive beast, half-man, and half-wolf, would howl into the night when the moon was full, leaving behind a trail of mutilated animals carcasses. The French tappers called it Loup Garou, meaning werewolf.

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area Park

Before long frighting and gruesome folk tales emerged from the area's woods and bays. Hikers would hear its howling and have sensed something stalking them. Hunters would find deer carcasses that had been brutally torn apart or odd footprints and unusual tufts of hair. While canoeists would see it from the safety of their boats.
Of course, there were also horrifying rumors of the beast slaughtering a family of four in a camper and brutally killing a bow hunter by ripping his body apart.
In 2012 a hiker felt lucky to have survived the experience after coming in contact with the beast. In her first-hand account, she described the beast making the most bloodcurdling snarl she had ever heard. Frozen in fear, she began to pray as she looked at the massive growling beast. Her prayer was answered. The beast left in one direction, and she ran as fast as she could in the other, vowing to never return.
Just as in Bigfoot sightings, there is little physical evidence that the Beast of the Land Between the Lakes is indeed roaming about in the wilderness of the lake country, but don't take our word for it schedule a full moon paddle and listen for the howl.


 The Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana

The Honey Island Swamp is menacing enough with alligators, poison snakes, bears, and wild boars. Add in a few tales of pirates, buried treasure and haunting Indian Spirits, and mysterious green lights flickering, and becomes a bit foreboding. But throw in a swamp monster, and the place becomes downright creepy.
Named because after honeybees were associated with a nearby isle, the swamp borders Lake Borgne on the south and sandwiched between the Pearl River on the east and the west by the West Pearl River and is considered by many to be one of the most pristine swampland habitats in the United States. It is also said to be the home of the Honey Island Swamp Monster.
According to the local folklore, a pair of hunters encountered an enormous creature standing over the body of a bloody dead boar and accompanied by a foul smell in 1963. They would describe it as a terrifying monster, at seven-feet tall with long, orange-brown gray hair and fiendish yellow eyes. Of course, they had never seen anything like it before in the swamp. But where did such a creature come from?
The story that was told was that a traveling circus' train crashed, and the monkeys had escaped and interbreeding with the local alligator population. Experts discounted the claim, however in 1974 hunters found tracks and made a cast of web-footed, four-toed tracks appear to be somewhat similar to an alligator's rear foot supporting the theory. However, the idea of a large, half-ape half-gator lurking in thew swamp has drawn a few doubters over the years, So don't take our word for it. Go see for yourself. There are several swamp tours of the area.

 Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana

And while we will always recommend a reliable guide to lead the way, you just might think twice before following any creepy light blue light zipping through the trees along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, especially if you are a would-be treasure hunter seeking lost pirate gold.
Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary located north of New Orleans. Its brackish water can hasten the storm surge of any hurricane coming inland from the Gulf Of Mexico. As the first water route to New Orleans, it has a bewitching history of missionaries, soldiers, and pirates.
Pirate legend tells of a haunting tale of before the buccaneers would bury their booty, they would kill a member of their crew and toss his body into the hole with the treasure. His spirit doomed to guard the chest would take on the form of an ethereal orb of light known as a fifolet.
Now it was said, in the dead of night along the lake, two men witnessed the ball of blue flame and became mesmerized by it, knowing it would lead them to fabled treasure riches. They frantically chased the light till it stopped over the site and sank into the ground.
Furiously the two men began to dig until they uncovered a treasure chest. Greed overcame one of them as he hit the other head with his shovel monetarily knocking him out until he awoke to the screams of his assailant and treasure being sucked into the darkness of the swamp.
Fearing the same fate he ran away from the sinister spot only to return in the daylight where he found no trace of his partner or the treasure and found only undisturbed earth to mark the nightmarish tomb. Getting Scared?

Deer Island, Mississippi

Just as when Ichabod Crane encountered the Headless Horsemen, if you paddle to Deer Island right off the coast of Biloxi, you might just meet the Headless Skeleton. According to the local folklore, the pirate captain used his cutlass to sliced off the head of one of his crew and left his body behind to guard the buried treasure
As we all know, dead men tell no tales, but fishermen still do. The story goes back to the 1920s, two fishermen were exploring Deer Island when they heard rustling in the bushes, which they assumed was wild hogs. To their surprise, they came face to...well a terrifying headless skeleton ghost that chased them back to their boat. It seems ghost don't cross bridges or know how to swim.


Lake Worth, Texas

Texas is known for its tall tales. I'm sure that why one of the weirdest tales you'll ever hear comes from the Lone Star State. The legend of the Lake Worth creature has been told and retold since causing a widespread hysteria near Fort Worth in 1969.

The Goatman

A banner newspaper headline screamed “Fish Man-Goat Terrifies Couples Parked at Lake Worth” as witnesses claim to see a foul-smelling seven-foot-tall a half-man, half-goat type creature covered with both fur and slimy scales. Reports of hair-raising attacks followed as folks came forward to tell their story of their miraculous escape from the beast by the lake. One man saved himself by throwing leftover chicken at the attacking beast.
The paranoia was fueled even more after newspapers published fuzzy photos of the man-sized "white furball" they called The Goatman," and reports of dead sheep and blood and tracks too big for a man.
The alarm went out went. Texas has its Big Foot monster lurking on the shoreline. The quick draw Texans loaded up their rifles, shotguns, and six-shooters and headed to the lake to hunt the creature dead or alive. According to Dallas Morning News, the posse was at a clearing known for dumping near the lake, "When the monster made another appearance. It appeared on a cliff, looked angry, and threw a tire 500 feet. Everyone, including a group of sheriff deputies, ran away in fear."
The mystery of the "Goatman" was never solved. Real or imagined, even Over 50 years later, the Lake Worth Monster is still feared by many. And as the tale continues to be told and retold around Texas campfires, the legend of the Goatman only grows bigger.

 Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Minnesota

The Great Lakes has always a destination for tourism. It is out of this world for picturesque lake views of scenic coastlines and beautiful beaches. And maybe that's why it gets lake visitors that are not of this world. The two lakes have been the backdrop of many well-documented UFO sightings.
In 1953 over Lake Superior, the U.S. Air Defense Command noticed a blip on the radar where it should not have been. It was an unidentified flying object. An Air Force jet with two crew members was sent out to intercept it. On radar, Ground Control tracked the fighter jet and the UFO as two "blips" on the screen until they converge. Something had happened. And then the first radar blip UFO, return quickly veered off and vanished. Attempts were made to contact the fighter jet without success. The subsequent search and rescue operation failed to find a trace of the plane or the pilots.
The Air Force tried the usual explanation for the disappearance, while others speculated that the jet had crashed into the UFO’s protective beam or beamed them aboard their spacecraft. To this day, it's one of Great Lakes' great mysteries.
 

But the so-called close encounters did stop there. In Duluth, Minn, in 1965, several eyewitnesses reported seeing a flying saucer over Lake Superior. The flashing object was reported at traveling in an erratic path and at high before disappearing in a few seconds. While back on Lake Michigan on March 8, 1994, 911 calls flooded dispatchers with reports of eerie lights filled the sky along nearly 200 miles of lake's shoreline as hundreds of people claimed to have seen the UFOs. Witnesses describe four lights in the sky that looked like "full moons hovering in the sky before vanishing. While the sighting of UFOs continues to occur to this day, that appearance of floating lights was one of the largest UFO sightings in Michigan history remains a mystery.

 Lake Many Point, Minnesota

For years, scary tales around the campfire at Many Point Scout Camp have spooked many a young scout after sundown. Like many spine chilling stories, it's only when glowing embers are at their last that the legend is told. As one of those scouts, my son Taylor Carlson recalled this account from a campfire long ago.   
The story begins with how glaciers formed Lake Agassiz and how that formed the land of Minnesota's lakes. In an Ojibwe legend. A young man was hunting a bear. They fight and both of them die in a river. Their blood mixes and flows back into the man and he awakens as a monstrous Yeti.

The Ojibwe people who had settled along "the lake with many points, " warned French fur traders and lumberjacks. They told them to stay away from the bog on the southeast shore. But, nobody listens, and people died.
In 1946, Wint Hartman opens a summer camp on the shores of the lake. It was said that in those early years, a brave boy and his two nervous friends went on a camp out on a hill near the bog while trying to earn the camping merit badge. They are never seen again. All that was found was a ransacked campsite. It's was ruled as a bear attack, but the Ojibwe knew better and claimed it's was the yeti.
In 1971, Daniel Kaiser is a popular camp commissioner at the camp. He's a beloved big man and certainly not afraid of any stories about a yeti. He builds Flintlock Lodge across the road from the bog.
It was on a cool night in June when Daniel tells jokes and stories at a campfire Ten Chief's Camp. As he leaves, he forgets his flashlight and walks alone in the dark woods back to Flintlock Lodge.
It was before sunrise when Daniel finally bursts into Flintlock Lodge in a terrified panic. The alarmed staff awake and discover him craving into a piece of leather a picture of the yeti. White with fear Daniel, passes out and sleeps for 3 days. He then quits the job and is never seen again.
Meanwhile, the leather picture is framed and hangs in Flintlock Lodge until it is lost in 1995 after a violent windstorm destroys the old lodge.
Sleep well, little campers.

Walgren Lake, Nebraska

In prehistoric days, in what now is Nebraska, there was an inland sea and filled to the brim with scary creatures from the deep. However, today you wouldn't think of finding any ocean creatures outside of fossils anywhere for a state known for its Great Plains. But you would be wrong. In Nebraska's Walgren Lake, stories have been told about the serpentine sea monster that has been circulating the lake for nearly 100 years.

Originally called Alkali Lake, Walgren Lake is a small lake located near the town of Hay Springs. As the story goes, the first sighting of the lake monster happened in 1921. Folks described a creature that was dull grey or brown and similar to an alligator, but much larger and heavier with a horn between its eyes and nostrils.
“There is something there, and very large too,” an eyewitness told the local paper. “Or it could not splash the water as it did.”
In 1923 the Giant fish story only grew, when eyewitnesses reported seeing a 40 feet long single-horned alligator-esque creature in the lake. They said it let out a “dreadful roar” from the water and began to devour anything in its path with its razor-sharp teeth, and it also had an atrocious smell.
Sightings continued throughout the 1920s with second-hand reports of claims of seeing the monster nearby ranchers reporting the loss of many livestock to the beast. The last sighting of the beast was reported in 1885, and it hasn’t been seen since. Unless you count, being celebrated in the community during annual parades.

Rogue River, Oregon

When it comes to UFOs, the Pacific Northwest includes some of the most famous reported sightings in United States history. One of the most famous reports of a UFO happened in McMinnville in 1950. However, almost a year before that sighting, 5 fishermen near the mouth of the Rogue River on Oregon’s Southern Coast near Gold Beach witnessed an object similar to the one in the McMinnville case.

They described it as a shiny plate-shaped object, shaped like a pancake about a mile away and hovering at 5,000 feet. Like the flying saucers from science fiction, it had
no wings, no antenna, no lights, no propellers, and no jet engines.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations looked into the sighting, and subsequent independent investigations report it as a UFO. Now that is a fish story.

Avocado Lake, California

Avocado Lake Park, located about 23 miles east of Fresno, California, is a great place to enjoy family time paddling and picnicking. Don't believe us? Just ask any member of the local Bigfoot family living near the northern California lake?
Now spotting Bigfoot here and there in Northern California is nothing new. The first report of the hairy, muscular, bipedal ape-like creature was over 60 years ago. But, according to a local farmer near the lake, he said he saw a family of five or six Bigfoot running on his ranch in the middle of the night in 2017.
 “One of them, which was extremely tall, had a pig over its shoulder," he told the local media about the incident.

Avacado Lake

Sightings are not that uncommon near the lake. A woman who said her two sons saw a Bigfoot in their orchard and one from a man who saw five creatures in the same orchard. However, the most frightening account came from 2014 when a man described what felt like 'a pair of hairy arms wrap around both of my legs and started to pull me under' Fighting to getaway the man the escaped the disturbing attack like a....hmmm, a greased pig.

So are you a believer or skeptic? Are there really ghostly spirits, flying saucers, and terrifying monsters lurking along the shoreline? Or are they just some invented imaginary anecdotes told to try to scare us. That's up for you to decide when you paddle these spooky places for yourself. Go ahead. But don't say we didn't warn you. Happy Halloween!

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A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD & VIDEO

 

"How many times have you noticed that it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?"--- Fred Rogers

I can't count how many times I've paddled on Lake Natoma. It's well over 100 times since moving to California. Sure it's not the rugged high Sierra wilderness or hidden in among the pines of a primeval forest. As a matter of fact, it is surrounded by an urban densely populated urban area and encompassed by highways. However, Located just not even a mile away from my home, it never ceases to amaze them of how I can escape into a backyard of nature just minutes from the buzz of city traffic while kayaking through its sloughs.

A Sacramento area favorite, the narrow 5-mile lake that is part of the California State Parks Folsom SRA is a haven for kayakers, stand up paddleboarders, and crew racers all year long. On any weekend throughout the summer, the lake access at Negro Bar, Willow Creek, and Nimbus Flats are local hot spots to kick back and enjoy the day while on the water.

The lake is also a wildlife sanctuary. On just about any day, I can get a close-up view of black-tailed deer, river otters, egrets, herons, hawks, pelicans, beavers, and pond turtles. A convocation of eagles in the past couple of years has taken to nesting on the lake's high ridge, offers me a treat to see them soar.

Yes, as my kayak whisperers through the culvert under the bike trail and into the sloughs, it becomes my personal refuge and an oasis of quiet, where I can contemplate the universe in the spirit of Thoreau, Muir, Abbey, and Leopold. In each muffled stroke of my paddle, alone, I slipped further away into nature's domain.

“Solitude is different from loneliness, and it doesn’t have to be a lonely kind of thing, ” said Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood fame
Real solitude is almost impossible to experience in this modern world. But here, it's with reach. As my paddle methodically slides in and out of the water, I find something new that opens up before me. In the realms of my thoughts, interests, and, memories my mind is in introspection, with each trip into the quiet waters of the slough. Maybe a place for inspiration and definitely a place for reflection.

It is autumn in northern California, and there is a touch of color along the banks. Bright reds and dull yellows leaves give a hint of color to the trees, while faded clumps of iris and shriveled blackberries that cling to the vine. Towards the end of the slough, cattails take over the view. Ducks, geese, and deer are common here, along with the turtles that make the plop plop sound as they slip from their tree overhang while I effortlessly glide by. It's truly is a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
In each day, I believe it becomes imperative more than ever that we unplug and head out to our nearby backyard places like Lake Natoma and with each paddle stroke, seek out the abundance of life.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts," wrote Rachel Carson environmental activist who alerted the world to the impact of fertilizers and pesticides in the environment, best known for her book the Silent Spring, "There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

 

 

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THE JOY OF PADDLING IN AUTUMN

"The perfect weather of Indian summer lengthened and lingered, warm sunny days were followed by brisk nights with Halloween a presentiment in the air." --- Wallace Stegner 

Autumn is a perfect time to paddle. Okay, Okay. For me, any season is the right time to get into my kayak and paddle the river or lake. However, in the fall, I do enjoy certain paddling benefits that do not accompany the other season as well.

Journeying down the Lower American River last weekend, I traveled quietly along on the downstream stretch under brilliant skies and heard the ripples and rush of the river. While summer had come and gone, the water temperature was still warm enough to wade into while getting in my kayak. It has been a warm start to our fall season so far this year in California. Wildfires and red flag warnings have been in the mix since Labor Day in this year's historic fire season.
 

The American River is running at an easy flow. Water levels are always a consideration this time of year. For area lakes and reservoirs, water levels are down, unlike during the springtime when they are brimming. For nearby Folsom Lake, even if the water level low, there is still plenty of water for paddling. The speed boats and jet skis have left for the season, leaving behind fewer waves and an uncrowded lake. Late into the fall, the lakeshore can look like the surface of Mars. While neighborhood favorite Lake Natoma water levels are always fluctuating, when it's when water is high, it offers some hideaway sloughs to explore. In the lake's backwaters, with fewer leaves to contend with, I'm able to spot the deer easily through the trees along the shore. While in the air, I was thrilled to see the lake's bald eagle couple make a soaring flyover. And towards sunset, I came across a beaver moving through the water. He slapped his tail to give me a warning that I was too close, I suppose. It went on its way of preparing for winter, while I paddled by.
 

Back on the American River, the day was already a success with seeing a bald eagle, several snow-white egrets, and a playful river otter who greeted me with few grunts as I paddled by.
It's time for the salmon run and the area fishermen were out this past weekend. While some line the shore side by side, others are hip-deep in the stream. I'm not a fisherman of any sort, but I can't help by marvel at their artistry of the flyfishermen as they cast their lines with precision and flair.
“Until a man is redeemed he will always take a fly rod too far back," wrote “A River Runs Through It” author Norman Maclean, "Just as natural man always overswings with an ax or golf club and loses all his power somewhere in the air.”
The experts have made their casting poetry in motion, even if they come home without a fish. As writer Roderick Haig-Brown said, "There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home."

It's like that for me with paddling, I suppose. In the solitude and sanctuary of the water, I've never had a bad day of paddling. Going down the river, my mind reflects on my autumn paddling memories from the past.
“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves,” wrote, Joe. L. Wheeler. Maybe so? Floating along, it's easy for me to drift off and think about those The cool and crisp mornings of my Minnesota canoe and kayak days. The bugs were long gone after the frost came and the placid lakes rendered stunning reflections of reds, yellows, and oranges across the waters at Maplewood State Park against the clear blue fall sky. But I often forget fall doesn't' last long in the northern tier. There when an unexpected cold snap and early snow would ice my paddling season.
 

The weather and colors did not have dramatic along the American River as paddle over the rushing slide of water above the Fair Oaks Bridge. Only a few pale yellow leaves on few trees scattered along the shore. The sloughs of Lake Natoma offer a bit more, along with the lakes in the Sierra and the foothills.
Canoe guru Bill Mason said, “Anyone who says they like portaging is either a liar or crazy.” I'm sure the dozen or so fisherman lining the back across from me must be thinking as I carried my kayak back over the rocks of the slid to paddle upstream back to Sailor Bar.

It was not a solitary paddling experience. I chased a few migrating salmon before they disappeared under the water. Ducks and geese, a common sight along the shoreline, pay little attention to me as I trek past them. During the summer, of course, the river is crowded with other boaters and rafters. But this time of year, the interest in floating along the river has faded for most.
Even for fishermen, time is limited. Fishing season end on this section of the river on October 31st.
Going upstream, I have two more portages to go before getting back to Sailor Bar, so I take my time to enjoy the peace and the solitude. As I dip my paddle, a rustling of fall leaves swirls through the air and landed ever so softly in the water beside me. I take another forward stroke while the leaves are being gentling are carried off by the current of the river going the other way.

 

The appearance of autumn does not call for the disappearance of kayaks or standup paddleboards. Fall and wintertime waters offer a quieter and solitary experience. Who doesn't appreciate fewer bugs, crowds, and empty parking spots at the access? Just remember simple safety factors involving hypothermia. Even water temperatures as high as 75 and 80 degrees F (24 and 27 degrees C) can be dangerous, but generally the colder the water, the faster it happens.

Another tip for your cold-weather paddling adventures: The sun is starting to set earlier and earlier, and you will have to keep this in mind while you are out on an autumn tour. When the days are short, you’ll want to utilize as much sunlight as possible. Daylight savings times ends on November 1st.

FIVE simple tips for anyone looking to extend the length of their paddling season into the winter months.

 

1. Wear your PFD! 
2. Layering up against the cold. 
3. Familiarize yourself with rescue techniques 
4. Be well fed and hydrated when paddling.
5. Mind the light 

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LAKE NATOMA GLOW PADDLE WITH VIDEO

Paddlers taking part in the 4th annual Glow Paddle gleamed in the darkness on California State Park's Lake Natoma last weekend as they illuminated their canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards with colorful lights and decorations during the yearly paddle.
"It was a blast," said John Taylor, a paddler with Bayside Adventures Sports, an active Sacramento faith-based outdoor group, "All the boats were lit up so well. Hats off to all for making this happen."

For the past three years, the unofficial Glow Paddle has been held in conjunction with the Folsom Parks & Recreation Department's annual Glow Event. The walk/ run is a family-friendly, non-competitive run/walk for all ages where participants dressed up in costumes that glowed, blinked, sparked, and shined along the route. The neon shining walkers and runners decked out with glow sticks, glow glasses, glow necklaces lit up the trail from Folsom's Historic District, across the walk bridge over Lake Natoma, through the Negro Bar unit of the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, and back again.

Paddler Pearli Van used Facebook to ignited the first Glow Paddle event on Lake Natoma. That year, only a few paddlers were flickering under the walk bridge to cheer on the walkers when they passed by. The next two Glow Paddles glimmered even brighter as more paddling groups became involved.
But when the Covid-19 pandemic doused the official Glow Event, that did not stop paddlers like Tim Senechal from generating the power to keep it going.
"This year there was no Folsom glow run to accompany it, but that didn’t stop us!" wrote Senechal on Facebook.

Photo Courtesy of Kassie Lee

Over 100 paddlers took part in the event, many from area paddling groups while other paddlers just came out after hearing about the event on social media. During the Glow Paddle, organizers stressed social distancing at the access at the Negro Bar boat ramp, along with wearing a PFD and following all state recreation area rules.

"So I was one of the jealous folks on the old bridge who had no clue you all existed until now," wrote Kassie Lee in a Facebook post, "Next time my SUP and I will be ready. Thanks for the pleasant surprise to my family's night out. The kids loved the lights.
"This event," wrote Senechal on a Facebook post, "Which started out with about 12 kayaks a few years ago, grew to over 100 kayakers tonight. This was no organized event. Just word of mouth through a few Facebook groups. Pretty amazing!" 

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URBAN PADDLING: A TRIP DOWN THE LOWER AMERICAN RIVER

 

Most of us picture paddling out in the heart of nature. It is easy to see ourselves gliding along on a serene mountain lake or into the bays of a country lake. For the more adventuresome, maybe running a scenic wild river or out in the ocean against a rugged coastline is more your style. But as more and more people take up paddling, an urban kayaking trend is emerging. Paddlers from coast to coast say paddling along their urban waterway has changed their perspective of their neighborhood river and the city along its banks. Switching to panoramic views of skyscrapers, bridges, and other urban dwellings instead of mountains or forest scenes offer paddlers an alternate aspect of their town often not seen.

"We love urban kayaking and it was fun to see the Minneapolis skyline from the water," wrote Minnesota based blogger Jenna Kvidt in Wander The Map! while paddling through on the Mississippi through the heart of the Twin Cities, "It’s a perspective of the city we had yet to witness, plus getting out on the water is always a great time."
Once New York paddler Noriko Okaya got over her fears of paddling New York City's Hudson River, she wrote there was no better way to see the city.
"Just over the horizon the Hudson offers magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline and a unique view of some of the most iconic man-made landmarks of the world, including the Empire State, Chrysler, the Standard, Whitney Museum, and One World Trade Center," wrote Okaya in PaddleXaminer, " Not many people get to see the city the way we do from the water, and in my opinion, it’s the best way to see New York."
While Jennifer Koerner, who is with Up the Creek Expeditions based in Jacksonville, Fla., found beauty at every turn while touring the St. Mary's River.
"At first, I couldn't imagine why someone would want to paddle by buildings and bridges. But look at the railroad trestle up. It looks like art to me," Koerner told First Coast News.

After sliding my kayak into the Lower American River at the Rossmoor Bar Access in Rancho Cordova, Ca., just east of Sacramento, I said to my paddling partner John Taylor, "How lucky we are to have this river right in our own backyard just minutes from my home."
Taylor is a veteran of many voyages down the American says no trip has ever been the same.
"I'll see something different every time," John said.

The Lower American River meanders through a network of highways, suburban streets, and urban bustle for 23 miles immediately after leaving Lake Natoma and Nimbus Dam, all the way to the confluence with the Sacramento River. At least that is what the map says, but on the river, we are in a different world.
The American River Parkway is a looping green ribbon that shelters the river and its shore for most of the way to the Sacramento River. Often called "the jewel” of the Sacramento Region, the river is the central focus of the Parkway, which features a good-mix of fast-moving currents, along with some slow and lazy flows that are perfect for most beginning paddlers. Annually more than 5 million visitors use the Parkway, not for paddling, but hiking and biking also.

It was a late summer trip for us. Past the season when a large rafting crowd frequent the river in large yellow or blue rafts with full coolers and no paddles. Popular on the hottest days of the summer, the river turns into a jamboree of hijinks, loud music, and bad sunburns. During a mid-summer trip where I took two groups down the river on the same day, I told them that the morning group would see nature, while the afternoon group would see "wildlife."

We put in on the river below San Juan Rapids with two other paddlers, skipping the sometimes tricky rapid. We still have a long way to go with an estimated 17 miles to the confluence with the Sacramento River. There is a bright blue sky, a slight breeze, a relaxing flow, and no sign of anyone outside of a few fishermen.
Classified as a “Recreation” river within the State and Federal Wild and Scenic River Systems, it was a little hard to imagine we were surrounded by the city. Since being established, the American River Parkway has ensure the preservation of the river's naturalistic environment.
"With the American River at my feet," wrote David Dawson, in the American River Parkway Foundation newsletter Stories from the Parkway, "I saw nothing of the two million human beings who surrounded me in the Sacramento metropolitan area. I saw no streets, no cars, no buildings, and no lights."

 Varieties of animal wildlife such as wild turkey, deer, and hawks can be seen at every bend, while river otters and beaver wait till twilight. We saw a few deer passing over a few fast ripples near Ancil Hoffman Park. As the river turns to the south leading up River Bend Park, we paddle past a row of river homes and under the Harold Richey Bicycle Bridge, to signify that we are not that far from civilization. 

The river speeds up down to Harrington Access as we encountered Arden Rapids. It is not as challenging as the San Juan Rapids as the river pushes against gravel deposits creating some standing waves.
"Go right down the middle," John tells the others.
It's a rubber raft graveyard as we encounter sunken trees and shredded rafts along the way. On a summer trip, we watched the Fire Department rescue some rafters stuck in the snag of trees.

Islands and channels provide jungle-like exploring opportunities along the way, But now it was time to paddle because the current had slowed. We heard the roar of city traffic at the Watt and Howe Avenue bridges. While cruising past the monolithic-looking structure of Sacramento's' Water treatment plant, we saw the Guy West Bridge suspension bridge. Designed to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, it is used by bicyclists and pedestrians to get to the Sacramento State University campus. From now on, the closer we will come to the Sacramento River the more bridges we will encounter. 

Like most urban areas, Sacramento is plagued with a growing homeless population. We paddle past scores of tents, tarps, and encampments line the river shore along with shopping carts, abandoned bicycles, and piles of trash. It is illegal to camp along the American River Parkway, but efforts to rousted the homeless from the riverway have been limited since for most, there is nowhere else for them to go.
I told John, "As much as I love this river, this is a terrible existence for them. How stressful and dangerous their lives must be. My heart goes out to them.

A train horn bellowed from above on railroad trestle as we come up to Sutter's Landing. Like all river towns, Sacramento history intertwines with the river. Captain John A. Sutter established a permanent camp and later built his fort south of the river. There is not much evidence from the past here as the dirt used to construct levees were built to elevate the city to prevent flooding leaving behind open pits. It became the city landfill for number years. Now through restoration, it is a popular park along the Parkway.

As we continued downstream, the pace slows considerably. We might have been in a hurry to get to the Sacramento River and Discovery park but, the Lower American River was not. It's deep and wide now. The ripples are gone and the river appears idle. Our kayaks were tugged along lazily like Huck Finn on the Mississippi. We paddled by two railroad bridges, one with its supports spray-painted with graffiti and was a former railroad bridge now reserved for bikes and pedestrians.

We are in the heart of the city now, except it still seems wild. Here the river is cradled by trees, obscuring any urban buildings from view. Only the I-5 bridge and a few motorboats let us know our journey is almost finished.
In the distance, a jet ski and rider revs up and heads out on the Sacramento River just past the Jibboom Bridge, a historic metal truss dinosaur of a bridge built-in 1931. A swing bridge from days gone by, it now has only light traffic in its park setting. It is the last bridge we pass under during our paddle down the American River.
The Sacramento River was a dingy pale brown compared to the American River and its clear flows as we crossover into its murky water turned up by powerboats. We look to the south and finally see the city of Sacramento and its tall high-rise buildings and waterfront.
While we had to wait till the very end of our great urban adventure down the American River to see the skyscrapers of Sacramento, our trip still gave us all a new perspective of our city and its waterway. 

And no matter how many times I will paddle The Lower American River as John says, it will always be a new and different experience every time, especially when I see it over the bow of your kayak.

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KAYAK SUMMER 2020

Lake Clementine

Making storytelling photos has always been my mantra. Throughout my journalistic career to now, as I document my kayaking paddling days, on Instagram, and for my post in Outside Adventure to the Max, I want to tell you a story. Each day, I hope to capture in a photograph what the day was like and what did. Was it sunny and bright or a bit gloomy? Was I with or leading a group, or was I on a solo trek across the water?

Sunset Paddle on Lake Natoma

I love to shoot a lot of my photos in the so-called Golden Hour. I have a propensity to light and shadows and the mood it presents. I find it irresistible to let those magical moments pass without trying to catch just a part of it. I can not lie. It makes for beautiful pictures, especially when on the water. Those serene moments make my kayak tripping a bit romantic and picturesque.
Yet the storyteller in me also wants to share my so non-romantic things about my paddling days. The grittiness of the heavy kayak and steep portage to the sluggishness of sluffing boats at the end of the day at the boathouse, to the unplanned swims, Not all my paddling days are a memory of cool Kodak moments.

Summer 2020 was far from picture perfect and a bit more unalluring and unappealing than any photos can suggest. By most accounts, it was an unfocused and somewhat shaky ordeal that will be remembered more for what we didn't do rather than what we actually did.

Sly Park Paddle Rentals

For all of us, Summer 2020 certainly did not start all that well. The as the novel coronavirus know as the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly canceled and delay it from the start.
"Now we have something that turned out to be my worst nightmare," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN in June, "In the period of four months, it has devastated the world."

At the start of the summer season, self-quarantining recommendations and restrictions became the norm. Movie theaters, indoor restaurants, and churches were closed. Events and festivals were canceled, and stacks of guidelines were imposed, calling for "social distancing" by staying at least six-feet part from one another.
Across the country, popular national, state, and local parks and beaches were either closed or were limiting access as health officials raised health concerns about large, possibly maskless, groups of visitors arriving and potentially skirting social distancing guidelines.
But as we all know, going outside is good for us, especially in a pandemic. Being in nature and the fresh air can help us relax and feel less stressed, which is what we needed most both then and even now. 

South Fork of American River

So I took advantage of my free time to head to the Lower American River and even run the South Fork of the River with a couple of guys during the early days of the summer shutdown.

As the stay-in-place restrictions were relaxed, outdoor places like state parks suddenly become important in a new way. They were safe places, but only if people recreated reasonably. Masks for many became the fashion as we looked in either bandits or doctors when they arrived a the boat launch. At Sly Park Paddle Rentals, where I worked after the delayed start, I would give all the equipment a sanitizing bath in E-san 64 after each rental. As the pandemic lingered into the middle of summer, people continued to flock to places like Lake Jenkinson, giving me a busy and brisk business as folks tried to escape the routine of the pandemic by getting on the water. 

Loon Lake

But just the same, it was not all work and no play. The after-hours canoeing and kayaking sessions in the lake helped give me a sense of normalcy. An annual trip down the Lower American River and no-frills expedition to Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports, a Christian based outreach group, gave me a chance to lead a great group of paddlers. Okay, okay! That week on the was close to picture-perfect as could be, for me and maybe all them. It was the highlight of my summer.

But with every high, there comes a low. And this seemly apocalyptic summer dished out a slew of record-breaking temperatures, devastating wildfires, and ghostly orange and Martian-red skies from the shadow of smoke blowing eastward during the ladder part of the summer. A mid-September camping trip to Sierra Mountains Silver Lake was called-off due to the threat of fire danger, and my days on Lake Jenkinson were plagued with smoke and haze. It led me to get some dramatic photos, but also a realization that with climate change being unchecked this could be a prelude of things annually. 

Lake Jenkinson

It's official. No matter how I regard it, this lost summer is over, and fall has begun. Time to start planning for next year. While for some, this ominous year of 2020 can not get over quickly enough as we all deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, racial unrest, and looming contentious election. As we start the Autumn season, we search for that silver lining.

“Our main job as artists is to make the art that only we can make, right now in the times in which we are living,” wrote California College of Arts Dean of Fine Arts Allison Smith to her students this past year. “The art you are about to make will be a source of survival, and it will change us all for the better,” she concluded. 

So in these crazy times, I look back on my summer 2020. I certainly will cherish all my photo moments, both good and bad, all the friendly faces, and all the memories of my time on the water. To help me and maybe even you cruise through to till next summer, I picked out some of my favorite images I created over the past few months to help recall the past season like no other.

Here is a look at some of my favorite images from this past summer.

Loon Lake with Bayside Adventure Sports

Lake Jenkinson

 

Sly Park Paddle Rentals

Donner Lake

Lake Jenkinson

Lake Valley Reservoir

North Fork of the American River

 

The American River Parkway

Lake Jenkinson

Lake Jenkinson

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