"Constant First Paddle"


JOURNEY 52 - Constance Bay to Vance's Side Road, Return - April 14, 2006

It turned into a gorgeous sunny afternoon, and we shook off the inertia of a lazy weekend and started digging out the kayaking gear. The water temperature was of course numbing to the touch, but the air temperature and the heat of the sun made it very pleasant. We paddled along the southern shoreline of Constance Bay, exploring the flooded woodlands. We poked our way through the tree trunks, encountering ducks and muskrats around just about every turn. We were drawn to head up Constance Creek, which as always looks more like a river in some parts than the tiny weedy creek it will become in summer. The water was cloudy in this section, and you could not see more than a few inches below the surface. As Keenan paddled upstream he saw an unusal stick floating in the water. It looked just like a little serpent, with a head, a hump sticking out of the water, and a tail. Well, it wasn't a serpent, it was an enormous snapping turtle, and was just a foot from the tip of his kayak. As he dropped his paddle and reached for his camera, a gust of wind blew the hull right into the turtle! He didn't seem bothered by it in the least. He ducked his head under the other side, and slowly glided of into the murky waters. No picture. Once around the first bend in the creek the water cleared up and you could see right to the bottom. There were golfers out on the Eagle Creek course, with nothing but geese and the two of us as spectators for their early-season three-putting. Just past the golf courses there was lots of current through the shallow and narrow areas in the last half of this section between the bay and the first bridge. Moving upstream you have to gather speed heading through the narrows between the reeds and paddle above the surface of the water in the reeds themselves if you don't have enough momentum to pass through. Getting closer to the bridge we encountered a group of paddlers in plastic kayaks and a canoe. They had parked up at the bridge for a pleasant downstream paddle. We exchanged pleasantries on the way by and fit in a quick bit of chatter about kayaks. This section is hard upstream work because you have to deal with the current while at the same time navigating through extremely narrow and curvy sections. Julie was concerned that early season enthusiasm might lead to further upstream ambitions, but it was quickly agreed that the halfway point of this journey would be the bridge. We paused in the calm pond below the bridge and snacked on cashews washed down with lots of water. We started noticing there were quite a few kingfishers around, but were surprised there were very few geese. Perhaps it was still a bit early for them. There were no birds of prey sighted either, perhaps for the same reason. What we did see were dozens of muskrats - there's a bumper crop this year! The paddle downstream was pleasant but largely uneventful. We discovered an alternate channel through the reeds, which is also known as "getting off course and blasting your way in the right direction until you find open water." As we rounded the curve between the golf courses the air temperature was dropping quickly and we quickened our pace. We watched for the snapping turtle but he was off doing other things. Popping back out into the bay it was windy and cold. We could see what looked like a loon in the distance, so we used that as motivation to get our rusty joints pumping. It was indeed a loon, our first such sighting of the season, and he was a right friendly chap to boot. We hit our little beach just as the sun was setting behind the town in the distance.