First La Framboise Island Circumnavigation of the Year

After getting a good run in with my dog, Indy, I decided I needed to start paddling to get into shape for the South Dakota Kayak Challenge. The sun came out for the first time today as I was driving down to the causeway. I chose to complete my first circumnavigation of La Framboise Island tonight. It went well. Nothing of significance to take a picture of though. The water seemed plenty high and I had a head wind in the teens (mph) for the first half of the paddle, but it was at my back later. The air temperature was around 50 degrees. Some stats from Endomondo:

Creek Boating

This weekend I took advantage of the open invitation from the Black Hills Paddlers to try creek boating. I joined them for a pool session on Saturday night to get accustomed to the play boat I would be borrowing for the planned paddle on Sunday. I also was borrowing a whitewater paddle, helmet, and a splash skirt for the play boat. I still don't have rolling down, but I feel that I have all the pieces, I just need to put it all together.
On Sunday morning, we met to carpool to Sand Creek near Beulah, WY. NOAA says the air temperature for Beulah was in the mid to upper 30s, plus it was quite windy. There were many little drops and a couple of substantial drops along our route. All in all, it was a great paddle. I had a great time; Thanks to Justin, Kelly, and all of the Black Hills Paddlers. I would urge all of my flat water paddling friends to contact Justin, Kelly, or any of the Black Hills Paddlers about getting a taste of whitewater and creek boating. And, of course, a few pictures from the outing.

From 2011-04-03

From 2011-04-03

From 2011-04-03

From 2011-04-03

From 2011-04-03

March 21

I needed to take yesterday off from running, because I pushed out nearly 12 miles with my dog on Sunday. So, I decided to go for a paddle yesterday afternoon. Essentially, I did a similar route as on Friday. I paddled upstream for a bit and then came back downstream. I began/ended at the causeway boat ramp. The normal wind was not bad, but the gusts (combined with the water temperature) made me question my decision. I never felt uncomfortable or unstable out there and I was dressed for submersion though. Again, I tracked the route with Endomondo on my phone:

March 18

I met two other paddlers at the causeway for a brief paddle upstream. Sol was paddling an inflatable kayak from Advanced Elements and Dave was paddling his new Folbot Kodiak. I tried out a new neoprene Snapdragon sprayskirt. My Kokatat nylon skirt doesn't grip my boat tight enough. No pictures since I forgot to grab my camera. I did track the paddle with the Endomondo app. on my phone.

Blizzard Sale

Well, today is the annual Blizzard Sale at Wegner Auto in Pierre. I went down for my customary free hotdog and drooled over the next pickup I want. I then decided to do a little paddling, since I have not been out this February yet and the temperature was set to break 40. I was sit here typing this blog entry, I see that the high today hit 46 degrees. Not bad at all. The causeway is still a little bit frozen in, so I went over the Ft. Pierre boat ramp to launch from. Another sign of how nice it is: the ramp was plenty busy with local fisherman. I launched and paddled upstream for a little over 30 minutes, turned around came back. I was on the water for approximately one hour. A slideshow of a few pictures I took:

New Hobby

I have a new hobby to help keep me active in the winter. I have a couple of friends in Pierre that have been snowshoeing this winter, so last week I ordered a pair for myself. I've been out three times this weekend and I am really enjoying it. Best part is that it won't even interfere with my paddling!

First Paddle of 2011

At work this morning I was keeping track of the temperature. When it appeared obvious that the high would be 40 degrees, I took the afternoon off to go paddling. After gathering my gear, I headed down to the causeway. The dock on the causeway boat ramp has been removed and chunks of ice litter the ramp and the riprap adjacent. I headed upstream using a "new to me" paddle I recently won on eBay. It is a Flyer #3 wing paddle. Essentially, a wing paddle is another paddle type mostly used for sprinting or endurance racing. More information can be found at http://www.fastkayak.com/wing.html.
I paddled a bit upstream, taking pictures along the way. After, maybe half an hour, I turned about and headed back downstream. I tried to wait for a large chunk of ice to hit a pier on the railroad bridge, but I grew impatient and continued on. I am not sure about the wing paddle yet. The website is correct in that it can add to instability, but I could feel potential when paddling correctly with it. More paddling/testing is needed :)
And on to the pictures...