While I was up during the night, it had gotten chilly enough that I grabbed my watch cap to keep my head warm in the sleeping bag. It was 46-degrees when I got up to break camp at 5:30. My wool sweater was fine for awhile, but I finally dragged out my Mustang coat. I was greeted by a pair of Canada geese as I was having breakfast. They made it down the ramp and into the water ahead of me, but only by a couple minutes.
As the sun rises, shadows spread across the sand hills that dot
the southeast corner of the lake.
Coots, easily identified by their white beaks, in search of breakfast.
The south end spread into a series of fingers and feeder streams, and is part of the wildlife management area. I was able to watch a lot of waterfowl there, and at one point was surprised when I flushed a doe out of a thicket. I just got a glimpse of her before she was gone.
As the wind picked up, it started to snow. It looked like snow, but the air was
filled with tufts of cottonwood tree seeds carried long distances by their white fluff.
Two sandpipers with a turtle peeking over the branch.
All of the wildlife were on the east side and south end of the lake. The west side of the lake was all developed and given over to larger campgrounds, but I did meet a Canada goose family with their goslings out for a paddle. I drifted in slowly to get the best picture I could, but when the gander began to get perturbed with me, I turned away before he felt it necessary to come flying straight at my head. I heard about a kayaker that was killed recently by a gander. It attacked the paddler and knocked him over, and each time the kayaker tried to roll back up, the gander would push him under again until he drowned.
A family of twelve out for a practice swim.
Oops, make that fourteen.
A pause at a quiet spot to stretch the legs during the 17-mile paddle.
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