The previous day, my 71st birthday came and went without much fanfare. I preferred it that way. Seems like I've pretty much always been that way about birthdays. My old canoe turned 19 this year, now climbing toward 20. I suppose I made a bigger deal about it turning 19 than my own accumulation of years. In recent years I've grown to appreciate more the simple, old school way of doing things. My old canoe, an Old Town Camper model, has proven itself a durable and reliable, old school way of getting around craft. That particular model is no longer being manufactured replaced in more recent times with newer models made with higher tech materials. But, that is just fine with me. My old Camper will be around for many more years, I hope.
On year 71 plus one day, me and old Camper decided to make another solo, out and back, canoe trip on Barren River Lake. The forecast was for mostly overcast with winds from 5 to 10 mph with a high temp up around 80. Pretty good conditions for canoeing. A quick look at the lake map and I set my destination and turn around point at a large cove about 2 miles or so above Walnut Creek Marina. Our put in was once again at Browns Ford further down the lake. Round trip if you include the zig-zag course I was going to paddle would be around 20 miles. That's a far piece to paddle on flat water but I figured I could do it. A couple weeks before I had made a similar trip, around 15 miles for that one, only this time I would paddle a couple miles farther up the lake before turning around.
Canoe tossed on top, fishing gear, paddles, lunch, drinking water, camera gear, lifejacket, plus a few other assorted items were loaded into my Jeep and we headed out. Forty-five minutes later, 8:45 AM, we were on the water.
The wind, practically calm at first made for easy and swift paddling. For the first mile and half I simply glided along enjoying the sights and scenery. The cloudy sky subdued the summer heat, a welcomed refreshing turn of the weather. I planned on taking a few photographs if something of interest appeared, but mostly I just paddled.
I use a couple paddles, all wooden. Sometimes a single paddle offers a traditional method of propelling the craft across the water, however I have started using a double paddle. I've discovered each type offers different benefits. A single paddle provides more torque and allows for quicker turns and movements left and right or stopping of a canoe. They are very efficient when you employ what is called a J stroke. That is where you paddle on one side for extended periods, but to remain traveling in a straight line, you have to rotate the blade out slightly at the end of the stroke to kick the bow of the canoe back in line. I've never really perfected that stroke, but have adjusted to using what I call a modified J-stroke where I simply drag the paddle blade for a moment at the end of the stroke and use it like a rudder to guide the bow back in line. The single paddle is better for navigating moving water.
The double paddle, which is more often associated with kayaking than canoeing, will allow for almost perfectly straight tracking of the canoe. For getting from point A to point B, you can not beat it. Momentum is easily maintained, although using one for hours on end places a lot of stress on your arms and shoulders. With proper technique though, they provide an excellent means of propelling a canoe. On this day, I used the double paddle.
I actually made that paddle. Using two old Feather Brand paddles, I removed the handles, split about an 8 inch length off the end of each which were aligned and glued together. That joint being reinforced with three 5/16 inch wooden dowels glued and hammered into three drilled holes of the same diameter along that joint. I used some paracord to reinforce the joint with a few wraps. It works great!
Seems like the first mile or so on a trip like this one takes the longest. After that, they seem to click by rather quickly. Before long, I approached a previous camping location and stopped to stretch my legs, then covered another couple of miles to another potential camping location. I stopped again, this time to eat an early lunch. By this time the sun was starting to burn through the cloud cover, but the air remained cool. My lunch break location took about six or so miles of paddling. I had a good number of miles yet to cover, so I did not linger for long. While sitting there in the shade of a small sycamore tree, a Bald Eagle soared across the lake about a half mile away. His bright tail and head easily seen as the sun caught his magnificent form as he turned left and right searching for an easy meal. Just above him, a Redtail hawk soared across the sky. At first I thought there were two Bald Eagles, but a quick look with the binoculars revealed his reddish buff colored tail.
Ahead of me a long rocky ridge stretched westward before it turned north again. From my current position, the end of that ridge looked to be over a mile away. From there I knew my destination cove was another two maybe two and half miles on up the lake. Time was moving on, so I shoved off and spent maybe 15 minutes or so fishing inside a small cove directly across the point from where I had been. No luck.
The wind had shifted now from out of the west and was in my face. Not too strong, but strong enough to make me work at it more. Before long I rounded the distant long oval point and headed north. About a mile and half later I pulled over one more time to stretch my stiff legs. In the distance, about another mile or so I could see the gap that was my destination cove. At this point, I figured I had paddled somewhere between 8 and 8 1/2 miles. A quick look at my watch, I realized time was getting away from me again and I had a decision to make. Do I press on? Or, do I turn around. By this time it was approaching 2:00 PM and I knew I had at least the same distance to travel to return to my Jeep, plus I wanted to do more fishing along the way back. I decided to turn around and cut my losses.
Did manage to fish some, with zero luck. For some reason Barren River Lake that has a good reputation for being a good bass fishing lake, this year, the fishing has been really slow on it. Found out later, the next day a big bass tournament took place with over 200 professional bass fishermen and the winning catch was a measly 7 lbs. That is pretty bad. Something ain't right, so I don't feel so bad not having much luck up there this season.
On the way back I mostly followed the same route but did manage a detour into another cove just to check it out. I also deviated some along one leg of the journey that added another half mile or so to my total mileage. Along the way I saw numerous Blue Herons, another Bald Eagle, a family of otters with a newborn cub, and other waterfowl. The afternoon drifted along with my canoe and I seemed to slow down the further along I paddled. By the last couple of miles, I was quite tired and struggled a bit to push through that last portion back to the Jeep.
All in all, the trip took about 9 hours with a few rest stops along the way. After referring to the lake map and snaking a piece of string along the route traveled out and back, then stretching it across the scale of miles, I ended up just slightly shy of 18 miles.
I've discovered as I have grown older, as long as I remain active and stay in a reasonably good physical condition, I can still do many of the same things I used to do when I was younger. Only now it takes me longer to recover from it.
I can't think of too many better things to do than to discover what awaits across a good day afield, just me and my canoe.
