Trying to find places to explore while the south wind blows is always a challenge. Yesterday and today we had pleasant surprises when we kayaked two different protected rivers, both of which we have paddled several times before. First was the Schroon River, where we headed downstream, but into the 15 knot south wind. On the way back it was much more fun and we barely had to paddle, letting the wind push us despite the slight current. We noticed a side creek (later I discovered it is called Trout Brook), that we decided to peak our yaks into, and what a treat! We meandered our way up in about 6" of water, skirting around and under fallen trees.
The current was much more pronounced, but once we got as far as we could go, it was a blast zooming back downstream.
I even found another smaller side stream, but only I could float over the entranceway, so I turned around.
On our nightly walks on the LaChute trail, we saw that the water over the lower falls was flowing more than it had been, after our recent rain. With today's south wind and lots of current, it was perfect conditions to do a one way trip down the LaChute River to Lake Champlain. Even though there wasn't that much water over the falls this morning (Lake George water level is regulated through a dam), the current was still ideal and we got a "running start" at the base of the falls (I got as close to it as possible without getting soaked).
We saw ducks, hawks, and turtles, along with a few bass fisherman as we flew down the river, faster than we ever have, ending up in the marshes at the base of Fort Ticonderoga. Then it was downwind with little paddling needed, back to the ferry launch ramp. Dave even found a couple of items in the water, one of which was a large carbon fiber fish net that looked to have been floating in the water for weeks (it took our pressure washer to clean it up). He also found "WILSON!" Or in this case..."SPAULDING!" 😉
We were thrilled to have had more fun than we expected in our old stand-by waterways!
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