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I took a day off work to take the new canoe for a test run on Alder Lake. Alder Lake's about half-way between Tacoma and Mt. Rainier: it's a good place to go for a quick paddle without having to drive for hours.
The Sundance is 17 feet long, so we all five got in it and started paddling
It was a sunny Thursday in August, but there weren't a lot of people on the water. We did see some swimmers, but we only saw a couple close-up. This guy's the only swimmer we got on camera.
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| From Sundance first paddle |
We were slow on the draw with the camera, so we didn't get shots of most of what we saw out there. We came around one point and apparently startled a pair of bald eagles: they took off just a few feet over the water, then flew up to the peak of a nearby hill. We saw one of them on the return trip as well, but not so close as the first time. There was also an osprey hanging around one particular channel.
We paddled out an hour and a half down the lake to a deserted beach where we stopped to eat. It wasn't much, but the view was nice.
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| From Sundance first paddle |
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| From Sundance first paddle |
The lake's man-made, so there are the typical stumps and shelves, which to me simply add ambience.
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| From Sundance first paddle |
All in all it was a wonderful and relaxing day.
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| From Sundance first paddle |
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| From Sundance first paddle |
