May 11, 2008

Green Lane Reservoir

Mothers Day

(shot with Sony DSC-P200)
(view other photo essays)

So, since my last trip to Green Lane, I replaced the ailing Sony DSC-S85 with a posh, (used), extremely pocketable DSC-P200. It has 7 Megapixel resolution and a much faster cycling time. Based on early predictions for a mostly sunny, warm weekend, I planned to return to Green Lane and explore the northern tributary that had, in my last excursion, been my objective. Unfortunately, as the week wore on, the weather patterns changed. Saturday started with a grim, chilly dampness. The prediction for Sunday was somewhat better: Mostly cloudy, but warm and not likely to rain until evening. Favoring the likelier weather on Sunday, I loaded my gear into the car and headed out for the lake.

As a refresher, this is the course I had set
for my first trip to Green Lane.



Parking at Green Lane is kind of ad hoc.
You just tuck your car (more often, truck) wherever it fits.



Without the cart, it would be extremely difficult
to bring my boat to the water.



Here's the Pamlico, ready to launch.
Note the little blue boat in the background.



This guy is propelling his boat with some kind of pedal arrangement.
It's set up like a recumbent bicycle. Very interesting.



A family of ducklings takes to the water.



Coming around the point, finally and truly aimed
for the Route 663 bridge and the tributary beyond.



The blue-sky moments were pretty rare this day.
Here's one with the 663 bridge in the background.



A stand of cattails on the western shore.



I managed to catch this water bird in flight.



Is it a heron? Hard for me to tell from this angle.



It took me maybe 15 minutes to cross the main body of the lake
to the western shore and make my way further north.



Another 5 to 10 minutes brought me this close to
the bridge over Route 663.



A dream denied! Prominently posted, three separate places,
the wardens of Green Lane stood in my way yet again.



Cut off from my chosen destination, I listened to the
mocking whine of 663 traffic.



Almost immediately, the weather turned uglier.
A stiff breeze started flushing up the lake, whipping the
surface into foot-high chops.



The Pamlico is a flat-bottomed boat. It's great for
noodling around in 4" of water, poking into creeks
and marshes. But it's not much fun on rough water.
Waves lift the bow and then break to either side.
The boat then "splats" down into the trough and water
splashes into the huge, open cockpit.



I paddled at my "cruising" rate for 10 minutes and made
hardly an inch of headway judging from a shoreline marker.
When I doubled into my "power" stroke, I found I was able to
gain against the wind and finally, after another 15 minutes of
hard paddling, I pulled within the comparative shelter of the
windward shore.



I settled into a "landing pattern" behind this tandem boat.
The couple in it seemed to be having just as much trouble as I was.
I saw them pulling into the boat yard was I was first setting out.
They had exactly as much patience as I did!



So, out for just a little over an hour, due to the weather,
a frustrating day.



This is Zooey, my sister Beth's new dog, rescued from a
Sheltie shelter. The hand belongs to my dad.




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