I went to get the Suburban keys, OC keys, and IM fields keys on Friday, and got to the OC with the Suburban shortly before 8am on Sunday. Ellie and Manuel went to get the trailer while Jakub, Zack, and I pulled paddles, dry-bags, snacks, and SUPs and gathered them out in front of the gym. We quickly loaded the trailer, and then went to Belmont to get a canoe. However, we found that we did not have the key to the storage area, and hence had to go back to Gregory and get a 2-person kayak instead. Ellie and I had wanted a canoe to practice for our upcoming Big Bend trip, but it wasn't to be.
Ellie drove over to the public launch by Hula Hut, and we unloaded everything. We finally got on the water shortly before 10am. Ellie and I paddled the kayak from the launch to the 360 bridge. Since the kayak moved substantially faster than the SUPs, we had to stop and wait many times and also had some time to explore some side lagoons. In one, we saw two swans and three babies! Being on the lake in the morning was pretty peaceful, as the weather was overcast but comfortable and there were very few boats on the lake.
We stopped shortly at the 360 bridge for a bathroom and snack break. We ended up unknowingly stopping our kayak on shore near a dead turtle. It wasn't decaying yet, but was still pretty sad. Ellie switched to a SUP, I moved to the back of the kayak, and Jakub joined me in the front of the kayak. Once we took off for County Line BBQ, Jakub and I found we could glide across the water with relatively little effort. The river we took to County Line BBQ was really calm, with very few boats and lots of turtles (including some babies). Some of the houses and backyards were interesting too - there was some really interesting landscaping in some (like a rock garden).
Approaching the 360 bridge (photo by Manuel)
Snack break by the 360 bridge (with the poor dead turtle next to the kayak - photo by Manuel)
Once at County Line, we were seated on the porch immediately around 11:45am. We thought it might be really crowded due to it being Easter Sunday, but we had no issues. Jakub got a rib appetizer for us to split, and I had a baked potato with butter, cheese, and bacon bits. I also had a bit of Zack's sausage, which was pretty good. Overall, a good lunch with great people.
Our gear at County Line BBQ (photo by Manuel)
Lunch at County Line BBQ (photo by Manuel)
After lunch, we put on sunscreen since the sun was starting to come out and then we hit the river. The paddle back to around the 360 bridge was easy, but when we made the turn back to the launch we realized that paddling into the wind would be much harder than we expected (especially for the SUPs). We crossed to the far side of the river, both for safety and to hopefully be protected more from the wind. The wind was indeed less on the other side of the river, but it was still pretty intense. Jakub and I would paddle ahead, and then wait for the SUPs to catch up. At one point we held onto an old dock at a house under construction, as each time we stopped we would get blown backwards. As we were getting close to the launch point, we went ahead so we could pull the trailer around by the time the SUPs reached land. However, we saw a guy who had flipped his canoe and seemed to be having trouble getting back in. We paddled over to him to see if we could be of help. He ended up being able to do it on his own (the canoe was super lightweight), but we waited until he was ready to go before we left him. Personally, I was a bit nervous he might drown as he seemed to be having trouble staying afloat.
Bull Creek river (photo by Manuel)
Circling around with the 360 bridge in the background (photo by Manuel)
Once we landed, I went to pull the Suburban and trailer around. I didn't realize until I saw the parked trailer that this would require me to back up the trailer. Hence, my first time back up a trailer was by myself (Jakub was back at the launch) in a parking lot with other trailers and some rocky areas with chain link fences. I picked it up pretty quickly (I thought), and successfully maneuvered the Suburban and trailer such that I didn't hit the trailer next to me or the chain link fence (both were close possibilities). As I was finally pulling out of the lot, I saw Jakub walking over so maybe I did take longer than I thought.
We loaded everything into the trailer, and I drove back to campus. We unloaded everything on the side walk outside Gregory and then Ellie and I took the trailer back to IM fields. I wanted to work more on backing up the trailer, so this seemed like a good opportunity. It took me a few tries to get the idea, but I think I did pretty well. I feel so much more confident with the trailer after today - which is good since on the Big Bend trip both Suburbans will have trailers. We did have some trouble unhitching the trailer until we realized that we had to slide a tube first. But we eventually figured it out.
Jakub and Manuel were waiting when we returned to the OC. We headed over to GDC to get ready for our Touching the Void movie night. The projection from my laptop ended up being very clear, and the sound was good. Only Jakub, Manuel, Zack and I ended up coming to watch the movie, but we had a good time. After the movie we discussed things that the climbers could have done better, and whether cutting the rope was actually the right thing to do in that situation.
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