kayaking

26
Sep
2022
Kayaking Kahshe Lake Area Muskoka

Kayaking Kahshe Lake Area Muskoka

Muskoka Life - Cottage Life

Spent a few days at the cottage last week.  Lots of rainy weather but also lots of sunshine in-between.  Two rivers coming off the small lake we are on.  Well, three if you count the one attached to Kahshe Lake. 

There were and are lots of trees down crossing the one.  I cleared a path through earlier this summer.  Only one spot where you now still have to exit the kayak to get over a couple of trees.  Pretty easy though.  We’ve been up to the falls at the end of this river three times this year which is the first time we’ve been able to get all the way in about three years or more.  It is a little over two kilometres from cottage to the falls this way.  We’ve seen deer, blue heron, foxes, beaver and some kind of cat along here at different times.  More wilderness than the other river.

The other river also end in a waterfall.  It goes under bridges of about 3 road.  Farms and cottages alongside.  Two beaver dams that you have to climb over.  Not that difficult.  The video below is the falls at this end.  About six kilometres total there and back depending on how direct one goes.  I'm trying out the 'cinematic' feature on my iPhone camera.

 

Posted by Marty in Blog, 2 comments
25
Sep
2022
Egret Taking Flight on the Welland River

Egret Taking Flight on the Welland River

Kayaking, trailers and care of my back

We had racks on the on the SUV for the kayaks but it was killing my back.  And you can’t drive around with them on the car all the time.  So, we bought a small trailer. 

Some two by fours and some wood screws, I rigged a couple of cross bars.  Placed our kayak racks there and loaded the kayaks. Now they can stay on the trailer. 

Takes me a couple of minutes to get ready hooking the trailer to my vehicle.  My wife laughs at how easy it is now for us to load and unload. 

We’ve been out a couple of times this way and it makes the whole event so much more  pleasurable.

There are lots of lazy rivers around the Niagara Region for us.  Lots within 20-45 minutes drive.

This day we put in at George Bukator Park. It’s never terribly busy there and pretty easy to get in and out with a trailer.  And in and out of the water with the kayaks. 

We headed west on the Welland River.  There are a couple of Egrets along that way.  We’ve seen them before.  There is a short video below I took with my phone.  One of these days, I’ll take my Nikon and get some close up shots.  The Egrets are not nearly as people shy as the Herons we see from time to time.

Posted by Marty in Blog, 1 comment
10
Aug
2019

More Wellandport Kayaking

Kayaking near Wellandport - Niagara Region

There aren't that many places to drop in the rivers around here.  Google maps helped me with this one.  There is a little park on the east end of Wellandport, just to the left of the Library when you are facing south.  Follow the road to the loop at the end, not very far at all.  Generally, it is not busy there and there is parking with an easy spot to put in your kayaks.  A couple of weeks ago my brother in law and I went upstream about 4 km so this time Yvonne and I tried the downstream stretch.  I wouldn't have tried this in the Spring when there was so much rain as this river was really moving then and I don't like coming back upstream.  Something to think about when you are planning a trip.

The river is really quiet right now and quite muddy.  We went in the evening - started about 6:30 PM and got back just after 8.  We didn't want to be coming upstream in the dark.  Might miss our exit!  Sun was low which was nice as it had been a very hot day.  Chatting with a fisherman on the edge of his property who told us that we could take a side route a little up on the left and on into Wellandport.  But we found the river too low presently to traverse it there.  So, did an easy one down the lazy river about 2 km then back.  No bugs as it is late enough in the season.  Pretty quiet in spite being near the road in parts.  When it is a bit cooler we'll start early enough that we can go further.

Here is a few second video.  You can see how muddy the water is.

Posted by Marty in Blog, 0 comments
21
Jul
2019

Kayaking Welland River

Wellandport Kayaking

Peter and I went out on the Welland River last evening for about 2 hours.  There are not that many places to put in a boat along there but a few weeks ago on a drive-a-bout Yvonne and I found the perfect spot near the Wellandport Community Center/Library just outside of Wellandport.  

If you are coming west along Highway 20, just past Fonthill go south on Canborough Road.  About half a mile before you get to Wellandport on the left hand side of the road (south side) is the Community Center.  To the right (west) side of that is a gravel road/lane that goes back along the park.  Follow that to the river.  There is a loop there with parking.  And a small spot to put in boats. 

We put the kayaks in about 6 PM - it was still very hot for the first hour.  We went up the river for about an hour - did just over 4 km going up the river.  Wind and current coming toward us.  Coming back was nicer as the sun was lower and there was some shade.  And it was a lot easier as we weren’t fighting the current.  

It was a very pleasant evening.  There were some houses in the town that back onto the river and we got some friendly waves.  And we got to watch a bunch of kids working on getting a pontoon boat unstuck.  It had been parked at their dock when the river was about a foot higher it looked like.  They were using boards to lever it out.  I didn’t think they would be successful but about 25 minutes later they were cruising along behind us. 

Generally a nice quiet evening. Total a little over 8 kilometres.

Posted by Marty in Blog, 0 comments
10
Jun
2019
Kayaking Welland River

Kayaking Welland River

Egret on the River

We finally had some nice weather and got a decent few hours of kayaking in after a crappy Spring.  We didn't want to  make our first run in one of the swollen rivers in the area.  Just wanted an easy day of it.  Went to a small park along the river between Chippewa and Niagara Falls.  North side.  If you go south on Dorchester from McLeod and turn right when you get to the end you will follow Chippewa Parkway around.  Once you are going along the river you will see a small park with a spot to launch boats.  If you get to the Canoe Club (George Bukator Park) you have gone way too far.

The river is quite wide and open so if you are out on a sunny day long sleeves or some sunscreen might be in order.  And a hat.  Was a nice breeze so kept the bugs away whereas a smaller enclosed river at this time of year, with all this rain, well, makes for lots of mosquitos.  We went about 4km along the river. The first bit you are going with a current until you get to about the railway bridge and the QEW bridge.  Check out the bridge, though.  It is an old one that would rotate to let boats pass.  Past there it is pretty easy going both ways.  We saw nowhere along that stretch for putting up the kayaks.  There are a few private docks only.  Not too many people out on the water. The benefit of going out during the week, I guess.

Lots of bird life.  You can see the 'Egret' video below.  This video was done with Adobe Premiere Pro.  I just downloaded it.  I have no natural intuition with these programs.  I have a son that edits movies for a living.   He was a natural since he was 12!   Not me so much.  I do like the program.  One can do so much more that with simple free  programs.  Looking forward to really learning and using the program.

 

Posted by Marty in Blog, 1 comment