Field Trip

I'm taking my nephew J canoeing. I overhear my hip wife, S warn him that "when Scott is ready to go, he goes, so you need to get ready to go."

We do the Harrison Portage, finding my cold weather swimming friend who comes up to shake hands. He did two miles today. The first time we met he had just finished swimming a bit over a mile in 47 degree water....tough stuff.

It is a beautiful summer day, sunny with some clouds and still cool. I chat about the before and after of the big lake as we go....what it would've looked like a 100 years ago when it was 10 feet deeper.

The big lodge is now well camouflaged in summer growth and can be missed from a 100 yards if one doesn't pay attention. A lot is missed from a lot closer in the marsh if one doesn't pay attention. We chase the call of a marsh wren when we get to the east marsh and just when I am about to give up on seeing it, it pops up to the top of the cattails for us.

We do the full circuit of no-man's land in Union Bay, but in this fine weather the wildlife has already began to lay down. Things are quiet. We head through the crossing under place into Portage Bay. There, we take out at the south end and have a short chat with a guy with a kayak who lives near me and has seen me portage past the house. My friend A, the retired archaeologist wanders into the park with her dog F who is a D. F proceeds to chase a golden retriever while A and I talk. We are planning a future trip to watch the beaver in the marsh. F is having fun, but a D is a poor size match for a golden retriever.

Then, we march up the hill.