Bald Eagle Steals my Fish Stringer, Plus first time Packing Kayak on old External Frame REI Pack

Spencer Lake

I saw Spencer Lake for the first time today and I liked it.  It is nicer than Island lake, it is less developed and the houses are all different.  There were so many lillypads too!

I did have a problem with a Jet Ski jackass who was going full speed between me and the shore and he was  just 50 feet away from me.  I was quite close to the shore at the time.  He nearly hit a flock of geese too.  I will not go to this lake on the weekend, I'm sure it's a horrible zoo on a hot summer weekend.



People were setting up for the day at the boat launch with loud music, kids and beer.  They volunteered to help me put my Kayak on top of my car, so I won't complain.    There is a boat launch culture at work at all the local lakes.  I never knew such a culture existed.


I still have not taken a good camera out on the water.  I feel pretty confident that I will not tip over, so maybe next time I will bring my old D90 and a cheap lens.

Upper Cushman Kayak

Paddles with Plankton at Lake Isabella

My fourth Kayaking trip!

Lake Isabella is the closest Lake with a public boat launch to my house and does not require me to drive over 40mph to get to it.

I load my yak onto the top of my car with straps and foam blocks since I did not have a roof rack.  I was too careless this time and scratched my car roof.  Oh well it is an old beater car anyway, well sort of.  It is a super well maintained Lincoln Town car, but it is so old!

I gave the newspaper a nice loud honk to show off my kayak as I drove past it, but they just looked confused.  They don't recognize my Lincoln I guess.  Oh well.

My Kayak is an Old Town Vapor 12.  I knew I wanted a longer kayak after my first trip where I was in a shorter yak and struggled to keep up with the people I was with.  They had 12 foot kayaks.  Problem is, I'm only 5'5" and I'm not getting any younger, so I hope I don't throw out my back loading a 12 foot kayak onto the roof of my car all by myself!

I had no help at all this time, the last few times people came up and offered to help me load and unload the beast.  It's okay though, I can do it myself, and I hope I get better at it.

The lake was a little rough so I was nervous.  I am so new to this sport.  How much roughness can my yak handle?  Am I going to die or tip over.  I was the only one on the lake and the peace and quiet was nice, but water is so dangerous that humans do have an instinctual fear of it. I actually don't mind sharing a lake the way I mind sharing a trail.   But the lakes are nicer with out loud speed boats making wakes that might kill me. 

I spend about two hours on the lake but did not go very far.  I only went to the inlet end and then around to the side directly opposite the boat launch.  I did this two times.  I did not want to go down lake in the wind because I might die paddling up wind.  Yes, I'm a bit nervous about my new sport, but still loving it.

I mostly just spent my time enjoying the lilly pads and the snails and the geese.  I found that if I ram my kayak into the lilly pads it will stop moving in the wind and give me a chance to take some photos.

I've wanted a row boat for a long time but getting one would require a trailer and a trailer requires storage space and car tabs and even a row boat I think has to be registered.  That was just too much.  But the Kayak does not require a trailer and does not have to be registered.

So far I've only taken my waterproof camera out on my Kayak.  I just don't want to dunk my other cameras.  I think perhaps I should try to purposely tip my yak in shallow water just so I can learn what it takes to make it roll over?  One review said that my particular Kayak sinks really fast!

An empty shell I found on the beach

Did not know this snail was here until I looked at my review screen.

Not feeling any love for the trails

Lake Isabella, near Kamilchee

The title says it all, just not feeling it.  I’m not enjoying hiking right now.  There are a lot of reasons for this.  One reason is that I’ve hiked all the local trails so many times that it never feels like an adventure anymore.  Another reason is the crowds.  Twice as many people hike now as did ten years ago according the Seattle NPR. 

  That means more people on the trails and less solitude for me. 

I can go off trail to avoid the crowds, but there a huge problem with that now.  Ticks!  Ticks are mostly in off trail locations such as in the grass on old logging roads and in the brush anywhere near Lake Cushman.  I don’t want Lyme disease!

Another problem is a recent loss of income from my photography.  I worry about racking up the miles driving my car to and from distant trail heads.   I can’t afford the gas or the wear and tear on my car. When I try to hike close to home though, I’m in tick country.  Mount Walker is good for its bus transportation and it is a pretty trail, but this time of year the road is open and it’s too crowded.

Another reason, maybe the biggest is that I am depressed.  

My home situation is very hard.  My spouse is on hospice and grumpy as hell all the time.  He argues and argues and argues.  The fact that my spouse is dying is of course stressful too.  It is so sad to see him slowly deteriorate.   He is down to 95 pounds now and his frame is 5’10”.

Losing my favorite source of photography income gave me many mixed feelings.   Anxiety, sadness and anger come up whenever I think about it.     The loss of that creative outlet for me is not good for my development as a photographer, this loss also came with a loss of status in my community as the newspaper’s photographer.  So it’s not just the loss of income that plunged us into poverty that is upsetting me and causing me anxiety.

Another major stress in my life is my 14 year old daughter.   Whoops, I mean son.   Major, major stress there.

Lastly, with my husband being ill for so long, there is something I’m missing in my life, but I’m not looking for anyone to fill that need, so don’t even go there.

My  existential terror is always lurking in the background, but it really comes to the forefront  at times like this.  I think about death a lot, I mean every day. 

Speaking of death,  last week I learned that my step-father has been dead for over six months, he was my last major connection to my mother.

So I’m depressed, anxious, broke and I’m going to die someday.  Okay not broke, but our monthly income puts us well below the poverty level and I don’t want to have to dig into my savings month after month.

I have cheered up a little bit this week though since I bought a Kayak and a cheap set of ropes to put it on my car with.  There are a lot of little lakes nearby, that are much closer to me than any trail head.  I don’t have to drive far at all to launch my Kayak. 

So now I am exercising my upper body instead and I have not yet been brave enough to take a good camera into my kayak, so the photos won’t be that great, but I’ll post them anyway.

I will probably start enjoying hiking  again in the winter when the crowds and the ticks are gone.  But for now maybe I should change the name of this blog to a name that a face book fan invented for it.  Floats with Flotsam instead of Walks with Moss.    

Under Lake Isabella

Lake Isabella

Island Lake

My second hand Kayak