Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Paddling Lake Merritt
My nephew Jeff and I took the kayaks to Oakland's Lake Merritt last Saturday morning (September 16) and had a wonderful paddle. I had expected to see tons of floating trash and smell foul odors, but neither proved to be the case -- the lake (actually a salt-water estuary) seemed quite healthy. In one area, pelicans were actively fishing; their dives were breathtaking to behold.
The shoreline was crowded with people, but we were literally the only boats on the lake. (A long, fast-looking crew-rowboat had just come in as we arrived.) We paddled in a roughly counterclockwise route starting from the boathouse, past Children's Fairyland, the construction site for the new cathedral, the old boathouse (it's said that the people who run the Beach Chalet at the west end of Golden Gate Park will open a restaurant there), the Alameda County Courthouse, the inlet to the bay, down to the east end of the lake, and then back to the boathouse along an area that was roped off (perhaps as a rookery). (The first link above has a nice aerial photo of the lake that will help you visualize the route.) Along the way we did pick up a few floating plastic bags, which we handed off to crews on the shore participating in Saturday's California Coastal Cleanup.
Here's one picture I snapped using my Palm Zire 72. Not a great photo, but it shows what a lovely clear day it was. I'm looking forward to going back.
The shoreline was crowded with people, but we were literally the only boats on the lake. (A long, fast-looking crew-rowboat had just come in as we arrived.) We paddled in a roughly counterclockwise route starting from the boathouse, past Children's Fairyland, the construction site for the new cathedral, the old boathouse (it's said that the people who run the Beach Chalet at the west end of Golden Gate Park will open a restaurant there), the Alameda County Courthouse, the inlet to the bay, down to the east end of the lake, and then back to the boathouse along an area that was roped off (perhaps as a rookery). (The first link above has a nice aerial photo of the lake that will help you visualize the route.) Along the way we did pick up a few floating plastic bags, which we handed off to crews on the shore participating in Saturday's California Coastal Cleanup.
Here's one picture I snapped using my Palm Zire 72. Not a great photo, but it shows what a lovely clear day it was. I'm looking forward to going back.
