Personally, I’m absolutely thrilled that the weather has improved so much. The sun is shining brightly and it’s abundantly warm outside. Of course, that all makes for “perfect” kayaking conditions. However, there is one small call of nature that can change things a bit – the WIND! Our goal today was Green Peter Reservoir. We arrived in the morning hoping to beat the wind, but there were already white caps on the water. So, we decided to go back down the road to Foster Reservoir. We kayaked from the boat ramp at Sunnyside Park up towards Green Peter Reservoir. It was absolutely fantastic!
You can see from the above photos at the boat ramp that the water level is down quite a lot still. You can definitely enjoy kayaking, boating, fishing and swimming, but it just isn’t full yet. If history repeats itself, it should be about 15 ft higher than it was today no later than June 1st. It was a fun paddle for us today because the water level is up a bit from the last time we were there and so it’s like looking at all new features.
The weather was so incredibly perfect. My friends were dressed in long pants and long sleeve shirts. Me, on the other hand, shorts and a tank top. I want to soak up as much sunshine as I can. It fuels my body and mind. Anyway, sorry for the sidetrack. So, as we passed the boat docks shown above, they are definitely not as high out of the water as they have been earlier this year. But, I realized that I’m also a lot more aware of the water level because unlike my first two years kayaking, I now get out all year.
We continued our journey until we reached the furthest point you can kayak due to shallow water and a ton of rocks. But, again, the water level was higher today than all of my previous trips this year and so we were able to go even further today. It was here that we stopped. The scenery was absolutely stunning!
This is a video of the section we couldn’t kayak up any further. We exited our kayaks and walked around for a bit. I just love this video. I love the sound especially, but you can see just how clean the water is. It is so beautiful! This is looking across the stream of water, but then when you turn to look up at the water coming down, that is when you see the shots below. Absolutley breathtaking.
The water was so clear and clean! And all of the deciduous trees with their new leaves – they were gorgeous. The new leaves were SO green! I could have easily sat there all day, just looking at nature and listening to the river – it was absolutely beautiful! If the water would have been a bit warmer, I may have even taken a swim! Another month for water immersion, for me.
As I have kayaked over the last few years, I’ve never considered moss to be picturesque. However, it was today. There were sections where the rocks were completely covered. The moss was very dark green in color and really thick. I thought it was amazing to look at. I’m sure it’s waiting for the river to rise as well.
This “animal” head was my favorite today. It’s just a big rock with moss on top. But, to me, you’re looking at the side of it’s face. It has sort of a grin. The moss on top is its hair and the roundish circle on the side looks like its eye. Do you all see it? Reminds me of maybe a baby dinosaur head. HE HE
As we turned around and began to head back, we took the opportunity to stop at the numerous streams of water that were falling into the reservoir. I just love listening to the water fall. It’s mesmerizing!
I know, that as I’ve gotten older, I appreciate these sights more. For the younger paddlers, they may not be as interested. But, I am always completely enamored by the sounds! My other note here is that I was somewhat surprised to see so much water running into the reservoir still. We’ve had some very warm and sunny days, without rain, I’m sure they’ll dry up soon enough.
When the water level rises, you won’t be able to see all of the cool rock formations as they’ll be completely under water. I especially loved the rock pictured on the right. It hung out over the water at least 8-10 feet and then you can see the recessed section and then there’s water underneath the bottom of the rock. I’ve never noticed this before. I thought it was really cool.
Today’s kayaking adventure was absolutely perfect! While I enjoy going to places I haven’t been, it’s still nice to go back to Foster. I think every time I’m there I see things I didn’t notice the previous time!
Hey, the forecast is all dry for quite a while! Go check out Foster Reservoir! You won’t be disappointed!
2024 – KAYAK TRIP #22
I so enjoy your writing voice. Thank you for sharing your adventures.