Monday, June 22, 2009

The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Innocent

I set out from Mathews Beach to cross the lake and take a turn around Juanita Bay. The main crossing is a bit over 1 mile. It is cloudy with a light breeze out of the NE, but halfway across the big lake the wind freshens to 10 mile/hour straight in the face. Juanita Bay is a combination of marsh in the east and big fancy shoreline houses on the north shore. The lawns are uniform in color and condition and no doubt, they get frequent chemical treatments, which wash into the lake. The shoreline is cleaner than I would've expected, but that may be due to winds that swirl around the hills and push debris out of the bay - not quite the direction that the prevailing winds are in general. I follow the shoreline and collect about 30 gallons of stuff. I hear a swoosh behind me and turn to see an immature eagle grab a fish from the water. Otherwise, not a lot of bird life considering the amount of marsh. Paddling out of the bay, the Sheriff's boat pulls up to tell me that I was in a protected zone. Apparently, it is marked by buoys, but since I followed the shoreline closely, I never got within reading distance. I never quite understood sealing off "preserves" to low impact travel like hiking or canoeing. Seems that exposing people to such places in a positive manner is a much greater benefit to all. It also seems particularly odd to seal of lakeshore and marsh that has a major arterial road running through the middle of it and hundreds of fertilized and herbacided lawns draining into it. Who's fooling who?

No comments: