Photos by Kurt - http://www.kurtwilliamsphotography.com/
First photos are of the river - me in the hat and the 140 SOT kestrel - bottom photo is of the mouth of the river with Mound Key in the background.
First photos are of the river - me in the hat and the 140 SOT kestrel - bottom photo is of the mouth of the river with Mound Key in the background.
I joined the Fort Myers Area Kayaking Group when I saw they'd posted a kayak trip to Mound Key - http://www.meetup.com/fortmyerskayaking/
It was a 10 mile paddle round trip. 24 kayakers left at around 9:30 a.m. and got back around 2:30 after some serious paddling. Holy crap, expected my arms would detach from the shoulders sometime during the night and end up tangled up in my sheets by morning.
I'm actually fine.
That was amazing. A few of the group could not make it the whole way. Oddly enough, the best scenery was that mile of Estero River between the outfitters and Koreshan. (Kurt may have some of those photos on his site - check it out.)
You can see bottom for the first mile or so, I always find that comforting. At the rental office they told us if we wanted to see "the alligator" we should go left. No thanks.
I rented a Kestrel 140 SOT. Wow - very nice kayak. Very light. Which I would regret later in the day.
Starting out, it seemed that the river would never end. It widened, it narrowed, widened, narrowed. You could see some indian mounds along the paddle ... I didn't even know what they were until someone pointed them out.
They were saying "someone tips" on every trip. I was more worried about getting separated from the group and getting lost. It could take them a day or two to find you out there. My contacts would dry out and I'd be half-blind.
I made a mental note to self to watch for all markers since it would be fairly easy to mistake some of the branches for main river. Then I thought "well, I'll be with the group so it won't matter." Turns out it did matter.
As we grew closer to the gulf, you could really feel the tide coming in. That was a struggle at some points - it would have been awful in either of the plastic recreational kayaks I own.
Someone said if we spent any amount of time on Mound Key (as planned) we would hit the tide coming out upon our return and have as much of a workout going back.
Mound Key was directly across from us as we came out of the mouth of the river and it was an easy paddle across and around. Unfortunately, those who went on ahead through a fairly narrow entry of vegetation over the water reported that it was EXTREMELY buggy.
I get anaphylactic shock from bug bites; even though I had sprayed myself to death before leaving, I wasn't ready to risk it.
Four of us - a designer from Chico's and two of her girlfriends - decided we didn't need to go on land. We turned around and headed back across the Gulf. As we did, storm clouds approached and we applauded ourselves for our foresight. (More like dumb luck.)
One dolphin kept us company on our way back to the river and we were glad we'd remembered the markers - 35/36. We could have been in big trouble if we hadn't. Everything looks the same.
For the first mile into the river we were so proud of ourselves - we were with the tides with the wind at our backs. At several points we nearly made incorrect turns. One time we did - and that's where two of us were when the storm hit. A little LOST.
It was scary, with winds so high I felt like they'd tip me or blow me into the mangroves. This is where I regretted how light my kayak was. The others had no problem, they had rented poofy wide tubs with the aerodynamics of foam mattresses. They weren't getting anywhere fast, but they sure weren't going to tip.
I was in a deep area of the river and there was a boat-shelter nearby. I headed for that and the others went on without me. (Being left alone was quite scary - it felt like waterspout weather and I have already seen some huge waterspouts since moving down here.)
The wind was blowing so hard the nose of my kayak went under the dock and started taking on water. There was no danger of sinking, only flipping - so I held on as tight as I could. The storm lessened a bit - then I saw the rest of our group headed back - including photographer Kurt. I joined in with them. At least if I went in, they'd be there to help.
Kurt said the storm hit them when they were on the Gulf and it wasn't fun. I can imagine how rough it would have been out in the open like that.
The storm lessened in intensity the further we went. It seemed like we were back at Koreshan - and beyond that to Estero Outfitters - in no time.
Back at EO, the guys told me the winds hit so hard "a kayak like the one you're in flew right off the racks." Maybe there is something to be said for heavier kayaks; although they're impossible for a single female to schlep.
I'm looking forward to going back with friends, EO is such a great place for beginners to get started and intermediate types to rent better kayaks.
The day after, the shoulders are satisfyingly sore (I know I had a workout) and the tan is the darkest it's been since I moved down here.
I highly recommend Estero Outfitters, the kayak group (link above) and the Kestrel 140 SOT:-) I'm told "sit on tops" are safer, but I actually feel more in control in a sit-in.
It's something to think about.
You can see bottom for the first mile or so, I always find that comforting. At the rental office they told us if we wanted to see "the alligator" we should go left. No thanks.
I rented a Kestrel 140 SOT. Wow - very nice kayak. Very light. Which I would regret later in the day.
Starting out, it seemed that the river would never end. It widened, it narrowed, widened, narrowed. You could see some indian mounds along the paddle ... I didn't even know what they were until someone pointed them out.
They were saying "someone tips" on every trip. I was more worried about getting separated from the group and getting lost. It could take them a day or two to find you out there. My contacts would dry out and I'd be half-blind.
I made a mental note to self to watch for all markers since it would be fairly easy to mistake some of the branches for main river. Then I thought "well, I'll be with the group so it won't matter." Turns out it did matter.
As we grew closer to the gulf, you could really feel the tide coming in. That was a struggle at some points - it would have been awful in either of the plastic recreational kayaks I own.
Someone said if we spent any amount of time on Mound Key (as planned) we would hit the tide coming out upon our return and have as much of a workout going back.
Mound Key was directly across from us as we came out of the mouth of the river and it was an easy paddle across and around. Unfortunately, those who went on ahead through a fairly narrow entry of vegetation over the water reported that it was EXTREMELY buggy.
I get anaphylactic shock from bug bites; even though I had sprayed myself to death before leaving, I wasn't ready to risk it.
Four of us - a designer from Chico's and two of her girlfriends - decided we didn't need to go on land. We turned around and headed back across the Gulf. As we did, storm clouds approached and we applauded ourselves for our foresight. (More like dumb luck.)
One dolphin kept us company on our way back to the river and we were glad we'd remembered the markers - 35/36. We could have been in big trouble if we hadn't. Everything looks the same.
For the first mile into the river we were so proud of ourselves - we were with the tides with the wind at our backs. At several points we nearly made incorrect turns. One time we did - and that's where two of us were when the storm hit. A little LOST.
It was scary, with winds so high I felt like they'd tip me or blow me into the mangroves. This is where I regretted how light my kayak was. The others had no problem, they had rented poofy wide tubs with the aerodynamics of foam mattresses. They weren't getting anywhere fast, but they sure weren't going to tip.
I was in a deep area of the river and there was a boat-shelter nearby. I headed for that and the others went on without me. (Being left alone was quite scary - it felt like waterspout weather and I have already seen some huge waterspouts since moving down here.)
The wind was blowing so hard the nose of my kayak went under the dock and started taking on water. There was no danger of sinking, only flipping - so I held on as tight as I could. The storm lessened a bit - then I saw the rest of our group headed back - including photographer Kurt. I joined in with them. At least if I went in, they'd be there to help.
Kurt said the storm hit them when they were on the Gulf and it wasn't fun. I can imagine how rough it would have been out in the open like that.
The storm lessened in intensity the further we went. It seemed like we were back at Koreshan - and beyond that to Estero Outfitters - in no time.
Back at EO, the guys told me the winds hit so hard "a kayak like the one you're in flew right off the racks." Maybe there is something to be said for heavier kayaks; although they're impossible for a single female to schlep.
I'm looking forward to going back with friends, EO is such a great place for beginners to get started and intermediate types to rent better kayaks.
The day after, the shoulders are satisfyingly sore (I know I had a workout) and the tan is the darkest it's been since I moved down here.
I highly recommend Estero Outfitters, the kayak group (link above) and the Kestrel 140 SOT:-) I'm told "sit on tops" are safer, but I actually feel more in control in a sit-in.
It's something to think about.
No comments:
Post a Comment