Yes believe it, today I kayaked in Palmer Lake and up Shingle Creek! I've been considering it for years now but had put it off for some good reasons. The basin itself is shallow as hell. Also, being a swamp that's smack dab in the middle of a large city, it's not necessarily the cleanest water. I don't even want to imagine what diseases I could catch if I capsized. But with almost a week's worth of rain, the water was noticeable higher and I figured I'd go for it. I put in right by the main parking lot around 8am. Thankfully I was the first vehicle in the lot and I could avoid any embarrassment if I didn't succeed in launching.
Surprisingly I made it in without getting too wet and I was off and paddling across the middle basin. I tooled around slowly, getting a feel for the depth as I
really didn't want to get stuck and have to get out! I headed for the mouth of the creek and thankfully found the water to be much deeper there -maybe 5-6 feet? As I headed up the creek I came upon a large group of deer right on the banks. Seeing them there in the middle of the park in the early quiet was amazing. In addition I was so frickin' close, I could see steam coming off their warm bodies. They stared at me like it was something they'd never seen before -and that's probably true :)
As I headed closer to the foot bridge on the north side I saw birds aplenty including an Owl, hawks and lots of Wood Ducks. The most amazing part of my trip is just how far I made it upstream. I got past the old Lazaroff's farm and even past Xerxes Avenue by way of a cement tunnel under the road. Shortly after I finally ran aground and could see I was in about 6 inches of water.
Luckily, there was somewhat of a current here and it was easy to back up and turn around. On the way back I paused to snap a picture of the same tall cottonwood I remember from January when I first walked on the frozen creek. Just for fun, I've put both pictures together here.
Also on the way back I paused to watch a female Red-winged Blackbird that darn near came right up to me as she was collecting twigs for a nest. Being this close I could even see the slight yellowish tint to the head that I've only seen before in photos.
Upon coming back off the creek I veered right to explore the left basin which was even more shallow than the first. Everywhere around me the water errupted into a swirl from carp. I swear I could even feel them under the bow of my kayak. Here I snapped this pic of a Great Blue Heron before heading back to explore the eastern basin.
This is the largest body of water in the park and there were actually small waves on it. I'd recently talked to a passing walker said someone told him there was a depth of 18 feet somewhere on the lake. I'm highly skeptical of this but I figured if it existed, it would be here on the east side.
Though it was for sure deeper than the other basins, I could touch the bottom with my paddle everywhere I ventured. I decided upon the south side overlook for my point of exit and I performed a trepidatious full body roll-out onto the railroad ties. With a handful of new sights and no diseases, I'd actually call it a great paddle!
Yes believe it, today I kayaked in Palmer Lake and up Shingle Creek! I've been considering it for years now but had put it off for some good reasons. The basin itself is shallow as hell. Also, being a swamp that's smack dab in the middle of a large city, it's not necessarily the cleanest water. I don't even want to imagine what diseases I could catch if I capsized. But with almost a week's worth of rain, the water was noticeable higher and I figured I'd go for it. I put in right by the main parking lot around 8am. Thankfully I was the first vehicle in the lot and I could avoid any embarrassment if I didn't succeed in launching.
Surprisingly I made it in without getting too wet and I was off and paddling across the middle basin. I tooled around slowly, getting a feel for the depth as I really didn't want to get stuck and have to get out! I headed for the mouth of the creek and thankfully found the water to be much deeper there -maybe 5-6 feet? As I headed up the creek I came upon a large group of deer right on the banks. Seeing them there in the middle of the park in the early quiet was amazing. In addition I was so frickin' close, I could see steam coming off their warm bodies. They stared at me like it was something they'd never seen before -and that's probably true :) 
As I headed closer to the foot bridge on the north side I saw birds aplenty including an Owl, hawks and lots of Wood Ducks. The most amazing part of my trip is just how far I made it upstream. I got past the old Lazaroff's farm and even past Xerxes Avenue by way of a cement tunnel under the road. Shortly after I finally ran aground and could see I was in about 6 inches of water. 
Luckily, there was somewhat of a current here and it was easy to back up and turn around. On the way back I paused to snap a picture of the same tall cottonwood I remember from January when I first walked on the frozen creek. Just for fun, I've put both pictures together here. 
Also on the way back I paused to watch a female Red-winged Blackbird that darn near came right up to me as she was collecting twigs for a nest. Being this close I could even see the slight yellowish tint to the head that I've only seen before in photos. 
Upon coming back off the creek I veered right to explore the left basin which was even more shallow than the first. Everywhere around me the water errupted into a swirl from carp. I swear I could even feel them under the bow of my kayak. Here I snapped this pic of a Great Blue Heron before heading back to explore the eastern basin. 
This is the largest body of water in the park and there were actually small waves on it. I'd recently talked to a passing walker said someone told him there was a depth of 18 feet somewhere on the lake. I'm highly skeptical of this but I figured if it existed, it would be here on the east side. 
Though it was for sure deeper than the other basins, I could touch the bottom with my paddle everywhere I ventured. I decided upon the south side overlook for my point of exit and I performed a trepidatious full body roll-out onto the railroad ties. With a handful of new sights and no diseases, I'd actually call it a great paddle!
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