Paddling with the Reds

[deepmud]

I've been too busy to even visit the forum, much less post up - but I'm up working at 2am and I've got some downtime at the moment ( I work on telcom - the real work is at the other end of a 2k mile fiber cable this morning so I'm "just in case" ) .

This is my local, favorite, I paddle around here a LOT "canoe trail". I usually just do laps up at one of the lakes - but today, a little exploring. It's always the same - always new

Starting upstream.....



Cottonwood Creek is running clear.....



Reds!! They turn a deep red with a green head....before they turn to zombies.....

[deepmud]

hmm.....something is on that male's mind....he's chasing tail



More fishies.....



Good thing everyone has bandwidth now-a-days...this would kill dial up....

[deepmud]

Selfies with fishies.....



Ok - one more for the road...





out of the stream into Mud Lake....

[deepmud]

Across Mud Lake - the stream again....



Cool Blue Planet logo



Coming back out again - this guy has an AWESOME house. Not to mention a few others in the area - with floatplane access. Lots and lots of float planes/bush planes/ski planes in my neighborhood.



More pics coming from this trip - but it was video up to the culvert and back  - I need to capture stills. My Map ( I try to Journal several times a week and the illistrations will be cool when great-grandkids read about the old man from Alaska )



EDIT***....the Koko-Paddli ? I made him up - not a copy from elsewhere. Not sure you can copy-write a Koko-anything given that he's been around awhile tho'

[Night Wing]

I really like your paddling place. Beautiful scenery and the water is so clear. Your photos of the place, crisp and sharp, are awesome too.

Thanks for sharing your photos of your favorite place to flat water paddle.

[lisabearsitall]

That's really beautiful.   Do you ever get to paddle with bears?

[blueplanetsurf]

Very nice Deepmud, thanks for sharing the photos!

[ruralwaters]

Really fun to see.  What a great way to spend a few hours!  Thanks for posting. 

[deepmud]

Bears....eh, I'm sure they are in the area sometimes. I'm 45 miles from Anchorage in Wasilla  -  lots of homes, semi-urban - but with salmon in the streams there are bears out here somewhere. I haven't seen any sign  near the house - but one time out kayaking in Jim Creek( about 10 miles away) we spooked a grizzly in the alders nearby. I know it was a grizzly because it took off running. A big grizz running in alder sounds like you just rolled a small car off a steep hillside into the brush. Lots of crashing/smashing/whomping rapidly diminishing into the distance - you hope.

 I did do another interesting paddle this past summer - got pretty far into the brush on a teeeeny little stream - and realized I was not even able to easily back out if I spotted a bear. I'll bring bear spray next time (and when I finally paddle Jim Creek again ).









I'm glad the pics are enjoyable Sometimes I use my Sony RX100II but almost always it's my Samsung phone in a LifeProof case - I used a "zip-tie mount" stuck to the back to make it so I can tie it to a float. Not foolproof - I tore the string struggling to get back on my board last year and there is a S5 in 25" of water in Wasilla Lake.

[lucabrasi]

Sockeyes?  Deep in the willows? Think there might be a chance to spook a bear? No bear spray? No thanks...looks fun tho. Good on you bushwhacking the creeks.
I got some friends who just left here last fall and are up there at least another year. She works for the school there in town. They fell in love with it a few years ago.
How long a season do you get? I can pull off the first or second week of November out here before I am done tho sometimes it's the last week of October and then I can get out the first week or two of May around here, less often the last week of April and then it's usually iffy till June. I think it was mid/late April last spring I looked up the weather there and it was already way longer days and better temps than here it seemed. I have been seriously thinking about losing some elevation, at least for a good chunk of the year.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Great pictures from a place most of us will never get to. Thanks!

[stoneaxe]

What a great spot. Though I have to admit I'm glad I don't need to worry about ending up as bear poop....

[lisabearsitall]

Bears....eh, I'm sure they are in the area sometimes. I'm 45 miles from Anchorage in Wasilla  -  lots of homes, semi-urban - but with salmon in the streams there are bears out here somewhere. I haven't seen any sign  near the house - but one time out kayaking in Jim Creek( about 10 miles away) we spooked a grizzly in the alders n]

I'm glad the pics are enjoyable Sometimes I use my Sony RX100II but almost always it's my Samsung phone in a LifeProof case - I used a "zip-tie mount" stuck to the back to make it so I can tie it to a float. Not foolproof - I tore the string struggling to get back on my board last year and there is a S5 in 25" of water in Wasilla Lake.

You're so fortunate to live there. Alaska is amazing.  Paddling with bears is a goal.  Thanks also for the info about the camera, I've been looking for a less expensive camera to bring on the boards.  Your photos are great.

[deepmud]

Bear poop - Shark poop - sometimes we aren't on the top of the food chain

Season - on this stream, with Global Warming, is open most of the year. The lakes open up late May IF there is a stream to cut open the ice, otherwise April-ish or even June - depending on how much sub-zero/sub-20/sub-40f we have that year - not as much in the last 5 or 10 years. I have a Oneal dry suit as of this past spring, I got out early April on sup. I spent about 10 minutes recovering my cell phone in just a couple feet of water  - but it was thigh-deep mud/floating-decaying-stuff below the bottom. The water was just above freezing and I felt a bit chilly after awhile. So my season is pretty much "when water is liquid" now - so I may be supping into October. I kayaked in January once.

[deepmud]

Getting close to the end of season for t-shirt and shorts. It's frosty in the mornings. 50 in the sunshine at the end of the day. My wife had a 2-plus hour med appointment - usually I try to hang out with her but the room was full - what to do..... Ran home and got the Red board to go paddle wth the Reds again It's the far end of the lakes I paddled on before - so I put it as an "addendum" -

Not many of the real Reds left - all "zombies", getting close to joining the rest as fertilizer for the system they were putting the next generation into.



I paddled a loop around the lake  - lots of dead un's  - not only would it be cold but smelly too if I fell in



Nice thing about 50 is I don't sweat into my sun glasses as much lol

The salmon actually clear away the muck to make a gravel area for their eggs. In some areas it's about foot or more of cleared away "gucky muck".



Snow on the mountains - that peak is about 6500ft, starts at 300ft above sea level.