Laura and I loaded up Sunday morning and drove the 52-mile route along U.S. Highway 14, then south down to Lake Thompson, the largest natural lake in the state.
We explored the northern end of the lake and had a good time doing so, this is one of those lakes that would have nearly endless places to discover for a paddler or two. The lake was pretty much ours, but like I said, we were only exploring the northeastern corner.
From Highway 14, we went west through Brookings, Volga, Arlington, and Lake Preston, then drove south down to the lake. The road we were on will take you to either Lake Whitewood (to the east) or Thompson.
The winds were northeasterly, and we had little trouble navigating our way along the shoreline. We did find a channel that runs into some ponds to the north of the bigger body of water. There was enough wind that we didn't want to head too far south (into the main lake) and end up struggling to get back to the car.
These photos may have a bit of a "haze" to them, that's my new toy, I bought an Aquapac waterproof case, it's basically a fancy silicone bag for P&S digital cameras, it works well, and it'll give you "underwater" pix if you want, but alas, it does produce a bit of haziness. Probably best used in heavy seas.
As mentioned, we did go north into a pond, but it was so full of carp (they startled us over and over again) and so shallow, we were not afraid of drowning, but we the fetid stench of the mud made us dread the idea of tipping in such a place. We didn't make much of a dent in the pond system 'round the north of this lake.
After the cruise, we returned to the car, cleaned the boats free of sand, and loaded up. Had we more energy, or a bit of sunshine, we might have explored Lake Whitewood by boat, as it was we just drove by it. This big prairie lake was utterly abandoned, save for a few pelicans.
On our way home we noted a number of sloughs and other smaller bodies of water that'd be worthy of a paddle, of course many were completely inaccessible, save for a wade/waddle through the muck. No thanks.
Lake Thompson is gigantic, and it does have some remoteness to it, so there's some wildlife. Next visit we make will be to explore the southern end. Of course a paddler or paddling duo could put in where we did (14 to 441 south to 212 west) and make for the southern end, but you'd need all damn day to circumnavigate that bad boy, it's huge!
Jarett
2 comments:
Nice. Any word on the James River cruise?
Thanks for the look at Lake Thompson, Jarett. It seems that there is a body of water in our area that can be an inviting challenge for people really interested in "big water" sea kayaking. The deserted nature of the lake was surprising to me. I also liked seeing the effect of the waterproof bag for the camera; but, as you said, there is some sacrifice in photo quality.
Cheers,
Jay
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