First Solo Kayak trip!

I did it! I went on my first solo kayak trip and felt like Super Woman doing it!

I loaded the kayak, unloaded it, carried it to the lake and back, and had a lovely blast just me, myself and I. Although I did feel a little lonely as I drove to the reservoir alone, once I was on the water I loved the serene solitary time - just me and the abundant wilderness.

I figured out how a lone woman can move and transport a 50 pound kayak and overcame my fear that I couldn't enjoy kayaking alone. I'm going to share my Super Woman Solo Kayaking Adventure :) and explain how I did it in case you ever want to go kayaking alone. Or maybe to just send some inspiration your way for whatever it is that you are dreaming of doing. I learned that if I got creative and was determined enough, I was able to find solutions to what was keeping me from getting out in my kayak.

It is October which means winter is right around the corner. But in my neck of the woods we have been having extraordinary warm weather for the end of October. I felt a magnetic pull to get in my kayak during these gifted golden days.

 

But there were some PROBLEMS I had to solve if I was going to go alone:

1. How to load my kayak on and off by myself - the racks on our Toyota Sequoia were too high for me reach and lift my kayak on and off. I've always needed help and it was impossible for me to do alone.
2. How to haul my kayak from the car to the shore - It was always hard for me to carry the kayak even when I had help. I couldn't imagine how to haul it short of dragging it across the rocks and asphalt. Not good on the hull of the kayak!

After some determined researching, thinking and visualizing, I found some solutions:

SOLUTION #1

I found this great article on the web to help me see how to carry my kayak on my own. I'd never considered carrying it that way before! My sweet husband lifted the kayaks down off the Sequoia racks for me. Then I practiced lifting and carrying it in my back yard until I felt sure I could handle it. And I surprised myself how strong I was and how I really could manage it when I held it the correct way.

 

This picture is from that article. This is how I learned to carry my kayak with SUCCESS!

SOLUTION #2

Instead of using the racks on top of the Sequoia (since I would only be taking one kayak not two!) I folded all the seats down inside and tried sliding the kayak in from the back while I held my breath. If it fit I was one step closer to going kayaking. If not...no go.

The kayak's nose almost touched the dash board and it's shoulders (do kayaks have shoulders?) were wedged between the two front seats. As we closed the back hatch...it didn't fit. But when we opened the window on the back hatch, and then closed the back hatch, the end of the kayak barely stuck out through the open window. But the door closed! It would work! I jumped up and down and shouted for joy. My sweet husband and I high-fived. I felt my freedom burst its chains.

This is when my courage had to kick in. Would I really do it? Would I go on my own? Could I enjoy myself on the water ALL ALONE? For a split second I doubted myself and considered not going. But I knew I had nothing holding me back now but me. I would go! I grabbed some essentials (water shoes, life vest, sunglasses, bottle of water, and my watercolor kit) and hit the road.

I chose to go to Tibble Fork Reservoir. I had been there before with my kids and my mother and it was familiar. AND it has many of the elements I consider vital in an ideal kayak destination:

1. water is emerald green, clear and clean
2. majestic mountains cradle the reservoir
3. the shorline is ringed with trees and living green

I was a bit intimidated when I got there and remembered the looong switchback path leading from the parking lot down to the beach. Ok, so it's not LONG but seems long when I'm hefting a 50 pound kayak. But I DID IT! (huffing and puffing as discretely as I could!)

Because it was a holiday weekend there were families dotting the beaches all around the small reservoir so I really wasn't alone at all. That was comforting. But I was alone enough to feel brave and try out my new courage as well as bask in the sweetness of my solitude.

I paddled like a kid with abandon. I drifted on the still water as long as I wanted with no worry about time. I pulled out my travel sketch journal and poured my heart out onto the pages about why I love kayaking. What was this crazy passion all about? Then I watercolored the view in front of me dipping my paintbrush into the water outside my kayak as I painted. It felt very romantic and delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stayed until the sun dipped behind the distant mountains and a chill filled the air. I managed (with much grunting and determination) to lug the kayak back up to the parking lot and when I did it felt amazing! I swear epic music was playing in the background with a powerful crescendo just as I topped the hill. Sweet victory!

It was on this trip that the idea for this blog came to my mind and penetrated my heart. I had to share these experiences! It was just to beautiful to keep to myself.

So thanks for coming along! Next time I'll write about my near catastrophe on my way to Payson Lakes! Whew, it was a close one.

Please leave your kind comments and sign up to follow by email (by entering your email to the right above my profile picture) if you'd like to come with me on my future adventures. I'd love to know I'm not alone here! :)

In friendship and kayaking,

LaRayne

 

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About this blog...

Hello and welcome! I am glad you are here!

So, I want you to know me, to understand where I'm coming from to appreciate why I feel like Super Woman when I go out kayaking now. And believe it or not, this blog isn't about kayaking at all! (Well, sort of!) It's about having courage to make your dreams come true even when you are scared, feel weak, are unsure, doubt yourself, and are in it alone. Keep reading and you'll see what I mean.

As a young woman I bungee jumped, cliff dived into the Snake River, went rock rappelling on dates, and ran whitewater rivers with young adult groups. But when I became a wife and a mother my nerve waned. Sanity settled in my bones and I realized I couldn't risk NOT being there for my family. Crazy Adventure took a back seat to Lovely Life. I am today a happy, breathing, LIVING wife and mother. But, there is that part of me, that adventurous girl, that thinks wistfully of my bungee-jumping, cliff-diving, river-running days with yearning.

I daydreamed about spending weekends with my husband camping by streams and lakes, waking in the dewy mornings of the mountains together, hiking through aspen and pine, and sitting on edges of cliffs together watching the sun set. I couldn't wait to go on wilderness adventures with my sweetheart!

As it turns out, my sweetheart loves the outdoors but hates camping; he is happy as long as there is a condo nearby with a bed, a shower, and flushing toilets at the end of the adventurous day. We've come to a happy agreement. Our favorite family vacations have been a condo by a lake, in the mountains, or near the ocean.

We like to say we are a "hiking, biking, kayaking" family.

We have hiked, biked, and kayaked in Lake Tahoe, Maui and Kauai, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, California, Wyoming, and Utah - did I miss any??? (I'll blog about those trips in later posts). It has been glorious! But recently my kids have come clean with me: they don't love kayaking like I do.

Neither does my husband!

...But I can't get enough of it.

This is where my angst lies. I want to kayak - a lot! But I can't find anyone to go with me. My kayaks have gathered dust and been moved from one storage place to another over the years, seeing water only once or twice a summer. My family loves me so they go with me when I ask. But it's not very fun to go when they are checking the time and are chomping at the bit to be done when I'm just getting started.

When I'm on the water in my kayak I feel like breaking out into John Denver's song You Fill Up My Senses: the flashes of light dancing on the water, the way the world reflects back it's colors on the glass surface of the lake, the soft lapping sound of the water against the hull, the sun warm on my face, the breeze smelling of wilderness playing through my hair, the way my paddle pulls through the water leaving a swirling eddy behind me, and the stillness and quiet penetrating and calming my nerves. It's pure heaven and ultimate bliss.

Anytime we pass a body of water, I sigh and say out loud, "Right there, I want to go kayaking right there!" My family teases me and says, "We know, Mom, we know." Every shimmering lake, winding river, and reflective pond just begs to be explored!

There are lots of reasons why I haven't gone kayaking on my own:

1. I couldn't lift the kayak off and back onto the roof of our Sequoia by myself - no way, no how.
2. I couldn't carry the darn thing from the car to the shore - too awkward and too heavy.
3. The gear to help make this all easier costs a big chunk of change.
4. I had little kids that I couldn't leave for hours and hours.
5. Most of my friends had young families like me and couldn't get away to come with me.
6. It was sometimes just easier to NOT go than wrangle my kids and all the equipment needed for a day on the water, not to mention deal with attitudes (it's boring!) and packing lunch and snacks.
7. I'd be lonely going by myself, maybe even a little nervous (who knows what is lurking beneath the dark shadowed waters of that lake?!)
8. Great kayaking destinations were far away.
9. I doubted I could really do it on my own - did I have what it took or was I just a lot of talk?
10. And deep down, I felt like it was selfish of me to up and leave my responsibilities at home to go paddling just because I wanted to.

Now my kids are older. We have a little more spending money to afford the gear to make it easier. And I'm just tired of WISHING I could go kayaking, WANTING to go, feeling RESENTFUL that I wasn't going, and HURT that no one (read: my sweet husband) wanted to go with me.

Sometimes you have to just make your own sunshine! I have recently determined to make it happen. I'm not sure just how yet, but the water is calling me with an intensity that I cannot ignore. I am going to kayak - A LOT! Even if that means going solo until I find paddling friends. And in the process of choosing to do this, I feel power and peace. I'm also feeling a bit scared and intimidated, unsure and sometimes crazy as I feel the rush of passion pull me towards becoming a "real kayaker"!

In future posts I'll share how I am overcoming each of the obstacles that have been in my way and the adventures I'm having. I'll share what I am learning on my kayaking excursions. I'm going to set some goals and make some kayak-trip plans. I've got a long list of places I NEED to kayak. How will I accomplish this? I don't know yet but plans are formulating in my head!

What is calling you? What is holding you back from doing the thing that you love, that you have dreamed about doing? What steps can you take to come just that much closer to making your dreams come true? Let's go on this adventure together, share ideas, and inspire each other to live the lives we have dreamed about.

Next time I'll share my Super Woman Kayaking Experience - going solo for the first time. I did it! Yay go me!

Please leave your kind comments :) I'd love to know I'm not alone here.

 

 

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