Kayak Chronicles

The time I spent out in the kayak at Rainbow Lake has blossomed into a full blown addiction. Even before we got back I'd started thinking about acquiring my own. The Massachusetts tax holiday (a weekend of sales tax free shopping) prompted me to voice this desire out loud after many hours of Internet research. Amy convinced me, and Terri and the sales woman at REI backed her up, that I shouldn't buy a kayak without having tried it on the water. I did acquire a paddle, though.

The next week I made a short visit to Charles River Canoe and Kayak in Newton to try out one of the kayaks. A highlight of the short paddle I took was having a heron swoop across the river, join up with a second heron and fly off. I kept that visit short, but returned the next Saturday for a longer try out.

CRCK is located at the intersection of routes 128 and 30. From there I paddled down river through marshy areas, on into an open lake like section populated by several swans, past turtles sunning on partially submerged logs, a cormorant sitting on the pilings of a old pier, and on past an old mill. I ended up at Moody Street in Waltham (3 miles downriver). I returned by the same route - it is a river after all - but wasn't ready to end my paddle yet. So I continued upriver passing under the turnpike and turnpike ramps, past the Lesley College boathouse, and along the edge of the Leo J. Martin golf course. I spent some time watching a heron fish in the marsh near the golf course, before continuing on. A near miss from an errant golf ball made a loud, startling splash just after I passed under the road that runs along the golf course. A little further upriver the river gets quite shallow. At that point I decided I should turn around. I was quite surprised to discover that I had been on the river for nearly 4 hours. Distance covered nearly 10 miles.

I don't have any kayaking photos yet, mostly because I haven't acquired a camera I feel confident taking out on the water. I have taken quite a few pictures with one-time use cameras. As soon as I get those developed I'll post the best.