I went to a new local spot today. Mountain Lake near the top of Moran State Park on Orcas Island. What a stunning lake! Spent three hours paddling around, testing paddle strokes, navigating through trees and sunken branches. Just a stunning afternoon. I was surprised that I encountered about six fellow paddlers on a July Saturday. I brought my dry suit but after testing the water and noticing some buck nekkid swimmers I decided my swim trunks and T-shirt would do. I took the Dagger Stratos 14.5L on this trip. I am becoming very comfortable in this boat. I plan on going into the salty stuff tomorrow. All the paddlers I saw had their PFDs on which was nice to see.
I spent the entire morning doing exterior painting with tall ladder work. And then this paddle. My core abs are throbbing and I feel a great kind of tired.
I stopped at Buck Bay, the local killer east side fish place for fresh salmon. Just a perfect day…
If your temperatures have been anything like mine, has anyone in one of those drysuits suffered heat stroke?
Heat and humidity were hellish untll the weekend. While some can handle the combination, for me it’s physically draining and turns me into a lethargic blob. A drysuit just adds to the heat index. Didn’t have the energy to do any of the trips and skipped one class (as did some others). Yes, during rescue work Superior’s coldness felt great, but you can’t spend the entire class in the water. Weather cooled Saturday and was stellar today: 60s in the morning and a nice NW breeze.
@roym Pictured Rocks trips now have a quota because of change in park rules. And yes, it’s a great learning experience. Loads of very high level coaches and a pretty extraordinary coach-to-participant ratio.
It sounds like a man who was paddle boarding on Mountain Lake at Moran State Park on Orcas Island is missing after falling in the water. No PFD it sounds like. The park rangers and the Coast Guard will resume the search in the morning.
You’re right – if his friends could not spot him in that flatwater lake after he dumped off the board 150’ from shore he must not have been wearing a PFD. The park’s website says that the water temperature in that lake is fine for swimming (“just right for a good splash”) in July and August so it was probably not cold shock.
Call me prejudicial, but whenever I hear about something like this which involves a group of younger men out together I tend to guess alcohol consumption was a factor.
I just read that Mountain Lake can be 120’ deep in places? This surprised me. Mountain Lake is a stunning location. I have paddled it and hiked around it. Very sad news…
They found the guy’s body today. Sad. But no paddle board experience, not being able to swim (from some reports) and not wearing a PFD is like a Darwin Award waiting to happen. Parts of Mountain Lake is 120’ deep. My new favorite place in the world. Sad to it see it be the stage for this totally preventable death. The victims buddies saw it happen but could not prevent the outcome. I can’t imagine what they must be going through!
I am totally enthralled about kayaking out here. The San Juan Islands are recognized as one of the premier kayaking venues in the country. But these waters can be super dangerous if you are not prepared. Especially the waters right in front of us! Most often it looks innocent but the flood tide currents can be very dangerous for a new kayaker or paddle boarder going the wrong direction at the wrong time. I am taking a very slow, cautious approach that heavily leans on not fucking up.
But it should be noted that this death happened on a calm mountain lake and not the unpredictable waters of the Salish Sea!
