Contrast

The group will shove off early this morning on a short, last, leg of this particular paddling journey.  They will end at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park at the southern tip of Key West.  It will be about a 6-mile trip.  It's possible that the SPOT track won't be available today because of their proximity to NAS Key West.  Weather conditions there are predicted to be almost ideal, with a high temp. of 78-degrees, mostly sunny and an easterly wind of about 10K.  Contrast that with this location:  High temp. of about 61, 20% chance of rain (we can hope), and wind gusts up to 60K.  Some members of the Flatwaterpaddlers of Oklahoma group went out for a bit yesterday, at Mission Bend, north of the Three Fingers area on the upper Fort Gibson.  Temperature yesterday was supposed to get to 45-degrees, but wind chill at beginning of the day was 9-degrees.  One paddler reported having ice on his glove fingers and on the boat.  He said that the wind finally died after the noon hour and the water became glassy.  Lots of birds were spotted during the trip including buzzards, red tail hawks, wrens, kingfishers, a mockingbird, crows, Canada geese, great blue herons, many kinds of ducks, cormorants and woodpeckers.  He also spotted squirrels and deer and some bobcat tracks.  To join this member-run group, go to Flatwaterpaddlers of Oklahoma on the net.