Maiden Voyage for Our New Current Designs Kayaks

Yesterday, Dave and I had a break in between school assemblies and meetings.  Plus the weather in the Chicago area was super warm.  We decided that our brand new Current Designs Solstice GT and Solstice GTS had spent enough time sitting in the backyard!

We loaded the boats on top of the car and headed out for a mini adventure.  Since we were out in Western Springs, IL, the closest place for us to access water was on the Des Plaines River.  So we put in at the public boat launch.

As we carried the kayaks to the water, I was hesitant to set mine down on the gravel beach-- it was just so nice and new and pretty!  Dave reminded me that soon enough they will be getting some heavy use.  We hopped in the boats and started paddling upstream, Dave in his mango-colored Solstice GT and me in my lime-green Solstice GTS.  What a treat to be on the water again!

We only paddled a few miles, but in that stretch of river we got accustomed to our new boats and we remembered why we fell in love with kayaking in the first place.  I especially thought it was crazy how we could be floating on this meandering, tranquil river, while just 200 yards away other folks were slogging through the heart of rush-hour traffic.

We even spotted some wildlife.  Some critters you'd expect: gray squirrels, Canada geese, a pair of mallards.  The one we didn't expect at all was a snapping turtle.  Dave spotted this turtle covered in mud, on the bank of the river, heading toward the water.  Judging by the thick layer of mud and twigs on his back, he was probably just coming out of hibernation.  After observing it for a while and shooting a little video (coming soon), Dave and I paddled on.

At our turnaround point, we saw evidence of one other critter.  A tree right on the river bank had been chewed by a beaver.  The tree hadn't been felled, but it was missing most of it's bark on the bottom two feet of the trunk.  I suspect that if we come back in the near future, that tree will be on the ground-- and potentially part of a new beaver dam.