Kayaking 6/15- Red River - Peaceful Paddle

Red River - Peaceful Paddle                                       11.7 miles

Water Level 5.2 feet,  2.9 avg speed, 4 hours 5 minutes paddling

TWRA Access Road to Red River Canoe, Me & Scotty

A pretty Monday so we headed over to the Red River. The river was at about 5 feet and there were a few places that our boats scraped.  We passed only a few other kayakers.  It was not humid, the skies were blue, there were pretty white clouds and overall, it was just a peaceful paddle!  Today, we even saw a deer on the bank who merely stood and watched us as we paddled by.  She was also enjoying the peacefulness of the day!

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I love my paddling partner!

Kayak 6/12- Harpeth River - Man Overboard

Harpeth River                                                             10.45 miles

Me & Scotty, Avg Speed 3.2 mph, Elapsed Time 4 hours, River Level 2.39 feet

Ethan spent the week with us working from home.  He worked long days Monday through Thursday, and we were able to head out for a kayak trip on Friday.  We started at the Highway 70 near Foggy Bottom Canoe Rental access put-in and paddled down to Harris Street Bridge.  The water was low - so low that I was able to paddle up to the tunnel entrance where the water flows through to the other side.  It was also so low that we didn't even attempt to paddle up to the waterfall at the other side.  The skies were blue, it wasn't very hot and it was especially nice having Ethan with us today.

Poor vultures - they're just not the most attractive birds, are they?

I love this photo.  Green, white, blue - the colors of nature can't be beat!

I had great paddling partners today.

Just one of the reasons that they're so great.

Kayak 6/6- Red River on a HOT Day!

Red River on a Hot Day                                                         11.7 miles

Me, Scotty, Ethan & Luke

Porters Chapel TWRA Access to Red River Canoe Rental, 3 hr 45 minutes paddling, 3.1 avg speed, water level 5.8 ft

Luke has a new job and is available on weekends to paddle so we went on a Saturday.  Ethan is home this week with us so it made for a group of 4 today.  It's becoming clear to us that being outdoors is the place to be for many people during this pandemic.  I have mixed emotions about this.  While it's nice to see people outside enjoying nature, our quiet rivers are not as quiet anymore.  There were lots and lots of people pulled over at every gravel bar.  We went up our trusty, almost hidden creek for our lunch break where there weren't any people.  For the last few miles of the river, the current slowed down and it was really hot.  There aren't as many trees lining the river here so we were all happy to see the take out at Red River Canoe.  Ethan, Scotty and I celebrated the paddle and the hot day with a milkshake from Sonic on the way home!

I've never seen it this crowded on the Red River.  Darn pandemic!

Crazy to see this many people on 'our' river!
When the pandemic ends, will people still go outside more?

Yum!!