You may remember a while ago I wrote about the Grand River Environmental Action Team. The last group paddle I attended got cancelled after boats had already been put in the water due to lightning. I wasn't able to get back to a group paddle until this past Sunday. This time we were set up for a great ride. I arrived to the drop in point on Cement City Highway to begin the paddle on Little Goose Lake. I found the couple of friends there that I had struck up a fast friendship with at my first GREAT experience and quickly saw a few more people I knew. I got zipped into my life jacket and found my reserved kayak from GREAT, which was already in line ready to go.
Once everyone's cars were moved, the group of about 50 of us started dropping the boats into the water one by one. Then one by one we took off into Little Goose Lake. Up until this point I hadn't kayaked in five years, and very quickly I remembered why I loved it. We were headed to a skinny, short channel which would lead us to Big Goose Lake, where we could take our time and paddle around at our own pace. The channel proved to be a fun challenge, being so shallow in some areas that I nearly beached my kayak. It took a little quick maneuvering but once I was through I was on the big lake with puffy clouds above, Sandhill Cranes to my right, and the solitude of floating on the water alone.
Of course I wasn't completely alone. The other members of the trip were sprinkled all over the lake. It was a really great time doing something different and getting to be around some really nice people. I found myself paddling very slow and some points. At others I caught myself in a zone of quick paddling that moved me swiftly along the water.
I highly recommend doing a paddle with GREAT if you would like to try kayaking or canoeing. Go to great-mi.org to find out more information or leave me a comment if you have any questions.