NEW ADVENTURES ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER & VIDEO

"I wanted to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land." ---Jedediah Strong Smith:

In 1828, mountain man, explorer, and trailblazer Jedediah Strong Smith led an expedition up the Sacramento River through the north end of California’s Central Valley. Thinking it was the Buenaventura River, a fabled waterway once believed to run from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean of what is now the western United States. In finding the river's true source, Smith believed he could link the east and the west with a water route by finding a waterway from coast to coast.
Of course, it didn't happen. As many explorers have found all water routes are more mythical than factual. Upon reaching a point on the river near present-day Red Bluff, California, the explorer determined it to be impassable and veered off to the northwest and the Pacific coast.

"April 10, 1828, I moved on with the intention of traveling up the Buenaventura but soon found the rocky hills coming in so close to the river as to make it impossible to travel. I went on in advance of the party and ascending a high point took a view of the county, and found the river coming from the Ne and running apparently for 20 or 30 miles through ragged rocky hills. The mountains beyond appeared too high to cross at that season of the year or perhaps at any other. Believing it impossible to travel up the river, I turned back into the valley and encamped on the river with the intention of crossing.” Jedediah Strong Smith

As a modern-day explorer, I can understand Smith's zeal for venturing into the unknown and discovering new places and remote sights. My wanderlust is always looking for different and unfamiliar rivers and lakes to explore. As J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, "Not all those who wander are lost.”
That being said, unlike Smith, the Sacramento River has been mapped, explored fished, and rafted by countless before us. Our roughly trip 25 mile trip from Anderson Riverside Park south of Redding to Bend Bridge Park north of Red Bluff is hardly the first descent. Because of its fast and lively flows, this section of the Sacramento River is extremely popular for canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. However, for everyone in our group of four paddlers, the riverway had been on a long bucket-list of one we wanted to explore.

Being California's longest river, the Sacramento offers frequent ripples, its share of standing waves and swirling whirlpools, and steady currents moving quickly in this semi-remote section of the river. Weaving southward past a few highway bridges, the river provides a cross-section of scenery along the way and able spots for camping on both sides of the river.

Likely, Smith didn't experience this section of the river. He turned off into history before exploring this section of the Sacramento River. But for the four of us, the river trip dared us for a new adventure of exploration and fresh horizon. As Astronaut Neil Armstrong said, "I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream."

 

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BLESSINGS OF THANKSGIVING

 

 "My Thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence.” –-- Henry David Thoreau

 

In this Covid-19 world, there might some might think there is little to be grateful for. After all, we are amid a surging worldwide pandemic. The death toll continues to mount at staggering 244,00 Americans, which health experts say could double by spring. The economic numbers are just as bad, with millions of unemployed Americans as governors and mayors across the U.S. are ratcheting up restrictions in the onslaught of the virus resurgence.
I reflect on those who have died and those who have fought to survive while being sick. I think about the overwhelmed healthcare providers and the ordinary people who are struggling without paychecks.

That is what was crossing my mind as I took a quiet morning paddle along a stretch of the American River just last weekend. It was a brilliant California mid-fall day with not a cloud in the sky. Storms would be bringing rain and snow in the week ahead. But that day provided an unusual view of the glistening Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.
The customary array of waterfowl joined on the water. Big Canadian geese with blackheads and white cheeks come begging for food in the Sailor Bar lagoon, while white and grey seagulls canvass the shallows of the river. A blueish-grey great blue heron stands motionless on one leg at the water's edge while a small brood of merganser race by across the water. The dashing male wood duck with his intricate plumage of a green head and brown has caught the eye of two females, who look a little drab next to their male counterparts. Along the rocks of the shore, one small sandpiper hops along the rocks while soaring up above the half dozen turkey vultures circle in the sky.

 
A deer followed by another come out to the river's edge. Curiously both study me, till they decide, I'm a bit too close for their comfort, and they wandered back into the brush.
In the shallows, I catch sight of Chinook salmon migrating back home to spawn. I ponder the journey they have made after wandering huge distances in the ocean for several years only to swim back upstream to their original birthplace. Scientists have various theories about how this happens. Some believe that salmon navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field as a compass. Others suggest chemical cues that they can smell to find their way back to their home stream.

Like the salmon, we are pulled back to thoughts of home at Thanksgiving.
“There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to," wrote writer O. Henry.
Certainly, Covid-19 and some newly placed restrictions might make being home for traditional Thanksgiving gatherings hard for some of us to navigate this year. But we still shouldn't lose perspective of being thankful for what we have, even in these Covid times. As writer Charles Dickens wrote, “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

So on this Thanksgiving, I plan on making a few phone calls to my parents and having a few video chats with my children to see my new granddaughters that were both born this year. Madilyn came in the spring, while KDK arrived in the fall. Both are beautiful, healthy babies making both my wife and I very proud and grateful grandparents.
And maybe after a nice dinner, I will spend some time on the river to reflect on all the things, big and small, that I'm thankful for.

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A VOTE FOR RIVERS

My favourite places on earth are the wild waterways where the forest opens its arms and a silver curve of river folds the traveller into its embrace. --- Rory MacLean

Election 2020

 "Elections are like rivers, framed by what has happened in the past and full of possibility for the future. This year’s election is no exception," wrote American Rivers' President Bob Irvin on the nonprofit organization's website this week. He was being hopeful for the country and its rivers that he pledged to protect.
We certainly see his point in comparing the 2020 election to a river. A wild river at that, fill with its share waterfalls, rapids, whirlpools, and rocks. And even now that it appears that Joe Biden is our president-elect it is still not a smooth ride. President Donald Trump is doing everything he can to obstruct and delay the transition of power. However, the voters have spoken, and their message was clear. The Trump presidency will end on Jan. 20, 2021.

Expect the Biden administration to restore scientific integrity and take action on climate change, environmental justice, biodiversity, and other pressing concerns. That's goods news, advocates say for our rivers and waterways after four years of substantial damage to rivers and clean water done by the Trump administration and their policies.
Irvin says that the election of Joe Biden presents a historic opportunity to protect and restore the nation’s rivers and ensure clean water for all.
"By uniting around healthy rivers, we can improve public health and safety, create jobs, and improve lives in communities nationwide,” wrote Irvin.

Rivers Win!

The presidential election grabbed all the headlines, however a few waterways came away as winners during this election as voters in Florida, Colorado, and California endorsed new protections for waterways or property taxes that will fund water projects.
Residents of Orange County, Florida, voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the county charter to give legal protection to rivers. Passed with 89 percent of the vote, the amendment applies to the Wekiva and Econlockhatchee Rivers and other county waterways. It grants the waterways the right to be free from pollution and the right to exist. It allows citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the waterways to enforce those rights.
Similar to the Lake Erie bill of rights that Toledo, Ohio, that voters approved in 2019 and a federal judge threw out for being “unconstitutionally vague.” The Orange County amendment will also face challenges after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in July that prohibits local governments from recognizing the legal rights of the environment. 

In Colorado, residents of the state's 15-county Western Slope region approved a property tax increase proposed by the Colorado River District by nearly 73 percent of the vote. The property tax increase will provide nearly $5 million annually for protecting water supplies for farmers and ranchers, drinking water for Western Slope communities, and rivers for fish, wildlife, and recreation.
“This is a big win for the Colorado River, the two River Districts, and the future of Colorado’s water supplies," Matt Rice, American Rivers Colorado Basin Director, told American Rivers, "The overwhelming support for these measures shows that Coloradans value healthy rivers for our environment, economy, and our future. In a polarized election season, we proved that water, and rivers, connect us.”
According to American Rivers, the Colorado River drives a 3.8 billion dollar recreation economy, generates over 26,000 recreation-related jobs, and irrigates thousands of acres of farmland.
While in Santa Clara County, California, preliminary results show that voters have renewed a property tax that funds watershed projects. Measure S had 75 percent support as of Wednesday morning, needing a two-thirds majority to pass. The tax, which does not have an expiration date, provides about $45.5 million annually for Santa Clara Valley Water District’s flood protection, wildlife habitat restoration, and pollution prevention. It will also assist with repairs to Anderson Dam, which is at risk of failure in an earthquake.

Let's Howl

Along with those victories came one for wolves, too. Colorado voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 114, which will require the state's parks and wildlife department to develop a restoration and management plan for the reintroduction of gray wolves that were hunted to extinction by the1940s.

“Reintroducing wolves will restore Colorado's natural balance,” Jonathan Proctor, a conservationist with the group Defenders of Wildlife, which assisted the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund in passing the measure, told  National Geographic.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department will lead the effort to establish a sustainable population of the animals in the western part of the state beginning in 2022 or 2023. It is the first time a state has voted to reintroduce an animal to the ecosystem. It comes less than a week after the Trump administration removed federal protections from gray wolves across the country.

Do You Have The Correct Time?

California voters determined to participate in our democracy and make their voices heard showed up at the polls this year in record numbers. But as the old saying goes, the wheels of government turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine. Case in point, California voters did pass Proposition 7 in 2018 by 62% to change daylight saving time. We'd stay on the spring-forward schedule year-round and paddle later in the light of day.

But keep your headlamp handy, because even though Californians did vote to end the clock switching, the California State Senate needs to pass this by a two-thirds vote and they haven't yet. And even if it did get passed in California, the federal government then needs to approve it. This year, we switched back to standard on Nov. 1  and will once again spring forward on March 14, 2021.

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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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