Pictures from outdoor exercise.
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Not my neighborhood. My neighborhood is much more whitebread
, pristine lawns and safe landscaping, mostly, other than my untidy and somewhat overgrown yard. This is a much more diverse neighborhood in all ways, livelier, nearer to downtown. 2 -
I paddled 36 miles over two days Friday and Saturday. It was basically two sections of about 18 plus miles that I like to do as day trips. The upper section is one of my favorites, and I haven't even been on the last eight or nine miles yet this year.
On Friday we were not sure where we would put in. The issue was leaving a vehicle overnight. We weren't sure if the RV and boat storage place near our favorite put-in still let people park a vehicle there overnight for a small fee. Nobody was in the office or would answer the phone or e-mail. We found a form, filled it out, left some money, and risked it. I'm glad we did.
While I was walking back from the place I parked my truck, two groups paddled by who had put in about eight miles upstream. One was doing a day trip. The other was doing a camping trip. Even though my canoe was heavy (I carried my personal gear including a cot, a big first-aid kit, 2.5 gallons of water, a full cooler, a dry box with kitchen supplies and food, a chair, some fishing kit, and some rescue equipment), we passed both groups about seven or eight miles downstream from our put in. Yeah, I guess we're fast. We were clearly going faster than them, but we put the juice on to go ahead and pass so we didn't have to look at them too long. I like looking at the empty river in front of us, not another group, especially if it's a larger group.
We slowed down a bit. We made a lunch stop. It wasn't an EXTENDED lunch, but we had some sangria over cubed ice (yeah, canoes are awesome), some fresh cherries, and some other lunch stuff. Then we kept paddling, and not particularly fast.
We paddled past the normal take-out for a day trip and continued a few more miles to my very favorite camp. I like it so much, I never camp anywhere else. There's two sites. One is the public site. The other is a worker site that's really nice in the heat of the summer. It's reserved for people doing restoration work on the island. It's owned by a non-profit, and they're doing great work. I am a volunteer and contractor for that non-profit, so I called to see if it was OK to camp there. It was! I wasn't surprised. The work season hasn't started. It was still overgrown, and I'm feeling very tick-shy after having one deeply embedded in my waist a couple weeks ago. We decided not to move up to the top. Rather than look at the public site (a difficult carry up), we paddled across to a gravel bar that's also part of the property. It would have made a fine camp. It was not very protected from the wind, so we decided to risk paddling a few more miles to a camp I've always WANTED to check out. At this point, I was pretty sure that the other group had already pulled out to camp because they had already done eight miles more than we had, and they hadn't caught back up to us even though we made three stops.
We got to the other camp, and it was really nice. I like it a LOT. But... after we got our camp set up, that other group came up and landed. Uh oh. They were planning to camp there, but we were already there. It's a large area about 150 acres. They hiked around to find another spot. They almost stopped within view of us, but went on around the corner. I think I saw where they stayed after we launched the next day, but I'm not really sure. We could hear them, but just a little bit, during the evening. If I had known they wanted to camp at Buckskin Mary, I surely would have stayed at Norwood. Oh well. It's good to note that a lot of people like Buckskin Mary. It is indeed a nice camp and even has a picnic table that State Parks brought in on their jet boat, probably in pieces and assembled on-site. It was a 24 mile day for us, so it was a 32 mile day for that other group. At least one person was having a bad day. I feel a little bad about that, but we did try to communicate with them. They didn't tell us where they wanted to camp, and they could tell that we had got in front of them. They shouldn't have been THAT surprised we were there.
We had a nest of Bald Eagles just across the river from our camp. Another one was off behind the camp. We saw so many Bald Eagles I lost count. Probably three dozen over the two days. So many. Just wow.
We ate very well. For appetizers we had brie with wild mushrooms on fig and olive crisps. We also had some nice Cabernet. For supper we had a very nice green salad topped with tabbouleh alongside of some fresh butternut squash ravioli. We were so full we didn't bother with the dessert of a mini lemon tartlet. I brought dolmas as an additional appetizer, but we never opened them.
We had a lazy morning in camp. We enjoyed two cups of coffee and just sat and watched the river. We only had 12 miles to paddle, so there was no rush. It was easy to repack the canoe. Off we went. We stopped for lunch about three miles above the end of our trip on a very nice beach on the back side of an island. It was very quiet there. We had passed only one other group below the put-in that's only nine miles from our planned take-out. We ate the leftover salad with tabbouleh, some grilled tempeh, sliced pickles and veggies, some more brie and crackers, the last of the sangria, and more cherries. Yes, there was still cubed ice for the sangria.
We saw the Sheriff's Marine Patrol about a mile above our take-out. We had a very short chat. They saw we were WEARING our PFDs, so they didn't need to stay long. They asked about our signaling device. I said, "Yeah, we have PFDs, whistles, permits; all the things." They wished us a nice day, and off they went to contact other river users in this busy section. We had just passed a group of folks putting in near a neighborhood in a couple aluminum canoes and paddle boards. They had PFDs, but only the kids were wearing them. I don't know why people don't just WEAR their PFDs. They are life support systems. If your PFD isn't comfortable, go spend some money on a good one. They last ten years, so even if you spend $200, it's twenty bucks a year. My life is worth more than that. I have multiple PFDs for different activities (mellow canoeing/kayaking & fishing, whitewater rescue vest, and higher-flotation vest for rafting especially big water).
We got to our take out. I walked a half mile to my house and got my friend's car. I came back to the boat ramp and loaded up my canoe and gear, then dropped it off at my house. We then loaded her boat and gear into her car and headed back upstream to pick up my truck. My truck was safe. I drove home to the north, and she continued home to the south.
It was a very very nice trip. Did I mention all the Bald Eagles? So.... Many..... Eagles....
Here's some pictures from the first day. Isn't that dragonfly-themed napkin with the dragonfly-themed napkin ring fun? Yeah. My friend made the napkins for me years ago, and I found the napkin rings at a thrift shop last year. I like to take them on raft trips, and now canoe trips. I'm hoping to sneak in another similar trip later in the year, maybe two nights. We had enough food & water for a second night. Maybe we could just cover fewer miles and spend more time hanging out in camp, or maybe we could just go farther downstream. It would mean driving downstream and leaving a vehicle somewhere and then going back up to launch. I have an idea where we might camp a second night downstream of my town that's a really nice site. Then it could be a short or long day to the next place downstream. I'll start planning it!
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There you go making me think about paddling again... lol2
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@UncleMac, maybe take a look around for used canoes, too. There's at least a possibility of getting a more efficient (more fun!) boat used for not much more money than a pretty doggy new one. Still, one of the very durable, inexpensive ones can be fun, and a good start!0
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@UncleMac, maybe take a look around for used canoes, too. There's at least a possibility of getting a more efficient (more fun!) boat used for not much more money than a pretty doggy new one. Still, one of the very durable, inexpensive ones can be fun, and a good start!
Save the money for a really nice paddle!1 -
The problem is what little bit of knowledge I had about canoes is +40 years old. Yes, it's been that long.@UncleMac, maybe take a look around for used canoes, too. There's at least a possibility of getting a more efficient (more fun!) boat used for not much more money than a pretty doggy new one. Still, one of the very durable, inexpensive ones can be fun, and a good start!
That makes sense!Save the money for a really nice paddle!2 -
@unclemac, there are some decent guides on the 'net.
@mtaratoot may have better suggestions, but I like the ones from Paddling Magazine. For example, they have these:
https://paddlingmag.com/skills/buying-advice/canoe-vs-kayak/
https://paddlingmag.com/boats/canoes/used-canoe/
https://paddlingmag.com/boats/kayaks/used-kayak/1 -
Yeah, there are a lot of types of both kayaks AND of canoes. If you can only have one (gasp) then it's important to figure out where you want to take it. I like solo boats. I have one tandem canoe, but everything else has space for just one person.
Unless I'm going into serious conditions (waves and far from shore), I like open boats these days. For whitewater more than Class 3, I'll take a kayak instead of canoe. For flatwater or slower moving rivers (well, they move along but don't have rapids), I like my speedy canoes versus my touring kayak. More comfortable for my body, and just more beautiful to paddle.
Many people find canoes more difficult to paddle than kayaks. An exception is a friend of mine who has always paddled canoes; he'd flail in a kayak.
If you have to carry it a long way, getting something light is nice. If you want to carry more stuff, canoes have an advantage.
I would think that on PEI, a canoe would be a more typical boat than a kayak. I could be wrong.2 -
As a youngling, I never saw a kayak on PEI but plenty of canoes and small sailboats. We had a Sunflower sailboat... small and light enough I could move it myself... I found a picture online... apparently they're still made.I would think that on PEI, a canoe would be a more typical boat than a kayak. I could be wrong.
The local stores now have canoes, various configurations of kayaks and some standup boards.1 -
Sunfish are the only sailboats I've ever piloted. I considered joining the "yacht club" over on the coast. They have a small fleet of Lido boats. I think they offer classes, although I could probably get into the sailing instruction classes with the city that I'm now working for.
I get to take people rafting today. It's a VERY mild river. There are three rapids maybe class 2 at best. It is my first raft trip for the outfit. I'm told it's a very rewarding trip as most people don't get to see the river from the river. The City "turns its back" on the river. People get to see how beautiful it is and also the offenses it has to endure (trash dumping).
I bet some of the kayaks in the local stores are recreational kayaks. They are OK for just putting about on mild lakes. I'm not a real fan of them. I think they get people in trouble. They're very inexpensive. No permit required. Fairly easy to use, but if things go sideways, they go quickly.
There's a brand of canoe (I won't out 'em here) that has aluminum tubing running along the bottom as well as along the thwarts. They are otherwise very flexible. They are designed to nest together on a truck before the frames are installed rather than designed to paddle.
Again though, if it's just an occasional outing for a mile or two, any boat will get the job done. If you want to truly love the process, get a boat that's the right size and that's designed for the kind of water you'll be using it on. I repeat the benefits of a very nice paddle. I'll also repeat that it's wise to not just carry but to WEAR your PFD. Get one that fits and is comfortable. If you need it, it's too late to put it on.3 -
Again though, if it's just an occasional outing for a mile or two, any boat will get the job done. If you want to truly love the process, get a boat that's the right size and that's designed for the kind of water you'll be using it on. I repeat the benefits of a very nice paddle. I'll also repeat that it's wise to not just carry but to WEAR your PFD. Get one that fits and is comfortable. If you need it, it's too late to put it on.
Yeah, the kayaks look fairly generic/cheap; I haven't looked closely enough but I figure since they're standing outside the store with next to nil security, they're not high end by any stretch. My neighbour has a couple of high end kayaks stored beside his garage. He's a retired professor of large animal veterinarian medicine... currently working a term contract at a clinic in Oklahoma (due back in the fall) so I think I'll wait and talk to him. We're about sizes so he'll probably be a good resource.2 -
Maybe he'll take you paddling!1
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Last year I did a hike up a local mountain in the Coast Range pretty much every week to watch the progression of wildflowers work their way up in elevation. I don't plan to do it every week this year, but I went yesterday.
I almost didn't go. My car needed a bath, so I gave it a good one. Then it was almost noon. I went anyway. As soon as I walked into the forest, I was so happy I had gone up. I was almost immediately treated to many native irises, false Solomon's seal, vanilla leaf, and starry false Solomon's seal.
The forest up there is quiet. I passed only a few people on the way up. The trees were welcoming. I forgot how much I really love this hike.
Near the top, the Cascade volcanoes came into view. There was a marine layer and some smoke from prescribed burns that prevented me from seeing the coast. I figured there would be a marine layer, so I left the binoculars in the car. I also know that there's been a lot of haze in the valley. I expected the views of the volcanoes to be obscured. Alas - how wrong I was! I could see Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters so clear I could imagine I might have seen people actually climbing them if I had brought my binoculars. I was amazed how clear it was. Not only could I see Mt. Hood, but I could see north to Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. I could even see a little bit of the tip of Mt. Rainier (TaHoma) which is over 220 miles away. Wow. Just wow.
Once up in the upper meadow, I found what I hoped I'd find. I was treated to an expanse that included lots of fawn lilies (a.k.a., trout lilies, a.k.a., dog-toothed violet) and glacier lilies! Along the rocks at the top there was Indian paintbrush, phlox, and so many other wonderful flowers.
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Lovely!! Nature does us a treat, doesn't she?
Around here on PEI, the lupines grow wild. Our ditch has purple, pink and white one!! I also found we have wild roses growing at the edge of the property... I might encourage those...
The bushes on the right edge of the picture are wild roses... Rosa rugosa... I thought it was native to this area but apparently it was imported from Asia a couple of centuries ago.
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@UncleMac, do you collect the Rosa rugosa hips? That species often has large enough hips to be worthwhile, tasty, can be dried for tea, made into jam, etc. . . . if a person can beat the wildlife to them.
Early in my marriage, we lived in a trailer park. We planted a row of Rosa Rugosa in an L-shape at the end of our lot, to keep people from noisily (and often drunkenly) taking a short-cut under our bedroom window at night. The thorns worked pretty well for that, and the rose hips were a bonus. (Not a lot of wildlife there, other than small mammals, the birds, and of course the random drunk people.
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I love those lupines! They look like escaped/naturalized horticultural varieties. We have some natives, but they have less showy flowers, and mostly blue/purple. My "blue" columbine are all bloomed out. I'm going to collect and spread the seeds. Our natives are red and yellow or just red. The purple ones are from far away, but I still love them.
Our native rose is the Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana). It spreads a lot.
I got a little bit of weeding done and now am cleaned up and shaved so my mask doesn't leak tomorrow the aquarium. I hate leaky masks. That's all indoors even though it's diving. Then Tuesday I'm up to Clear Lake. I'll try to bring pictures.2 -
@UncleMac, do you collect the Rosa rugosa hips? That species often has large enough hips to be worthwhile, tasty, can be dried for tea, made into jam, etc. . . . if a person can beat the wildlife to them.
Early in my marriage, we lived in a trailer park. We planted a row of Rosa Rugosa in an L-shape at the end of our lot, to keep people from noisily (and often drunkenly) taking a short-cut under our bedroom window at night. The thorns worked pretty well for that, and the rose hips were a bonus. (Not a lot of wildlife there, other than small mammals, the birds, and of course the random drunk people. )
My dad used to collect them for tea but I was young and didn't realize tea was a good thing then!
We have a hedgerow on the western property line and I was considering what to plant there... something drought tolerant (because I don't want to have to water) and capable to living next to spruce trees. I'd heard wild roses can grow almost anywhere... So now I need to see if I can transplant some of them and see if they'll take off.
We're far enough from civilization that random drunks isn't an issue.2 -
@UncleMac - I bought my Rosa rugosa to start, but did transplant some for friends, and they did fine. Might need to do a little watering while they're getting started, but once they take hold I found them not at all demanding. They're pretty tough.
One of my sisters told me to transplant roots... not sure how to do that but I suppose I can search online for resources.0 -
@UncleMac - I bought my Rosa rugosa to start, but did transplant some for friends, and they did fine. Might need to do a little watering while they're getting started, but once they take hold I found them not at all demanding. They're pretty tough.
One of my sisters told me to transplant roots... not sure how to do that but I suppose I can search online for resources.
That could work, not certain. I found them to be slightly vegetatively spread-y, i.e., multi-stemmed with new stems growing up from the ground, maybe even some little plantlets popping up a bit out from the main plant. I just dug up some of that kind of thing and planted it elsewhere.1 -
My sister said they spread by sending out shoots... so just clip a shoot as it pops up, dress it with "root stim", plant it promptly and water for the first few weeks.0
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My sister said they spread by sending out shoots... so just clip a shoot as it pops up, dress it with "root stim", plant it promptly and water for the first few weeks.
I think we're saying the same thing. Another name for them is "suckers". It's little plantlets at the margins of the main plants.
These guys are so enthusiastic, I doubt they need rooting hormone/supplementation, unless the conditions are really poor.
If you're planting in the same general area, in similar soil where they grow, I think you'd be fine just giving them a little extra TLC in the form of watering conscientiously in their new spot until they look perky, then during dry spells in their first season. Year 2, if they aren't rarin', it's not a good spot for them.1 -
Good to know... since I don't know what "root stim" looks like... lol0
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Good to know... since I don't know what "root stim" looks like... lol
Usually it's a rooting hormone(s) plus some fertilizer, powder or liquid. Garden centers will have it. Either or both of those general components can be essential for reasonable odds of success in certain touchy plants, and they won't hurt in most situations, but I think a healthy offset of Rosa rugosa doesn't require either one in even moderately reasonable conditions.0 -
You can totally just YANK UP huge chunks that are rooting near the plant and move them. They grow like weeds. You can abuse them, and they thank you.
There are two rooting hormones available. I buy a powdered form. It can help root things that don't like to root, but if you just yank up hunks of roses, you can plant them with abandon. They're not hybrid roses. Even those grow like crazy around here with minimal care.3 -
You can totally just YANK UP huge chunks that are rooting near the plant and move them. They grow like weeds. You can abuse them, and they thank you.
There are two rooting hormones available. I buy a powdered form. It can help root things that don't like to root, but if you just yank up hunks of roses, you can plant them with abandon. They're not hybrid roses. Even those grow like crazy around here with minimal care.
Sounds like my kind of plants!! 3 -
Here's a few more pictures from outdoors. Some are exercise related. I'm not sure why I didn't include the picture of the one Calypso orchid I saw on my hike on Friday. Here it is! Then a couple days ago I saw "a dog" walk by my front window. I immediately knew it wasn't a dog so followed her around to the back yard and convinced her to keep going. Then yesterday one of my crow friends came to get peanuts.
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