A Swampy Day

Today was a day of sunshine and happiness...... I had taken the day off work to spend time with big brother Jim. (I intend to soak up every minute I can with him while he is in town.) At first we weren't quite sure what we were going to do with our time, but decided on canoeing up Irondequoit Creek. The creek empties itself into the Bay, but first goes through a bit of swampland. The canoe rental spot starts right near the swampland and you must canoe through that to get to the creek. So Jim and I and other brother Ben start off and head into the swamp. There are definitely clear areas that are good for boating and paths that go here and there. But none of us had ever been conoeing there before and we weren't sure which path to take. Needless to say, we took the wrong one. The waterway kept getting smaller and smaller and more condensed with cattails, but I was sure it would widen up "just around the next corner". And seeing as I was in the front, I encouraged the boys with sayings like, "Where's your sense of adventure?" and we pushed on. Well, eventually the path through the reeds was only a canoe's width across and came right up to an old log in it's path. Quite defeated, I said that I thought we should go back now. (duh) So we all turned in our seats and paddled back to where we found the real way to the creek. In the first two photos you can see how silly I was to think that maybe, just maybe, we were going the right way. That is the point at which we turned around. Notice how clear the water is behind me. Not.

Once we were out onto open water paddling our canoe was much more fun. We went a ways up the creek, though I'm not sure how far exactly. At one point we all got out of our boat because there was a sign for shallow water. But then this boat full of people went by a one guy asked us, "Where's your Pioneer spirit??" So, not to be outdone, we climbed back in and pressed on. Further and further we went. Ben, being in the middle of the canoe, paddled the hardest of all of us. Just ask him. He was amazingly strong, like any good Girl Scout would be... (I wrote that just for you Ben!) Anyways it was very fun and we did eventually go back. We even made it through the swamp the second time without getting lost. We got to see a couple heron, one turtle, a few ducks or more and some minnows. When it was all over, all three of us still had smiles on our faces, though we were very thirsty and our heads hurt from the sun glaring on the water. Next time, if we ever go again, I'll at least know which way to get through that swamp.