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...

First ice of the year.

The forecast for yesterday was mid 40s, so I decided to take the afternoon off for a bit of paddling. As some of you know, I have been very disappointed in winter paddling gloves. Every combination I have tried have kept my hands dry, but not warm. The last couple of years I tried the NRS Hydroskin gloves and NRS Reactor gloves. A couple of weeks ago, I tried the Hydroskin gloves with NRS glove liners and still nothing. So, yesterday I wore the Reactor gloves with the glove liners.

After loading the CD Storm GT and some gear, I proceeded to the causeway. I considered going around La Framboise Island, but it was a bit windy, so I launched from  the gravel area near the American Legion cabin and headed towards Dump Island (between La Framboise and Pierre).

On my way down, the gloves performed very well. When I was about 200-300 feet from Dump Island, I noticed the water around the island looked a bit odd ...and shiny. Thankfully I did not go around La Framboise, because the river between Pierre and La Framboise has began to freeze. As I tried to capture some decent pictures of the ice, the wind pushed me into the "ice field". I had to claw my way out with both my hands and my paddle. My hands did get cold on my way back to the Legion, but the Reactor gloves with the glove liners has been the best option for winter gloves thus far. The high in Pierre hit 51 degrees according to NOAA.

From 2010-12-09

From 2010-12-09

From 2010-12-09

From 2010-12-09

November 6, 2010