This last weekend was an adventure. Heading out of Eastern Oregon to meet my family, making my way to Central Oregon where the weather is usually nice and warm this time of year to find wind blowing and rain sprinkling at the campground by Lake Ochoco. The following morning making our way to Clear Lake which during the summer even on the hottest day, apparently still stays a chilly 41 degrees water temp. BRRRR. We made our way out onto the lake with clouds in the sky, and a fairly mild temperature. This was my first time in a kayak. Let me paint the scene... it's an inflatable, 2 person kayak. I was going out in it by myself, so the 2nd person seat held my bag, a couple of extra life jackets, and my water bottle. I slide the small boat out into the water most of the way, and then climb in myself. Not wanting to dip my toes in the water because of that frigid temperature I mentioned. I get myself situated and begin to scoot the boat further out into the water off of the shore. I begin paddling with an oar. Having never paddled myself anywhere... it took me a minute to get it figured out. There was a bit of a headwind. So I learned quickly that I must paddle much harder. Coming around the bend, by the dock where the men are getting into their drift boat. They advise me that if I prop up on my knees I will have better leverage and be able to move along through the water much quicker. It's going to be a hard trek to get out there because of the wind. "I can do this" I have to continually tell myself. My arms are already tired. I decide to get a head start from the boys, yet an 11 year old passes me in his hard plastic kayak ridiculously fast. Making it look much easier than I have found it to be. As I'm working my way further out into the lake, I realize that each time I bring one side of the oar out of the water, it runs down the shaft and drips into my lap. My Nike Dri fit leggings are drenched... and are anything but "fitting dry". I'm layered on the top with a layer of dri-fit, and a jacket over the top. I have a scarf wrapped around my head because, well.... my hair was a mess. Camping and short hair do not mix well. Just saying.
The wind picks up a little bit and we've all kind of met out in the water, to share the horror stories we all have about how difficult it is to paddle against a strong wind. The clouds then cover the only sliver of sunshine that was peaking through. It starts to drizzle. "Great, just great." I think to myself. The wind is blowing me back in the direction that I'd already worked so hard to paddle out of... I have to really dig in and drench myself with each stroke of my oar. Then the drizzle unleashes it's fury into a full-fledged down-pour. I'm soaked. the bottom of the kayak has a nice layer of water, my Chaco sandals hold my ice-cold little nubs of toes, and I fear that I'll drop the oar any moment because of my numb and tingling hands. It's June in Central Oregon for cryin' out loud.
Ten or fifteen minutes of torrential downpour, and the sun comes out again. The wind is still blowing but not nearly as bad. My top half has dried out a bit, but still each time I paddle anywhere I drench myself with the water from my oar. I hang out upwind of the boys who have gotten their fishing poles out, and were attempting to catch "dinner".
After pulling the boats out of the water, loading everything back up and attempting to thaw out while we ate lunch, we are back on the road to our next camping location. Sure enough, it's raining. Most of the evening and through the night. We were able to crouch beneath the canopy of the trees for a bit and have a fire to warm our bones, while we widdled kindling with knives. We soak in the hot springs pool a couple of times, and make it through the night. Point of my story... well I'm just really looking forward to some actual summer weather. I'd love to do the kayaking thing when it's warm outside and the getting-wet-thing is welcomed as a method to cool off. I can't even express how excited I am to camp in warm weather, not having to bury yourself under covers to stay warm early in the evening. Being able to stay up late around a camp fire and roast a marshmallow or five.
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