© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser
Showing posts with label Kayaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kayaking. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
What's Not To Like--Garrett's first kayak
Ken has found one of the BEST places to put our kayaks in.....The Michael J. Kirwan Dam and Reservoir which is located in The West Branch State Park outside the town of Ravenna, Ohio.
I have made two treks to this delightful spot with Ken and yesterday we took my son, Garrett, for his first ever kayaking experience.
Garrett took the "getting situated and steady in a kayak" learning curve in stride and off he went. It was exciting to watch a newbie get his water wings, take off and show such enjoyment in the experience.
And what an experience he had!!! We had three separate sightings of great blue heron and a doe down by the water having a drink. I have to tell ya that being up close and personal with a great blue taking flight yards away just takes my breath away!
Our paddle was primarily up the West Branch of the Mahoning River....very calm and serene water. Hopefully next time, we will explore it more.
© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
What's Not To Like--Tygart Lake State Park, West Virginia
Sitting around Tuesday a.m. I am toying with the idea of a new lake to explore. Ken looks at me like I'm nuts and exclaims, "What! One time out and you are already tired of the Cheat"!!! Hummm.....Next I'm out on the net to see what else is in the area when Ken mentions, "I seem to remember seeing a sign about a Tygart Lake where's that?" And a plan is born.
Heck we've been near or by Tygart Lake in the past. Down south of Grafton, West Virginia in Taylor County, I have dragged Ken down there to do a little genealogy work. This will be a no brainer!!!
All geared up and ready to go, Ken pops the info into Garmin and we are off down Route 119 heading south.
Grafton, the downtown area, now somewhat depressed, must have been, in it's hay day a spectacular town. The original buildings (now advertised as the Historic Area) are beautiful...although in need of a face lift. Grand old structures line the street. Refurbished and with shops and eateries, Grafton would be a destination for travelers looking for food and shopping housed in turn of the century buildings. Unfortunately, we did not stop to walk the streets, so no Miss Snap Happy photos....maybe next time.
We chose to ignore the sign in Grafton pointing the way to Tygart Lake and followed Garmin's voice....out of town. As we left Grafton and the blue lake that was showing on Garmin's screen, there was the question that begged to be asked....how come the lake isn't on the screen anymore? No matter, Garmin will get us there.
Along the road, we saw a coal train that had just derailed. Looks like Mr. Peabody's coal train was traveling little too fast.
Here's a little trivia you can pull out next May....Did you know that Grafton West Virginia is the home of Mother's Day? Although the biography on Wiki of Anna Jarvis and the sign in front of her childhood home differ, Grafton advertises that it is the home of Mother's Day because Anna Jarvis was born there. From what I have found so far, Grafton is the home of Mother's Day because Anna first celebrated her mother at a church in Grafton. Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was also a social activist. This needs to be explored by Flipside at a later date.
Traveling on, following Garmin, we began to see that blue come back into the screen. Are we there yet???? Then Garmin said, "You have arrived at your destination." Really???? Where??? Surrounding us was swampland and forest. GRRRRRRR
Now, what! Ken continued on down the road until he could turn to the left. Recalculating....don't ya just love it when Garmin says that!!! Ken's rule of thumb on this....no dirt roads, Garmin. She lead us off....up and over.....hills, ridges, into sparsely populated areas and finally onto what can only be described as a highly rutted, gravel, one lane path. Ken is humming "Dueling Banjos as" we were bumped around....I wonder how the kayaks are faring on top...;-)
On these roads we saw a house with the Cleveland Indians mascot, Chief Wahoo, in the front yard and a rowboat with an Ohio license....what's with that???? Frankly, there were some extraordinarily nice homes on this road(?) and there were other cars traveling it....we were not alone. The silliness of it all, by this time, had gotten the best of me....I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face.
This little error on Garmin's part actually had allowed us to see another slice of Americana along with some history in the Anna Jarvis house.
Once back on paved surfaces, we headed back to Grafton. Did I mention without Garmin's assistance. In Grafton, we did it the old fashioned way.....followed the signs to Tygart Lake State Park.
This is a beautifully maintained West Virginia state park. Once we entered, there was a sign for the dam. The lake was formed back in 1938 by damming up the Tygart River. Looking down from the "lookout" area we questioned our sanity (once again) big lake.....big dam.
We followed the roadway down to the marina area. There were two boat ramps and we chose the one that was near a beach area. Although there were posted "no swimming" signs, the beach was populated with water and sun worshippers.
Once in there was only one place to paddle.....up to that dam. Miss Snap Happy had a NEED to get photos of us up close and personal with that cement structure.
Tygart Lake is a good place for kayaking. It was not overly busy with motor vehicles and it did have many places along the shore to put in if tired or in need of some snacks....although Ken and I just have a "bite" while in the kayaks. After yesterday on the Cheat, I came armed with cheese crackers.....no low blood sugar for me today.
All in all....a delightful day and a BIG bonus.....when finished with the kayaking, we spent about an hour swimming around in the lake.
WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE!
© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
What's Not To Like--Cheat Lake, WV First Look
Monday was our first day out on the Cheat. Kayaks seem to be conversation starters. At the condo folks stop by as we load and unload them to chat us up about kayaking....like we are pros....lol Ya gotta know we DO keep up that pretense ;-) AND, yes, a waterproof camera will be onboard!!!
The Cheat was pretty calm and did I mention LARGE. No other kayakers were there...just us and the motor boats and jet skiers. We had to put in on the boat ramp...waiting our turn.
I always have to laugh at Ken...."What are we crazy?" Our new mantra is....NO FEAR!
Paddling out into the Cheat with the West Virginia mountains surrounding us a person can't help but have great reverence for nature. I did not see any herons, eagles, etc. Maybe next time or maybe they don't hang out at the Cheat.
Getting to the middle we could continue straight ahead or bear to the left. We went straight....past lots of foliage and huge houses.
Ken decided we had a NEED to turn around and go back to the intersection and head to the left....which would now be our right. That portion of the lake took us to Interstate 68 and an old rusty 1 1/2 lane bridge which crosses the Cheat and goes right by the place we are staying.
With Ken leading the way and Miss Snap Happy lagging behind snapping away we heading toward the bridges. Now you know once we made it under I-68, Ken had a NEED to continue to the old rusty bridge...lol
We covered ALOT of lake....believe we were out there about 2 1/2 hours. Two kayaks and many gas driven vehicles....
WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE!
© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser
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