I'm officially back on the road again and like last year, the rain poured down the first days in Maryland. I wanted to paddle the Susquehanna and North East Rivers at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay but the state parks were too expensive. So here I am instead at the Martinak State Park in Denton to paddle the Choptank River.
I first heard of this river while reading James Michener's Chesapeake, a novel about the settling of the Chesapeake Bay region. A little more research showed it is supposed to be an attractive river for paddling. So here I am.
After two days of torrential rains, this morning was bright with sunshine and my attitude improved considerably. Temperatures in the 50's had me donning socks and a sweater in addition to my regular paddling gear. An outgoing tide and a following wind helped push me along as I launched from the Martinak State Park boat ramp.
The first time I went down to the ramp a couple of days ago B.A.S.S. officials were weighing the catches of a couple of fishermen. One guy released a couple 4-5 pounders. I don't know if they were in a tournament or what. The river has lots of lily pads I always associate with large mouth bass.
As I paddled out of Watts Creek and hung a left into the Choptank River I saw lots of duck blinds on the other side. Hopefully they wouldn't start popping off for another month or two.
The Choptank is about 200 feet wide at this point. I found myself paddling in the shade and got out of there in a hurry. It was quite cool in there and this needed to be a paddle in the sunshine day.
Many of the shoreward trees were in the water. If the Choptank wasn't tidal I'd say the area was flooded but I don't know how much tidal rivers are affected by heavy rains.
I'd been hearing quite a few Canadian geese honking away as they flew over at night. I expected to see a lot of them on the river along with lots of ducks that had migrated into the Chesapeake Bay area for the winter months. The first thing I saw today though, was a great blue heron squawking indignantly as it flew away.
I paddled around a bend and passed several larger houses on the south shore as I headed west. I followed a narrow feeder stream for a half mile or so. It started out about 25 feet wide but half of that was taken up by lily pads growing out from one shore. The outgoing tide was a little more noticeable as I paddled upstream. After a half mile the stream narrowed considerably and began breaking off into numerous channels. Rather than spend the rest of the day trying to find my way back, I turned around and headed back out of the feeder stream then.
Lots of little yellow daisy type flowers lined both shores. Many of the weeds had turned yellow while the leaves of others had turned red, adding a lot of color to the dominant green of the lily pads. Some brown cattails and tiny purple flowers added their own little dash of color too. A number of ducks flew by, singly and in pairs.
Back on the Choptank River I continued west past a couple of docks jutting out into the river and an exceptionally tall osprey nest perched on top of a small utility pole.
Paddling without fighting a current or the wind was a pleasure. Usually when I stop paddling I end up going backwards faster than I was going forward. Today the kayak kept moving forward even when I wasn't paddling. A sea gull or cormorant would fly by occasionally. I hadn't seen either of them for quite some time because of paddling all summer in the mountains.
The shorelines along the Choptank varied from fairly short (30 feet) hardwoods to large growths of lily pads backed up by tall marsh grass. A few horse flies were about but the mosquitoes seemed to be tucked away in bed for the winter.
A few bass boats zoomed by. Other than that the silence was broken only by the continuous barking of a couple of senseless dogs. Those I was able to drown out by paddling a little harder and splashing a little more with the paddle blades.
For most of the way I paddled, there'd be a half mile stretch of wilderness followed by a half mile of upscale houses on one side of the river or the other. I passed one osprey nest on top of a day marker that was sprouting greenery. I guess some of the branches used for the nest weren't dead and were still struggling for survival. Lots of turkey vultures flew overhead for a while. I guess they were waiting for something bad to happen to me so they could pig out. Sorry fellas.
Up ahead I saw something large and white moving. At first I thought it was a bunch of sea gulls squabbling over a carcass or something. Then I thought it might have been a couple of snow geese making little snow geese. Then I saw it was a lone white trumpeter? swan bathing and preening itself and backed away. It had seen me too and began swimming a course parallel to mine. The wind had swung around behind us an the swan fluffed its wing feathers and was catching the wind. I thought that was pretty cool.