Various Lake Disasters

 I went up to the lake today.  

It was very windy and the lake was white capping.

Oh well, I thought, and launched anyhow.

There was a man with his pickup backed down one ramp to near the water.  No boat trailer.  No kayaks.  I saw a hose extending out of the back of his truck.  I was confused.  Immediately he began to get nervous over me watching.  I backed down the other ramp next to him, dock between us, staring.  At that point he pulled a pump out of the water, with a shorter hose in the water.   Shit, I thought.  Is he pumping water from the lake to something in his truck or pumping something crappy out of his truck into the lake.   He quickly left, and I could not see into the back of of his truck, so I don't know.  I thought it was shady.   But maybe he was just filling an RV water tank from the lake or something.  He had an electric line hooked to the pump.  

I found my little friend, the wayward dock float.   I thought Ok, I'll just tow that back.  Right.   It's longer than my kayak.

I did let the parks department know, the first time I found it, in a different place, that it was out there.  I thought they would want to retrieve it, since they're not cheap.    The response was stunning, all about staffing shortages and how they can't keep up on everything all the time.   I sent an apology and said I wasn't complaining, just thought they would like to know, because these items, the dock float and a picnic table, are expensive.  The response came again.  I was told the dock float was a swimming platform and supposed to be there.  At that point, I gave up.   

So, the lake was rough, white capping, but the whitecaps diminished a little once I headed back to the boat ramp.   As I approached the ramp, a speed boat launched with so many people on board I wondered how it stayed afloat.  Also, a man and woman were launching two sit inside kayaks.

I headed to the little beach, to pull up my kayak and walk up to the bathroom.  When I got back, the overloaded speed boat was out across from the boat ramp doing big wake stuff.  Its fun to watch these boats create a huge wake a few feet behind the boat.   A person then gets off the back of the boat standing up on a small surfboard, holding a very short ski rope.  Once they catch the wave, they throw the ski rope back into the boat and surf that huge wake wave a few feet behind the boat.  

However, you don't create massive waves across from a boat ramp, where people are trying to load and launch boats.  The massive waves they created on the shore there were unbelievable and tipped over one of the two kayakers, whose kayak flipped upside down.   I offered help to him getting it to shore but he waved me off, said he'd manage.

I thought to myself those big wake surfers in the boat were either completely ignorant of causing chaos at the boat ramp or they just didn't care.

The other thing at the boat ramp was a left behind fishing pole with line still out.  It was there the entire time I was out kayaking so I finally pulled in the line so nobody would tangle in it, and left the pole beside the big gulp cup that had also been there the entire time.

  

The forest was pretty along the bank.

This is the duck log.  I named it that.  It's been around a long long time and often is used as a day roost or perch for various ducks.

Lewis Creek swim area

Sadly, the shorts I've worn forever when kayaking came apart, unraveled along two different seams while I was there today.  Thank goodness I didn't get stopped by a cop for anything on the way home.  

Rough and white capped but at least I went.  I didn't stay long.