Twoyaking: The act of paddling with one regular sized person and one smaller person (preferably the larger persons child) in a one person boat. It is not exactly the easiest thing to do; taking photos from the kayak – made harder still with the addition of a 10 year old to the small boat. The missed shots mean nothing though, when compared to the time we’ve been having paddling about together. If you have the chance to cruise around in a kayak with your kid, I strongly recommend it especially if there’s the possible inclusion of beavers. This was our second adventure of this type, each has been exceptional. I’m having a hard time thinking of a better way to … Read More
Boats and Birds and Hail Storms
The clock was ticking by way too slowly for such a perfect spring Friday afternoon. I got a Facebook message from a dear friend informing me that he and his family were in town for the weekend and wanted to get together. I told him that I had made plans to join some friends who were planning to camp at Center Lake in Custer State Park. They were eager to join the party and even offered to swoop me and Anna up and give us a ride. It was wonderful to see them again and catch up. Since our last encounter they had welcomed their son (2 and a half) into their lives. He was pure delight and I was so pleased … Read More
Magic Ice
Last year, somewhere around the end of March, a group of us ventured out in search of some water to throw our kayaks in. For some reason, we thought Deerfield Lake (the coldest, highest lake in the Black Hills) was the best place to go. First we stopped off at Flag Mountain to stretch our legs and enjoy a good view. There we noticed we could see all the way to the lake and were heartbroken by its very obvious still-frozen-ness. We decided that there was no harm in venturing down there anyway and took the road through Reynolds Prairie and down to the Northwest side of the lake. To our delight, we were greeted with a roughly 6-10 foot ribbon of water … Read More
