I've been doing a lot of kayaking this year. I sold my own kayak to a good friend prior to leaving Reno, but I never realized how popular the sport would be and how much I would regret my decision. While I've been looking to buy a new one, the market is very fast moving and I've had terrible luck in finding the one that I want before someone else snags it. So to mitigate the problem, I've done a number of tours with local REI stores in the region. One of my favorite state parks is Sweetwater Creek on the opposite side of Atlanta, and when REI posted a sunset kayak tour of the park, I had to jump on the opportunity.
It's roughly an hour drive from my home to the park (depending on traffic) and allowing plenty of time, I arrived about twenty minutes before the start of the tour. As I chatted with the REI guides and got my gear ready, we were closely monitoring a thunderstorm. As luck would have it, the storm seemed to be forking around our location in the park. Thankfully, it didn't put any damper on our plans for the evening.
As the entire group arrived, we chose our boats and the guides went through some basic overviews of the gear and strokes. Soon, we were all in our boats and on the water. I have to brag a little bit in that I was the only one to successfully get into my own boat without assistance. As many trips as I've taken this year, it's starting to be come second nature to me.
I was actually expecting us to hit the moderately fast moving waters of the creek itself, but after talking with our guides, it seems our tour would be limited to the George H. Sparks Reservoir, which pulls it's water from the creek. It should still be a fun time. As we go through some basic paddle maneuvers, we slowly make our way over to the north side of the body of water, which requires us to shoot through a tunnel that passes under the highway. This should be fun. One of the guides goes first and I follow quickly behind. I had build up enough speed to coast through, but as I got to about the halfway point of the 100 or so foot tunnel, our guide slowed down, forcing me to slam on my "water brakes" to prevent a collision. It was fun nonetheless and soon our entire group was paddling on the far side of the reservoir.
From here, we make our way up a shallow inlet, observing the cranes, herons, and an eagle above us. The waters in this reed-strewn inlet remind me of the blackwater creeks I paddled in South Carolina a couple of months ago, though the water is not nearly as black. It is shallow though. I plan my paddle to test and realize that my boat is setting in less than two feet of murky water. We make our way up a short distance and then realize that a fallen tree is blocking any further progress. With that discovery, we turn around and head back through the tunnel.
As the sun comes to a rest in the western sky, we float serenely on this large body of water, just enjoying the evening and the mesmerizing waves caused by a welcomed evening breeze. As the sun drops below the horizon, we make our way back to the shore where we had put in a couple of hours earlier and begin to pull our boats from the water. I check my GPS track and see that we managed to paddle about 2.8 miles over this calm lake. It was quite an enjoyable evening. Now, if I can just find a kayak that I want to buy!
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