February 7, 1999

Circumnavigation of Burke Lake

Trip #7

Map

Today is a short 4.5-mile paddle around the perimeter of Burke Lake. Burke is known for having the highest number fish caught per fisherman ratio despite heavy fishing pressure. I've never been here, but I do want to check it out as a possible fishing location this spring. The lake is limited to electric and human powered craft only.

At the public boat ramp there is a crowd of people gathering. Cars will pull up and park, a small group forms, and off they go for a jog around the lake. This happens continuously as I get the boat ready to launch.

At the ramp, a couple of young men are trying to patch a raft. The hole is bigger than my fist so I don't think they will have much luck. I chat a few minutes with them as they ask me lots of questions about the kayak. "Have you ever been down rapids with it?", "That's really wood?", "How much does something like that cost?"

I'm off and sprinting counter clockwise around the lake. The jogging path can be seen almost all the way around the lake from the water. I stick to within 20 feet of shore, but occasionally venture out further to pass around the thick water grass near the bank.

The livestock in this lake are quite used to people. They usually allowed me to paddle on by without flying away. Even the geese don't fly away though they honk loudly at me.

There is little wind. The forecast calls for rain, which is one reason I chose a launch site nearer the house than the Potomac. It looks for the moment like the sky might actually clear and the sun peek out from the clouds.

The lake is roughly shaped like a "Y" and as I round the bottom section and head towards the right fork, a bass boat with a trolling motor attached heads the same way so I pick up the speed to try and out run it. The bass boat though provides little competition and admits defeat by stopping about mid way to the other end of the lake. I feel sorry for the humility the guy must feel having let a rookie kayaker beat him. Of course I'm sure he'll tell all of his fishing buddies that he let me win.

Turning once again in the right branch of the "Y" and heading back to enter the left branch, I notice the sky has clouded up again and the wind is picking up. The paddle back to the boat ramp will be against the wind and I'll sprint this section also to get a little more exercise. But before I do I grab a short breather in the left fork and watch the joggers go by. More accurately, I watch the joggers watch me watching them as they go by. Not many kayaks out on this lake before I suspect, and even less wood strip kayaks.

Having rested, I start my sprint back. According to the GPS, I'm maintaining about a 4.6 - 4.8 MPH pace, but I don't know how accurate that is. I noticed while I was stopped a few minutes ago the GPS showed 0.0, which was accurate, but sometimes I've seen it show 1.5 MPH while standing perfectly still.

I pass the County park where several people have come to watch the sea gulls swarm around. Several people are fishing from the dock and I swing wide to make sure I don't disturb their lines. One more minor turn into the channel for the boat launch and I'm finished for the day.

At the ramp, a guy is loading his fiberglass canoe in his truck. His dog is in the cab warming up (he looks wet) and the guy dumps a bunch of water from the canoe. I think the boat may have had a hole in it because he put in right behind me earlier and he looks dry himself.

As I'm slipping sideways up to the ramp he strikes up a conversation with me about the boat. I should practice this move a little more with this Greenland style paddle. I don't seem to be as good with it as my aluminum and plastic paddle. I pop the skirt and swing my butt up onto the back deck. Before I can get my feet out and on the ground the kayak flips towards the deep end of the ramp and dumps me out and flips the boat upside down. Another graceful exit. Maybe I should just flip over and wet exit to get it over with faster. Sheesh. My paddling may be getting better, but my exit has gone downhill.

The guy I was chatting with is now freaking out. "Your clothes are all wet! You need to warm up in your car!". I tell him to relax and un-velcro the cuff of my paddling pants to show him the legs of my wet suit. We chat a little longer while I upright the boat and carry all my stuff up to the truck.

Once he leaves I pull my truck down to the ramp and load the kayak. The ramp is right next to the jogger path and "every" person who comes by either tells me how beautiful it is ("Thank you!") or wants to stop and chat about it. It takes a good 30 minutes to just load the boat on the truck and strap it down. It begins to sleet... Trip # 7 is complete.