Kayaking

It's been quite some time since we last posted but life has been a bit crazy - a new job, dealing with a new cat, getting into birding and possibly most importantly, learning to kayak.  The general consensus with kayaking is that you can jump right in and start paddling.  By and large, this is true.  But what if you want to up the ante a bit?

We'll get to that shortly.

Bobcat got a head-start when it comes to the Raven Scout kayaking adventures.  Not only did she go out on the water ahead of the rest of us, she ended up purchasing a kayak!  For Wolf and I, we started out with some rentals at a local reservoir with Bobcat showing us the ropes.  Our first day out, we learned some basic paddling techniques and got a major upper-body workout.  We also stumbled upon this amazing tree!


After a few times out, Wolf and I decided it was time to get our own kayaks and we went with a sit-on-top model (no whitewater rapids in our future).  The model we chose, a Pescador Pro 100, allows us to pack in a lot of gear for kayak camping, while remaining difficult to capsize - this will become more important as you continue to read.

Our goal with all this, was to have another avenue into nature.  I'll talk about our birding adventures in another post, but suffice it to say, we're birding like crazy people.  Getting out on the water just opens up another group of birds.  It's also incredibly fun!

So this is where it gets a little more interesting.  As you know, we have some animal companions.  Gypsy (aka Dragon) is getting old now (almost 14) and she's unable to accompany us on all our adventures these days.  Moony is a bit unpredictable, though I hold out hope he'll be a camping cat.  Badger, on the other hand, is eager to accompany us any and everywhere.  So we decided to train him to ride with me in a kayak.  After getting our kayaks, we promptly set up one in our living room and started feeding Badger there.  We watch soccer matches in the kayak together, and eventually got him to the point where he went into the kayak without prompting.


Badger is around 70 lbs. so it was important to get him very comfortable... once he was acclimated in the house, we took him out on his first water adventure.

We stayed right on the shore, never more than about 15 ft. out and for our first foray, we didn't wear our life-jackets (getting him used to that was an entirely different adventure).  Badger took to it pretty quickly and before long, we set off on our first kayak-camping adventure together!



With all our safety equipment on, we took to the water.  Badger has a habit of sitting in my lap while we kayak, so he can look around and see what's happening around him.  He's always been a pup that prefers physical contact so it probably makes him feel more secure as well.  He did absolutely fantastic on the voyage out.  We paddled for around 3 miles along the lake coast and set up camp at our designated camp site.  Badger was tired, but he was rearing to go after a quick rest.



After we set up camp, we went out for another adventure to explore the surrounding area (without all the extra gear in the kayak).



I can't say enough about how great this dog is on a kayak.  He'll move from time to time, but it's just to readjust and get comfortable.  We explored a few coves that first day and I could tell he was ready to hang out on land.  We ended up going on a hike and ending the evening watching a bald eagle moving across the edge of the lake for around 20 minutes.


Badger, Bobcat, Wolf and I spent the evening earning not only our Kayaking merit badge, but our Family Life merit badge as well.  We talked about the home projects we completed for our respective families and how much we love our friends... it actually took some time to go through each of our friends and talk about how wonderful they are.

After a fantastic weekend of camping, kayaking, birding and exploring, it was time to head home.  We loaded up the kayaks and before we were in the water, Badger jumped into his spot on my boat. We eased him into the water and I climbed in behind him.


We had a wonderful trip and look forward to many more.  From bow-line knots to trucker-hitch knots... building a fire from scratch and cooking some amazing dishes... having a dog who is content to sit in a boat and watch the world around him... not to mention seeing/hearing some amazing birds.  I hope to post more now that we've settled in a bit.


Until then, happy camping/hiking/kayaking/birding/living your best life.  

-- The Adventure Continues

-Mouse










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