Kayaking - Watauga Lake, North Carolina

 Kayaking - Watauga Lake, North Carolina                              5.4 miles, avg speed 2.5 mph, 2 hr 24 min

From the waterfalls, we headed over to Watauga Lake,  This lake is fed by several rivers and surrounded by some small hills of the Cherokee National Forest.  There's a large parking area here and we noticed a few motor boats going into the lake.  One gentlemen pointed out the rivers to us and we headed towards the Elk River.  We're past the peak leaf color time, but there were still some pretty colors on the trees which made for a beautiful paddle.  I really enjoyed this paddle, the lake was calm, and the scenery was great.  I can only imagine how many photos I'd take if I were there at peak season.  It was a great way to end our week of adventures.  We changed out of our clothes, had lunch on the tailgate with a great view, and then headed back to Clarksville.  This was a very different vacation for us.  The hiking/kayaking wasn't different, but we wanted to limit our exposure to other people as much as possible since the cases of Coronavirus are steadily increasing across the US.  We noticed a big difference with masks here in North Carolina as the majority of people wore masks and when we passed people on the trail - either they got off the trail or we did.  It's also a stressful week across our nation as the election between Trump and Biden is occurring.  For me, it was great to be out in the outdoors and away from the nearly daily stress caused by the current administration.  For me, this week was a reminder to find the joy in each day such as being in God's creation, when there are things that are out of my control - such as the election (although I have done phone banking and letter writing).