kayaking – Page 12 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Truly Relaxing in the Keys Day 6

The photos of this day are here.

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There are several major sports in the Keys. Sunset, Water, Drinking, Eating, and Relaxing: not necessarily in that order. For the past five days we have partaken of most of these activities, except the relaxing part. Today is about relaxing. I am sitting at an old picnic table on the golden sandy beach at the Lime Tree Bay Resort. We are in the town of Layton, on Long Key, really just a narrow spit of limestone and sand stretched along the Overseas Highway. There is a QuickStop across the street, a water sports rental shop down the road, and Long Key State park a mile away, but with the exception of a place next door called “Little Italy”, the closest restaurants and stores are 12 miles south or 10 miles north.

We woke this morning to warm sultry breezes with barely a touch of coolness on the edges, and a prediction for rain and thunderstorms. Our plans for the day include sitting by the water, maybe walking to the park, maybe swimming, maybe kayaking. The only item on the agenda we are sure to do is relax. Of course, writing about it all is relaxing for me at a place like this. The only sounds around me are the rustle of the palm thatched shelter, the palm trees, water lapping the limey shore, a few birds making morning sounds, and the gentle drone of traffic on Highway 1.

The Lime Tree is a fine little place to stay if you don’t care about access to amenities. The room is spacious, and clean, with bright lime yellow walls, pure white linens, and our own bathroom. The bathroom is tiny, and one must sit sideways on the toilet to keep from bumping knees on the wall in front of it, but it is our own. No running down the hall and hoping someone isn’t already locked up in the bathroom!

There is a feeling to Florida, in some places, referred to as “Old Florida”. I have felt it in the north central part of the state, around Ocala, in Citra, out on the Emerald Coast near the Gulf, and now here. There are low buildings, things are just a tiny bit tacky in ways that are hard to define, and something about it settles me down inside in a way that doesn’t happen often. It’s the part of Florida that I love, and I didn’t really expect to find it in the Keys.

Today we will relax, tomorrow we will head back to Miami in the morning for our flight to Sacramento, and another round of moving things back home to Klamath Falls. But today, right now, here in front of the Lime Tree Inn, everything is still and perfect.

Later: The morning was nicer than we expected, so by eleven we were on the water in the sit-on-top kayaks provided by the resort for a spin around the bay. They had rules; not too far off shore, and only an hour out. It turned out to be good enough for us because by the time we went out and back the winds were up and we got a good workout getting back to the dock against the waves. We finished up with a nice swim before the thunderstorm hit. Our timing was perfect.

By late afternoon, the weather had cleared enough for us to travel back toward Marathon and Milepost 49 for a watercolor art show and then we found a great beach to explore, complete with dolphins. Dinner at the Island Tiki Restaurant with a seafood quesadilla and some key lime pie rounded out the evening. Our flight doesn’t leave Miami until 3 in the afternoon tomorrow so we should have plenty of time to pack and amble up the Overseas Highway one last time as we leave Florida and head back west.

Kayaking Recreation Creek

I am visiting Mo in Oregon for a few days, and once again, we launched our kayaks on our favorite local canoe trail, part of the Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge. It’s less than a mile from home to the launch at Rocky Point, but this time we decided to launch at Malone Spring and travel north to Crystal Spring.

Every season has a different feeling on the refuge, and this was no exception. We realized that it had been awhile since we traveled this route in full summer, and the tules were nearly 10 feet high. The water was lower than we have experienced, and filled with plants, but as usual, crystal clear. This is the kind of waterway that makes kayaking such a treasure. There is really no other way than a kayak or a canoe to really experience this kind of wild land.

The water was still and sweet, and for the first time, the air was still as well. With temperatures in the low 80’s and no winds, it was just about as perfect as kayaking can be on still water with a slight current. Crystal Springs was green and clear and deep, and on the way back down the river the current carried us along with very little effort. We saw two sandhill cranes flying over the marsh, with their unique croaking sounds, and great egrets, white herons, merganser ducks, blackbirds, and willets, and some pelicans cruising in the distance. A highlight was the pair of otters watching us with curiosity from their playground along the banks of the marsh.

Abby finally learned that she can actually relax in the kayak, and I had great fun attempting to video part of the trip with the camera perched on the bill of my cap. Check it out here

Later in the week we again took advantage of the west side of the Upper Refuge. It was nearly 5pm, a little early for supper, so we thought, “why not? let’s go out for a short kayak”. In 10 minutes we were on the water, launching this time from Rocky Point. Even though it wasn’t a weekend, the launch was busy with boats and canoes, fishermen, and kids. The breeze was blowing but we thought heading south into Pelican Bay might be a different trip so we took off and in minutes were out of the congestion.

Pelican Bay is a western arm of Klamath Lake, and Crystal Creek leads north directly into the marsh from this bay. We paddled along the tules, and in spite of the late hour couldn’t resist going just a little bit into the marsh on the creek. Once protected by the tules and carex there was much less wind, and for no reason that we could figure out, in spite of paddling upstream, it felt as though we were being pulled north by an invisible tide. Smooth, quiet, deep water. It’s been a long time since we were on this part of the canoe trail, and we had never done it upstream. Time slid by like the water, and before long we knew that we were going to attempt to go all the way and connect up again with Recreation Creek to the west.

Just a little bit of adrenalin makes everything a bit more fun, because it was getting later, we weren’t sure how far it was to the Wocus Cut, and neither of us wanted to be on the marsh in the dark. Finally we found the Wocus Cut signs, and noticed just how low the water was at this time of year. The cut is about a mile crossing shallow areas of the marsh filled with wocus and open water. What we discovered on this late evening was that the water was barely 4 inches deep. Paddling a mile in shallow water, with our boats sometimes sliding along the silty mucky marsh soils was challenging, with our paddles often digging into the muck to try to move forward. Getting out of your boat in these organic mucky soils is not an option. You will sink to your armpits and become food for whatever. Finally, just after the sun set behind Pelican Butte we reached Recreation Creek and paddled effortlessly downstream to the Rocky Point launch and home..

Maybe August isn’t a good time to attempt the Wocus Cut across the marsh!

Day 3 Kayaking Sunset Bay

Photos from the coast part of our trip

After a day of driving the coast it was a delight to return to the park and see how protected the bay was from all the wild winds. Even if we couldn’t get out on the slough or the estuary, we decided to launch our boats for an evening run in Sunset Bay.

It was the first time for either of us in ocean water, and those waves may look completely tame in the photos, but in a sit-inside kayak, it was a bit of a rush. After some time, it was a bit less scary, and we ventured out toward the surf, trying to get far enough out to see the lighthouse. The breakers beyond the rocks were big and noisy, and we would paddle toward them, turning around to ride the waves back in. Sometimes it was challenging to turn the boats, and facing a rolling wave sideways is a bit daunting. I found out later that most people choose a sit-on-top type of kayak for ocean waves, and after our little adventure, I can certainly see why. It turned out to be a perfect place for getting used to the feel of the moving ocean, and hopefully when the time comes for kayaking the San Juan Islands we will be a bit more ready. Great way to end a perfect day at the coast.

Day 3 Memorial Day weekend

May 24, 2009

We woke this morning to 39 degrees and fog. Since we did have free electricity, the little quiet electric heater set to 60 degrees kept things just nice and comfortable. It turned out to be a perfect day. Yes, we had bacon and eggs… again. Back to oats and yogurt and life cereal when I get back to regular life at home. I did promise myself that when regular life becomes long days on the road camping I probably won’t have bacon and eggs every morning. Have to draw a line somewhere.

After breakfast we decided that maybe kayaking in the morning would be better, and drove to the south shore of the lake and found a put-in spot just south of the Diamond Lake campground. It was cool so we parked in the shade and let Abby wait in the car this time. Kayaking with a restless dog is ok sometimes, but not for the long ride we looked forward to this morning.

The Diamond Lake story is an interesting one. It is a lake famous for its trout fishery, but in 2006, due to an invasion by chubs, the lake was nearly ruined. After much controversy, they killed all the fish in the lake with rotenone, and then completely restocked it. The story is here. It really worked well. The water is crystal clear, and the fishing is fabulous.

We headed along the southern shore of the lake, to the west side, where we found docks for a large number of summer cabins leased by the forest service. It has been done well, though, because the cabins are set back away from the shore and not at all visible around the lake. The FS used to lease these properties for 99 for a lifetime, and people have built really nice homes in many of these lake front areas. Just recently the FS has increased the fees on these places to something in the neighborhood of 6000 a year, and that is just on the property, not the houses which have a separate property tax. Big problem for people who have had these homes for many years. Gee, you think with all that new money they could open up the campgrounds??

We went almost to Theilsen View campground before turning to cross the lake toward the east side again. I found out later that the lake has limited boat speed of 10MPH, and that makes for some wonderful kayaking. Even on this holiday weekend, and with all the fishing boats out there, there weren’t any skiers or fast boats to contend with. We could kayak directly across the middle of the lake without feeling fearful of being demolished by a big speedboat. Back on the east side, we pulled out, and let Abby out for a swim. The weather was perfect, just cool enough to be nice, but warm in the sun, with big puffy clouds and clear blue skies in between.

We were on the water about 3 hours and traveled about 9 miles or so. It is 11 miles around the lake but we skipped out on the north side since we had covered that part yesterday.

Home for a late lunch around 2, a bit of a rest, and then time to try the biking thing with Abby again. The trail around the lake is really amazing, so we decided to try it from this end of the lake along the east shore. It was a bit of a challenge this time, because Abby was all excited and wasn’t quite as easy to manage on the bike, but after a bit she settled down and is getting the hang of leading ahead of the bike without pulling. Sometimes she would get excited and think about chasing a squirrel or something, but overall she was good. We biked a couple of hours, enjoying especially the quieter parts of the trail where the campground was still closed. In spite of Abby’s new skills accompanying the bikes, my shoulders were pretty sore from trying to hold on to the handle bars and the dog as well. Hopefully it will get better as time goes on. The other thing that gets a bit dicey is coming upon other dogs in the biking situation, especially if they are not leashed. But so far, no real problems. When we finally did ride up to the MoHo it was with a bit of relief and both of us were pretty happy to be settling in for a campfire, a couple of brats and buns, and a nice evening.

Many of the people who were here have left, and it’s really empty now in our free camping spot. Since the free camping was just a fluke, the sites in the southern half of the campground look really nice, if they ever open it up. At 14 per night and 18 for a premium spot, with our half price pass, it isn’t too bad. We will come back later in the summer to see just how crowded things may be when it warms up, and how bad the mosquitoes might be as well. Amazing, this time there wasn’t a single one to bother us. Decided that you just can’t beat this place, less than 2 hours from home, clean water, huge firs, great bike trail, no fast boats, and incredible gorgeous views in all directions of amazing mountains.

After packing up to leave, we opted for breakfast at the Diamond Lake Resort cafe, with a great view of the lake. The resort is quite nice, with motel rooms, cabins, a marina with lots of rental water craft, and a well stocked little store, and a couple of restaurants.

We dumped at the Diamond Lake Campground (for FS campers only or there is a fee), and headed home via Hwy 138 west to Hwy 230 toward Medford, turning back east at the Crater Lake Highway 62. The north rim road at Crater Lake is still closed due to snow, and it is a steep, curvy climb that may have been a bit more challenging. Highway 62 crosses the beautiful Wood River Valley, a sight not to be missed if you are traveling anywhere near Crater Lake. It is ranching country with grass so thick and lush that it can support a cow and calf on less than 2 acres. The Wood River Valley is north of the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, all just minutes away from Mo’s home.

Day 2 Memorial Day weekend

Day 2 May 23, 2009

We slept really well last night, and in spite of all the large groups of people filling in this rustic area, it was really quiet. There is one really big security light in the campground, but thank goodness it wasn’t too close to us, although when I woke in the middle of the night, I could see it shining through the front window. With all the trees, and the distance between sites, we still didn’t have to put our big window covers on. That’s always nice.

I’m knitting away, on what I call my “turkey sweater” because I almost finished it while we were traveling through Turkey. It is all sewn together, and I just have to finish the hood. Perfect for a quiet afternoon.

This morning we decided on an indoor breakfast since the fire doesn’t have a particularly good cooking grate, and it was about 35 degrees outside when we got up. Nice to have a cozy home to hang out in on cold mornings. I love bacon when we are camping. Yumm. Indoors or out.

About 9:30 we took off to find the bike trail. We kept Abby on her leash for the initial search through the resort parking lot, but after that the trail was very nearly empty and we let her run with us. She is getting pretty good at going along with the bikes, and seems to keep up well. Stopping a bit let her swim, and enjoyed the views and the water. The trail goes all the way around the lake, and was one of the reasons we thought coming here would be nice. We biked as far as the Theilsen View campground, which was still closed. About a half mile from the camp, we discovered why, the snow was deep across the trail and the road in many places. We walked our bikes across most of it, and Mo rode hers, so of course I thought I could as well. Oops. This time it was my turn to dump, with my front tire catching in a deep snow drift and flipping me right over the handlebars. I found myself in a tangle with wheels and bike on top of me in the hard snow. Glad it was snow, since my bike was fine and I just had some minor cuts and bruises on my legs. After that spill, however, I did walk my bike through the snow banks.

When we got back to the closed campground, we were surprised to find some tent campers who had boated in, comfortably sited among the old hard snow drifts. Not a bad idea if you have a boat and want to tent camp. The ride back home was lovely, and Abby enjoyed herself swimming again. She even figured out how to go ahead of me on the leash without tripping up the bike. Mo rode on one side to “herd” her away from traffic and we were able to ride all the way back to the campground on the road portion without a problem. I even discovered that Abby could help pull me up the hills a bit!

After a bit of an afternoon rest, we went back down to the south end of the lake to see if they had opened up any of the other campgrounds yet. No change, even on this Memorial Day weekend, the Umpqua NF information center was still closed up tight, with no one in sight. Around 2, just as we planned, we unloaded our boats at the north shore, just a short walk from the car to the water, and we managed to portage both boats at once. The breeze was just starting up as we got on the water, and big puffy clouds were obscuring the sun. Funny how as the sun goes behind a cloud the wind on the water picks up. Mo decided to take Abby with us this time and put on her doggie life jacket. Abby isn’t yet quite completely comfortable in the kayak, and keeps trying to turn around to Mo for reassurance. Not a good thing in a small kayak, so Mo spends a bit of time telling her, “no, Abby, quit, stop, no.” Still, we managed some good time on the water, even though it was windy and choppy, and went south along the west shore as far as the campground. Paddling back against the wind wasn’t as hard as it should have been, and we think that maybe there was a current going toward the outlet on the north shore. Abby did fine, and Mo got all the way back without an upset. The water is still very cold, and hypothermia would be a serious problem if you fell in, I am sure. On the way back we at first stayed toward the shore in case of an upset with the dog, but then decided to take the fastest route across the water to the put in spot. I guess afternoon isn’t as good a time for mountain lake kayaking with the afternoon winds that always come up. Funny, we saw a really gorgeous, very large sailboat out there, and remembered from our sailing days how erratic these mountain lake winds can be. The sailboat wasn’t sailing, either, just motoring along. Their American flag was at half mast, blowing strong in the wind, for some fallen soldier, or for Memorial Day, I would imagine.

Tomorrow we plan to kayak earlier in the day, to hopefully miss the winds. Stopped at the Diamond lake resort store for Haagen Daz on the way back to camp, relaxed with a fun movie, Marley and Me, and then had a nice supper from the MoHo cupboard of box spaghetti, garlic bread, and the last of the salad. Mo built another really great campfire and we sat around and watched all the local campers and laughed about silly stuff until bedtime. We especially laughed at Abby, who was exhausted from her day’s adventures and kept trying to get us to go to bed. She would go to the door, look longingly at it and beg to go in. After Mo let her in, she landed in her bed, and didn’t even come out when we went back to the fire. That is a first, I think. Nice to wear out the dog before bedtime for sure.