Twice as Nice

I made it out to Chestermere Lake twice this past Sunday, and it was lovely. Unfortunately, both trips were truncated for one reason or another and I didn’t manage to go the distance I wanted to in either.

The Missus and I headed out around 10 am on Sunday and found the water busy, but not crowded. There was a pleasant breeze and the available parking was excellent.

I even managed to get my favourite parking spot next to the grass that makes inflating multiple boards a breeze. We were ready to hit the water in no time. It was lovely out and mostly calm.

I really enjoy paddling past the reeds at the edges of the lake as they are packed with all manner of birds, especially blackbirds and mud hens. I love watching them flutter about as I approach on my board.

The heat started to come up quickly around noon and I noticed that my betrothed was beginning to look, er, medium well. It seemed like a good idea to get her off the lake before she progressed to well done. We rolled back to Strathmore.

I went back to the lake after supper with my offspring for round two on the water. There was a light breeze and they sky was foreboding, but not threatening as we hit the water with our boards.

You’ve gotta love it when the sky telegraphs that a nice sunset is coming right out of the gate when you head out with your camera for the evening, and it certainly delivered about 40 minutes later.

This is one of the best sunsets I have had on the lake yet this summer and I mostly drifted while I worked it with my camera. It took about fifteen minutes from the sun tipping the horizon to a final purple afterglow that faded quickly. After that it was time to pick up the paddle again and try and hit my daily quota of kilometers on the water before returning to Strathmore.

The lake surface was so beautiful and calm during the sunset as you can see in the video clips. It’s one of those moments you wish you could stretch out to hours.

I was just heading south from Cove Beach when I encountered my daughter who had paddled over to find me. It wasn’t that hard in the dark as I am lit up like a Christmas tree on the water now for safety. She was getting cold, and, worse, being on the water after dark was starting to creep her out. That meant I was not getting my second lap of the lake in and we were heading home an hour earlier than I had figured. Friggin’ hell.

My distances of 4.08 km in the morning and 4.52 km in the evening added up to a total of 8.6 km on the button for the day. It is the most kilometers I have gotten in a day this summer, but I am capable of up to 10 km in an outing quite easily if I don’t run out of light or time. This was a bit disappointing. I am hoping to make up for it this coming weekend and circumnavigate the entire lake, weather permitting.

There will also be photos.

All images courtesy of my OM System (formerly Olympus) Tough TG-7 camera save for the selfie at the top that is from my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.