[blog post interrupted by random clippings from Marika's trip summary!]

In June. Marika, Julia, Whitney, and I decided to go for a paddle in Elkhorn Slough. This was shortly after I found out my company was applying to work on a restoration project in the slough. In 1947, a harbor was built at the mouth of the slough to provide a safe haven for boats coming in and out. Unfortunately, constructing a permanent structure like a harbor limits the slough's ability to naturally manage itself by opening, closing, and moving north to south, depending on factors like inflows and sediment supply. 

May 20th 2012 was the date of the first solar eclipse since May 10th 1994, and what better way to enjoy it than to sun-gaze from a kayak on SF Bay? Doug (oceanographer and kayaker) and I left Oakland after picking up his boat at the Kayak Hotel, which is a glorified garage for communal boat storage by the Oakland Estuary. After a quick stop at a roadside fruit stand (yum! cherries!) we met up with Eddie (coastal engineer and kayaker) on the other side of the bay. The launch site was along Chesapeake Drive in Redwood City, close to the Stanford Boathouse. We parked in the shade of some trees (free parking! and launching!) and discovered that we were joined by some unusual birds making very loud squawking/groaning noises above. The sound was so ridiculous that I found myself giggling every time they started up. I would try to spell it if I could...

We set out with no ambitions other than to outlast the eclipse and test Doug's eclipse-viewing contraption. It was a breezy day so we stayed in the narrow channels that meander through the salt marsh. Power lines cross the south bay marshes in a number of places...

B.A.S.K. is the Bay Area Sea Kayaking group, which apparently has over 400 members. I joined them shortly after Big Purple arrived to check out the group and meet some nearby paddlers. They conveniently had a new member paddle scheduled two days after my boat arrived. The paddle would be on the Oakland estuary, which is only a 5 minute drive from my apartment.

We met up at the public launch site near Jack London Square. For the most part, Jack London Square tends to be deserted, but on Sundays the farmer's market makes it a popular destination. It always makes me nervous to drive around the Square because a railroad runs along the center of the road. Apparently the maximum train speed is 15 mph, but when a train is coming, all the side streets are blocked off, so you can theoretically get trapped on the road/railroad. Not cool.

A few weeks ago my graduate adviser offhandedly mentioned that there was a need to develop a more detailed outline of the south end of Cayuga Lake for the hydrologic model he and some colleagues are working on. There is a particularly high need for a more accurate outline of the inlet and other contributing waterways at the southern tip of the lake. In an effort to validate my kayaking with some sort of productive excuse, I offered to take a GPS along while I paddled as far as possible up the various tributaries of Cayuga Lake.

Last Sunday some Ithaca kayaking buddies (Ben, Rob, and Esther) and I headed down to Cass Park to attempt to map the inlet. The GPS seemed to be working and recording data as we paddled, which was a relief! The channels we paddled (from west to east) included:

#1 The "Inlet" - The widest and longest of the four, this channel is relatively unexciting. The wind was coming from the south, so we had a pretty strong breeze to paddle against on the way down. We were stopped by a dam across the channel. 

Tired wipers pushed aside clumps of sleet and rain drops landing on my windshield. My toasty seat heater made it hard to believe the thermometer that bounced between 35 and 39 degrees as I made the two hour trip north from Ithaca to Sodus Bay.

I met the rest of the Rough Riders at a launch site just east of Chimney Bluffs State Park at 10am. We shivered as we pulled on our extra warm kayaking gear. The only one without a dry suit, I was lucky that Dennis had an extra one. Although it was meant for surfing and looked goofy next to the kayaker dry suits, it fit well and kept me quite warm!

I'll admit it. I'm feeling a little sentimental right now. Bear with me please :)

In my first post I laid out my paddling goals for this summer. Some were intentionally ambitious and others were intentionally ambiguous. At some point last spring it occurred to me (possibly caused by some senior year sentimentality) that I live in an incredibly beautiful region called the Finger Lakes that's lush with kayaking opportunities that I had never really taken advantage of. I set out to circumnavigate or paddle at least 15 miles on each of the 11 Finger Lakes by the end of the year. It wasn't really a challenging goal, but it certainly took some great company, planning, dedication, and hours in the car. Over the past 6 months I managed to drag myself and my friends to 24 different bodies of water, and I loved every minute of it! I guess now it's time to make some new goals!

Click read more to hear about our last Finger Lake and see a stack of beautiful fall photos...

This is the 1st post in a series of 3. Ben, Mary Kate, and I recently (July 14 - 18) spent 3 days kayaking in and around Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island (MDI) on the coast of Maine. Ben & Mary Kate will be guest-blogging for the 2nd and 3rd days!

After a fairly eventful journey to Mt. Desert Island which involved car camping (the type where you sleep in the car at a rest-stop), we (Ben & I) arrived early Thursday morning at Seawall Campground. After a 3 hour nap and a satisfying lunch, we set out to do an easy afternoon paddle on Long Pond, a large freshwater lake on the west side of Mt. Desert Island...