Rich's Solo Kayak Experience

Rich, a fellow Mountain Monkey, went for a solo kayak the other day, and wrote me a great report about it. His enthusiasm and joy has me sharing his report here:

Oh my Buddha, that was awesome... Today was my first ever solo paddle adventure and it was amazing. Bullards Bar is a beautiful place this time of year and I basically had the whole lake to myself (I only saw one other boat and two other kayakers during my five hour tour). Words won't begin to describe the bliss of paddling through the mirror smooth waters with reflections of the canyon floating all around me. Whether I was paddling for progress and mileage or just simply drifting, it was all bliss. I managed to take in the entire length of the lake today from Dark Day boat ramp in about five hours of mostly constant moving along.

The highlight for me, and one of the many the benefits of going solo, came when I stalked up on a young Bald Eagle feeding on a freshly dead deer carcass on the shore of the lake. The parent Eagle was perched nearby and only revealed itself after the young brown headed adolescent spooked off it's feed. I spent a few minutes stalking in closer and closer as the big bird fed on the carcass of the dead young deer. Every time it lowered it head and tore off another bite of meat I would take a paddle stroke and then "freeze" my upper body as I drifted closer. In this manner I got to within about fifty feet of the feeding bird before it got worried and hopped off to a rocky perch about 30 feet away. Once it finally spotted me it flew off to the other side of the canyon then the full adult Bald Eagle with white head and tail feathers revealed itself from a nearby tree and flew a few circles over me and the dead deer washed up on shore...

All this happened in the glow of the sunset light and it was simply a near religious experience for me. It was so quiet I could hear the flesh tearing as the young Eagle fed itself. Maybe a little too graphic for some, but it is natures way and always has been. If I had been traveling with other companions it is not likely that we would have been able to experience this scene quite so intimately. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy kayaking with others by any means. I do so and will heartily enjoy the company of companions as opportunity permits, hopefully for many years to come. Going solo in the kayak offers up a unique opportunity to be immersed in nature not just as a observer but as a participant in a way I have rarely experienced before in my life and I'm completely smitten by this aspect of the kayak experience. I hope that you may get the oppurtunity to enjoy the solo paddling experience too. Even if I had a camera today, I would not have been able to "be with" the Eagle in the same way. Some things are just meant to be experienced in the moment and are not available to be shared with others beyond a few feeble words such as these...

Rich