I went to paddle at Mason Neck the other day not just because it's one of my favorite local places to paddle, but with several specific goals in mind:
1. Check on the geocache I had hidden on tiny Conrad Island, and do maintenance as necessary (e.g., replace the logbook).
2. Paddle at least 10 miles
3. Get some nice wildlife photos
Well, #1 had an unexpected outcome, I didn't achieve #2, and I kinda did OK with #3, but could have done better if things had gone according to plan.
While unloading my boat I chatted with a young guy in a Virginia State Parks polo shirt who was hanging around the launch. He told me that he was the kayak rental attendant, that the park had decided that it was too disruptive to haul someone over from the Visitor Center every time people wanted to rent kayaks and so had decided to hire someone to staff the kayak rental. My first thought was that the park must have better things it could spend its money on than this position - particularly staffing it on a weekday morning. It was Monday 9 AM and there wasn't exactly a big crowd of people waiting to check out kayaks. The second thing I thought was that weekday kayak attendant must be an intensely boring job, since there's essentially nothing to do.
After unloading my gear I moved my car to the parking lot, and by the time I got back to the launch area the attendant was gone. He also wasn't there when I paddled by later, nor was he there when I landed at the end of my outing. Maybe the park service hired him to work just Monday 9-10 AM. Or maybe I imagined him.
Anyway, my plan was to paddle across the bay to Conrad Island to check on the geocache, then head out around the bend into the river. Conrad Island is a wisp of an island situated on the opposite side of Belmont Bay, next to the boat channel which leads into the marinas along the Occoquan River. It's so small and low-lying that the boat wakes and waves have eroded it into multiple pieces, the biggest of which isn't more than a few hundred feet across. Back in 2008 I hid a geocache on the largest fragment of island, and people have generally like the adventure of boating across to the island to find the cache. However, as I approached this time I spotted something new: giant "No Trespassing" signs located all around the island. It's not clear to me who owns and manages the island, but clearly they don't want anyone to come there! Rather than update my geocache, when I got home I logged on and marked it as Archived (retired).
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| I think this means Keep Out |
From there I headed southeast through Belmont Bay, heading for Occoquan Bay with the goal of heading out to the river. As I paddled it quickly became apparent that the wind was blowing much more strongly than had been forecast, maybe 15-20 MPH. The wind was whipping up the water too - nothing dangerous, but 1 to 1 1/2 foot waves, occasionally breaking, and sometimes rolling over the deck of my kayak. As I paddled I debated the wisdom of heading out into more open waters in these conditions, and when I got to the point where I could see out into Occoquan Bay, I decided that maybe going out there wasn't going to be a good idea. I mean, I could have handled the conditions but it wouldn't have been much fun, and you always have to think about what would happen if conditions deteriorated further. I turned around and decided to head up Kane's Creek instead. The creek is the most protected area around Mason Neck. It's popular with beginner paddlers (like folks who rent from the mystery kayak attendant) and is quite pretty. I had brought my nice camera with me, and was kind of disappointed that I wasn't going to get out to the river, which is where there's the greatest chance of seeing eagles, but I figured that even if I made it out there it was too rough for me to be able to pull out my camera and take photographs. Safety first.
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| A pretty spot on the water |
As I headed towards the creek I took a quick break for water and a snack, and noticed that I was slowly drifting towards a blue heron. Herons are really skittish and it's hard to get close to them, but I figured that my drift rate might be slow enough that it wouldn't alarm the bird as I approached - and sure enough, I got close enough for some nice photos. Also, as I paddled eagles started swooping around like crazy - there were four or five hanging around together. Unfortunately, there was no way I was going to be able to grab my camera and catch them in flight. I had to "make do" with the joy of just seeing them.
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| Pretty good heron photo |
I entered Kane's Creek and paddled a little ways up but quickly ran into hydrilla. Hydrilla is an invasive plant which chokes waterways, creating a dense mat of plant life under the surface so thick that you can't even get a paddle through it. Some years it doesn't seem to bloom at all, while other times it can make the areas where it grows impassible. I've never seen it so thick so early in the season before - but once I got to where I couldn't go on without crunching through the vegetation I turned around.
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| Showing the little birds some photo love too |
While I was paddling back towards Mason Neck I saw some eagles again and detoured towards them to see if I could catch photos of any of them when they landed in the trees (eagles typically fly for a bit then hang out at the tops of the trees). I had a little bit of success in that I did get some pictures of two eagles in the trees, but nothing spectacular. I need a longer lens.
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| Eagle photo |
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| Another eagle |
When I got back to Mason Neck I discovered that I had only paddled 6.35 miles - well short of my ten mile goal. However, I had a varied, interesting experience and got the unexpected bonus of getting a little rough water practice in. The weather had been beautiful; it was a lovely morning out on the water.
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| Butterfly on the beach |
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| Water scene from onshore |
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