1st Kayak Paddle of the year.

2 May, 2020; Vail, AZ

A paddle seems a great opportunity to be with folks - 6 feet away.

Some friends invited me to a paddle on nearby Patagonia Lake.  We agreed to meet early and hope to get our paddle in before a lot of other people showed up.  We were mostly successful in this - although the beach was fairly crowded when we finished up.  I think we were pretty successful n maintaining a safe distance within our group and away from others on the beach.

The  fun started for me when I paid my day use fee at the self-pay kiosk at the state park entry.  While I was filling out the form, a very large bobcat sauntered across the road!  Of course, I didn't have my camera ready - but what a sight!

I don't have many photos of the day as the battery in my old camera (the only one I risk taking out on the water) permanently died after only 2 photos.  We saw a lot of birds though and it was a beautiful day.  I saw a great blue heron, an egret, a zillion coots, ruddy ducks and cormorants.

It was the first paddle in almost 2 years!  I made several mistakes in setting up my boat - it's an inflatable and I had forgotten so much about getting it inflated - a little embarrassing but I'm sure as the summer progresses, I'll get back to my usual proficiency.  Another complication is that most of my paddling experience has been open water ocean kayaking - so, I dithered quite a bit on what equipment I would need.  I didn't need the extensive route finding, survival and emergency gear that I commonly carried for open water kayaking in much bigger, more remote and colder water.

Even though I remembered the sunscreen, my legs are quite pink today - I'm not used to paddling without a spray skirt - usually my legs aren't exposed to the sun!

It felt so good getting out of the house and on the water and getting to visit with friends. Even for an introvert, the quarantines have been challenging!