The photos here look pretty tame on Square Lake on the Kitsap Peninsula, but when we put the canoe in the water, the wind blew us, sideways, about 100 feet....not a friendly greeting. But other than the wind, it was a gorgeous sunny day, with temps in the 70's.We'd canoed this lake once before in the summertime, when the beach is loaded with children and people picnicing. It is a shallow lake with a very scummy bottom, not especially great for swimming, but good for tubing and paddling.
On this day, only the caretakers were there, having a cup of morning coffee in their RV. They said that the $5.00 fee is waved, that they want more people to enjoy this little lake. They spend 3 monthes camped here in their RV as hosts, then pack up for a month and travel the USA. At trips's end, they return once again as caretakers for 3 monthes. They say it is a great way to spend retirement, and it allows them a little income, and great outdoor living.
I recall this lake having so many lily pads, and all of them bobbing in the water at the same length from the bottom of the shallows. The lily pads here are actually a deep maroon, laced with veins of orange. (The intense sunlight makes for a faded image here.)George was eager to have me look up at an immature eagle perched right overhead, but I was so busy sitting at a slant trying to balance the wind, that I waited until we were in a little quiet cove before I checked him out. Kingfishers, Canadian geese, and a blue heron were our company for the day. We paddled through thick reeds at the end of the lake, where there is also a beaver dam and muskrat dwelling. A deep gorge down in the bottom of the lake appears to go into a cave - but George says it is the entrance to the muskrat's dwelling.
The still photos here are pretty poor, but the video that I took has filters that screen out glare and deepen the color. Those images of sweet little maroon lily pads floating by on a vast blue expanse turned out pretty good. I favor the video, as it also captures the birdcalls, and the pull of the canoe through the reeds. And, wouldn't you know it, the last two glides that we've had we've gotten phone calls! Just as we are trying to get out of the wind, George told our friend on the phone that "we've got to get the canoe around a bend.....we'll call back if we make it."
