An increasing south wind was predicted for yesterday, so we headed to the rocky beach near Essex, NY on Lake Champlain, to kayak to Split Rock Point. We had to drag the yaks down a small embankment and through the tunnel we discovered last summer. This time a creek was running through it (this is last year's photo).
Once on the water, we were in the lee the whole way, since this bay is huge and protected from the south wind. Here is Split Rock Point looking out from the inside...
This is from the main lake looking back into the bay...
We ventured a little way south and Dave found this really neat cave.
We traded places and I looked out...
And then I looked up to see the sky through a small hole in the roof of the cave...
The cave was right below the navigational marker.
Of course with the osprey nest in the marker, it is questionable as to whether it still is in service.
The original light was a lighthouse that I believe is now privately owned. What a cool place to live.
The geology is really interesting in this area, with all sorts of waterlines and fossils. I am not sure what this was, but perhaps it's a petrified tree root.
Holes galore, below the high water line. They must really be noisy when the water is higher.
Some wild berries ripening up for the picking...if you can reach them high up on the bluff's ledge.
We also discovered this washout between two rocky areas. Maybe this is how Spilt Rock came to be as the dirt was worn away, leaving a big gap.
The whole shoreline is pretty inaccessible, but Dave found a rock to leave his kayak on and take a quick swim. The water here is usually colder than the rest of the lake because of the rocks and deep water, but not this time. Lake Champlain is advertised to be76 degrees in Burlington, VT, which is as warm as it gets. We zoomed back to where we launched the kayaks in the wind that had built to 15 mph, which luckily was with us this time. It was another annual rite of passage completed.
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