Index of States Kayaked by Charlene Swankie

I DID IT!  Finished the 50th State, Hawaii, on my 70th Birthday, almost a year ago now.
This is a work in progress… I will also add elevations.  I am also updating the state pages with more details.  (updated 5/7/2015)

State	Order	Date	Location	Elevation
Alabama	46	10/23/12	Justins Bay, AL (solo)
Alaska	49	8/20/2013	Holgate Glacier, Holgate Arm near Seward, AK
Arizona	2	06/2009	Watson Lake / Vickie Walker; Cibola NWR (N.P.)
Arkansas	43	10/7/12	Beaver Lake (solo)
California California2	1	3/2008 ? ? ? 08/30/2009 08/03/2009	1) Monterey Bay(many times) 2) Morro Bay (fb) 3) Spooners Cove @ Montano de Oro State Park (fb) 4) Elkhorn Slough 5) Gold Lake (fb) 6) West Shore of Lake Tahoe(*maiden voyage) / Elle Beals (fb)
Colorado	39	10/11/11 and Summer 2012	Jackson Lake State Park nr Orchard (solo) (*Pelicans) Meadow Creek Lake nr Rifle (solo)
Connecticut	20	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo) (*Swans)
Delaware	23	11/02/10	Cape Henlopen @ Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge-put in @ Boat Ramp Access Rd. (solo)
Florida	29	11/26/10 12/19/10 12/30/10 10/?/12	1) Santa Fe River @ Columbia State Park, High Springs / Judy Luke family 2) Cedar Kay /Gary Lepak 3) Ichetucknee Springs State Park/Gary Lepak 4)   (solo)
Georgia	28	11/16/10	Tybee Island (solo)
Hawaii	50	5/16/2014	Off Maui	/sons
Idaho	6	10/18/09	Upper and Lower Priest Lakes (solo), Priest River, ID	Moose Family Video
Illinois	36	09/23/11	Lake Shelbyville (solo)
Indiana	35	08/19/11	Lake Monroe @very large boat launching area off Hwy 446 (solo)
Iowa	37	09/28/11	Clear Lake @ McIntosh Woods State Park (43.12237,-93.45856) (solo)
Kansas	41	10/02/12	Wilson Lake @ Wilson State Park – Otoe Launch (solo)
Kentucky	34	08/18/11	Fredericks Landing, Wilder, KY Boat Launch (solo)
Louisiana	47	10/25/12	Small unnamed pond/marsh nr Hwy 190 and Hwy 90(Chef Menteur Hwy) east of Slidell (solo)
Maine	17	10/12/10	Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, Arcadia National Park (solo)
Maryland/DC	24	11/02/10	Put in @ Ocean City Municipal Airport on Sinepuxent Bay… near Mystic Harbor & paddled across to Assateague State Park/Island (solo)
Massachusetts	19	10/21/10	Secret Lake in Athol / Kay Gleason
Michigan	14	08/31/10 09/05/10	1) Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary @ Alpena (solo) 2) Launched @ Gross Isle (solo)
Minnesota	12	08/03/10 08/07/10	1) St. Louis River @ Floodwood (solo) 2) Ely – Boundary Waters Canoe Area (solo) (write up BWCA)
Mississippi	45	10/12/12 10/24/12	1) Sardis Lake @ Engineer Point Public Use Area 2) Pearlton
Missouri	44	10/09/12	Coombs Ferry Public Use Area, Blue Eye, MO (solo)
Montana	7	10/19/09	Flathead Lake (solo), Lakeside, MT
Nebraska	38	10/10/11	Lake McConaughy, Ogallala (solo)
Nevada	3	08/25/09 12/03/09	1) Cave Rock, NV (solo) 2) Callville Bay Marina @ Lake Mead (solo) fb
New Hampshire	16	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir in S.W. corner of state. Rt. 9, Molly Stark Trail.
New Jersey	22	10/27/10	Sandy Hook nr Fort Hancock @ Gateway National Recreation Area (solo)
New Mexico	40	10/15/11	Lake Caballo nr Truth or Consequences  on Rio Grande River (solo)
New York	15	09/25/10	Grand Island @ Beaver Point / Matt Beals
North Carolina	26	11/10/10	Jordan Lake / Judith Sookne
North Dakota	11	07/28/10	Langlier’s Bay on Lake Oahe (solo)
Ohio	33	07/28-29/11	1) Mad River / Cheryl and David Simmons (6.5 miles) (fb) 2) Buck Creek State Park lake (solo)
Oklahoma	42	10/06/12	Robert S. Kerr Reservoir @ Sallisaw Creek Park (Cherokee Nation) (solo)
Oregon	4	08/31/09	Siltcoos Lake, OR (solo)
Pennsylvania	32	07/24/11	Loyalhanna Lake. Camped @ Bush Recreation Area (solo)
Rhode Island	21	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo)
South Carolina	27 or 28?	11/13/10	Folly Beach (solo)
South Dakota	10	07/28/10	Missouri River on Lake Oahe @ Mobridge (solo)
Tennessee	30	07/18/11	French Broad River to Nolichucky River nr Newport / Leadvale @ Rankin Bottoms. (solo)
Texas	48	10/30/12	Mountain Lake nr Grand Prairie (fb)
Utah	8	11/02/09	Quail Creek Reservoir nr St. George (solo)
Vermont	18	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir, nr Medburyville (solo)
Virginia	25	11/05/10	Kayaked here. First Landing State Park @ Broad Bay N.W of Virginia Beach .(solo)
Washington	5	09/9-15/09 09/9-15/09 09/12/09 07/01/10	1) Elliott Bay @ Alki Point  (solo) 2) Wenatchee – Turtle Island @ Lincoln Rock State Park (solo) 4) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak 5) Port Townsend /Gary Lepak (fb) 5) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak
West Virginia	31	07/23/11	Sutton Lake (solo)
Wisconsin	13	08/14/10	Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, north of Bayfield, WI (solo)
Wyoming	9	07/23 or 25?/10	Big Horn Canyon Recreation Area @ Horseshoe Bend Lake(solo)

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46th State: Alabama - Justin's Bay (Oct. 23, 2012)

Justin's Bay, AL

I visited in Florida with my sister, and a vandweller (Terry and Cathy Fuqua) and also high school classmate Bill Lechien. Then back on the road again, I stopped here on the way to Alabama... still in FL here, across the river from Alabama. 

I haven’t had very many regrets in life, but one has to do with Alabama.  I had a very dear friend I wanted to visit when I came to AL.  He worked for the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). He told me to call when I finished kayaking Georgia – in May 2010.  Well, I was sick and hospitalized in Georgia in 2010… and I passed up kayaking the south-central states due to all the storms.  He said, you better not wait too long to visit.

As I approached Alabama, I emailed him my schedule.  I didn’t hear anything back.  So I called his number, and got “This voice mailbox has not been set up yet.”  Next I did a search online for him and found his obit.  Well, WTF?  I was so mad at myself.  Really mad.  RIP Don Burchfield.  He died May 23, 2011, just one year after I had planned to visit him and did not.

I learned something new in Alabama.  It's a walnut grove and across the road are cotton fields.  I saw a lot of both.  So many walnut groves.  This Hoosier-raised girl hadn’t realized that walnut trees were planted in groves until I saw these with all the trees evenly spaced and in neat rows.  Interesting.

There are lots of bayous in the area and I wanted Alligator habitat.  I finally decided on Justin's Bay… and planned a much longer paddle than I ended up doing.  I launched at Meaher State Park, paddled through Ducker Bay and up one of the five rivers, into Sardine Pass which led to Justin's Bay.  This is just north of I-10.

Definition of Bayous – from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-bayou.htm#lbss

Bayous are either stagnant or slow-moving bodies of water which fill abandoned waterways. The term by itself usually refers to a very slow stream, while the term bayou lake is often used to describe lakes or ponds in similar conditions. A bayou is normally found in very flat regions, as the lack of a slope reduces the speed at which the water flows. It is usually the outflow from a nearby major waterway, such as the Mississippi river, and as such may be affected by flooding in the main waterway.

The word is used primarily in the southern United States. The term "slough" is also used to describe essentially the same geographical feature, although it tends to have a more widespread usage. The bayou is particularly associated with the Cajun culture of Louisiana, and parts of Texas and Alabama. They are also found throughout Arkansas, although most in that state use an alternate spelling of buyou.

Justin's Bay is a lake located just 1.6 miles from Spanish Fort, in Baldwin County, in the state of Alabama, United States. Fishermen will find a variety of fish including largemouth bass, bluegill and yellow perch here.
Read more: http://www.hookandbullet.com/fishing-justins-bay-spanish-fort-al/#ixzz2Bjy8PNlo

Meaher State Park is very nice, but surrounded by a 12 foot high chain link fence.  It looks more like a prison than an RV campground.  I wondered why the fence?  After my paddle, I realized the reason for the fence was not to keep the RVers in, but to keep the gators out of the campground.  A 6’ chain link fence would do nothing to stop a full grown adult gator.  He would just crash his body against it… and walla… be into your garbage, pets, etc.  But the campground looked very nice and was pretty full… if you like that sort of camping.

The gatekeeper collected my $1 fee and told me the two places I could launch from.  I told her where I was going and asked if there were alligators there.  She said, “Yes, and also at the boat launch.”  OK, heart skips a beat.

From their website:

This 1,327-acre park is situated in the wetlands of Mobile Bay and is a day-use picnicking and scenic park with modern camping hook-ups and bathhouse facilities for overnight visitors. A boat ramp and fishing pier will appeal to every fisherman.

A self-guided walk on two nature trails includes a boardwalk with a up close view of the Mobile Delta.

Meaher Park’s Renovation Construction is now complete.

New features in the Park include:

• The campground has 56 new campsites with 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical connections with water and sewer. The campground also features a new bathhouse with laundry facilities for overnight campers.

• The Day Use Area's renovated Picnic Area is now open. This renovation included the addition of a comfort station for the day use area visitors.

I had to paddle out and around the 5 Rivers – Alabama’s Delta Resource Center, but did not stop.  I should have.  They have all sorts of interesting events there… like Becoming an Outdoors-Woman(BOW).  Very interesting place which I would recommend others take the time to visit.  Regret that I did not.  There is sure a lot more to see in Alabama than I realized and I probably didn’t pick the best location to kayak.

This is where the Mobile, Spanish, Tensaw, Apalachee and Blakeley rivers flow into Mobile Bay and where they built an incredible new facility for outdoor recreation, conservation and land stewardship in Alabama: 5 Rivers. It's the ultimate place to begin your adventure into over 250,000 acres of scenic waterways, woods and wetlands. Or, simply soak up the natural beauty and incredible history of the region with plenty to do and see at the facility itself.

The first alligator I saw... and he let me follow him a long way before he dove out of sight.  Exciting.  A first for me.  Yes, scary.

You can see how close I am... the yellow in the lower left corner is my kayak.

My plan was to paddle on through Justin's Bay… and down the other fork of the river and into Chacaloochee Bay…but couldn’t make it that far – there was no way through and it was too far to backtrack and go around to get there.

Now, this is the biggest Alligator I saw on this paddle, or the states that followed AL.  He didn’t move a muscle.  I was quietly approaching from his tail… and got a lot of photos taken before he noticed me.  I passed on by, and was looking ahead when I passed his line of sight… and then I hear him crashing into the water, and the wake he made really rocked my kayak.  That was one big gator, I imagine as long as my 12’ kayak.  Yes, it was frightening.  But he was gone in a blink and wanted to get away from me even more than I wanted to get away from him.

The bank in the center of the photo was where he was laying… the ripples coming toward me, are from him jumping into the water. 

Is that cool or what... a Cormorant I think???

It was a fairly long paddle to reach the Bay itself, but I was alone when I got there.  No other boaters.  I really liked that.  It is too shallow for anything but a kayak, canoe or shallow flat bottom boat.  This is actually a bog or swamp.

The water in most of this photo is only 2' deep, or less.  After awhile this began to feel pretty creepy to me… as I felt I was in an alligator cesspool. I heard them all over the place… but was never able to get any good photos.  It felt like they were just laying on the bottom only inches away from me… and I finally decided to work my way back out of the area.

There is a reason for the creepy feeling… because these areas are often maze-like in character, have eternal dampness, and sometimes haunting vegetation, the bayou is often the location in fiction of frightening stories. Tales of voodoo often take place there, and a number of horror stories are set in the deep bayou, far from civilization. Alligators inhabit much of the bayou  adding to the mystique of fear that surrounds the region.  Paraphrased from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-bayou.htm.

I thought I could make a loop and go out the other end of the bay, but there was no outlet, so I had to back track the way I came… and had to concentrate on the beauty and not the creepiness – as I felt on the verge of a panic attack.  I did see an occasional turtle, but could never get a photo.

There is a butterfly on the lower center flower... but it is hard to spot... orange and black (maybe a Monarch).

You bet it feels good to be kayaking my 46th state.  Just LA and TX left.  But I might kayak MS again tomorrow as I pass through.

You know, it is one of the very best feelings of happiness for me when I come to the end of the paddle and spot my rig on shore.  Also, I’m not as afraid of gators as I was when I launched from here.  It is always good to get past a fear.

Westward HO!

State List

I thought an index of states might help followers who want to see where I have been.  Some state photos are only on Facebook at this time but I will try to get blog pages made for those as soon as I can.  Thank you for following along.

State / Location / Date / Link

Alabama - 2012?

Alaska - Will be my 49th state. 2013-4?

Arizona #2 - Watson Lake June 2009. Photos not on Blog yet, only on Facebook.

Arkansas - 2012?

California #1 1) Monterey Bay bef July 2009 2) Morro Bay-Photos only on Facebook for now. 3) Montano de Oro State Park. Photos only on Facebook for now. 4) Lake Tahoe 8/3/09. Photos only on Facebook for now. 5) Gold Lake 8/2009. Photos only on Facebook for now.

Colorado / #39 Jackson Lake near Orchard, CO  -  Oct 11, 2011 -

Connecticut / #20 Put in at Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from RI to CT to mouth of Little Narragansett Bay.  Oct 25, 2010.

Delaware /23 Cape Henlopen – Nov 2, 2010 Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Beach Access Rd. Nov 2, 2010.

District of Columbia ?

Florida / #29 1) Santa Fe River in Columbia State Park – High Springs, FL – Thanksgiving 2010  2) Ichetucknee Spring State Park  - New Year’s Eve 2010. 3) Cedar Key, West Coast of FL – Dec 19, 2010 -

Georgia / #28 Tybee Island, Nov. 16, 2010

Hawaii Will be 50th state!

Idaho / #6 Priest Lakes – Oct 18, 2009

Illinois / #36 Lake Shelbyville – Sept 23, 2011.

Indiana / #35 Lake Monroe – Aug 19, 2011

Iowa / #37 Sept 29, 2011 – where was this???

Kansas 2012?

Kentucky / #34 Fredericks Landing, Wilder, KY – Aug 18, 2011

Louisiana 2012?

Maine / #19 or 17? Acadia National Park – Long Lake near Mountain Desert Island - http://swankiewheels.blogspot.com/2010/10/17th-state-paddlemaine-oct-12-2010.html

Maryland / #24 Sinepuxent Bay near Mystic Harbor @ Ocean City Municipal Airport – Nov 2 2010.

Massachusetts / #19 Kay’s Secret Lake – Oct 21, 2010

Michigan / #14 Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary, Alpena – Aug 31, 2010 - Gross Isle – Detroit River -

Minnesota / #12 Boundary Waters Canoe Area near Ely – Aug 7 2010 - Floodwood, MN  - St. Louis River – Aug 3, 2010

Mississippi 2012?

Missouri 2012?

Montana / #7 Flathead Lake – Oct 19, 2009

Nebraska / #38 Lake McConaughy, Ogallala, NE - Oct 10, 2011

Nevada / #3 Cave Rock (east side of Lake Tahoe) July 2009  Callville Bay Marina, Lake Mead – Dec 3, 2009 - http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=1573053507#!/media/set/?set=a.1166302649071.2021521.1573053507&type=3

New Hampshire / #16 Oct 5, 2010 – where is this???

New Jersey / #22 Sandy Hook  - Gateway National Recreation Area.   Oct. 27, 2010.

New Mexico / #40 or 39? Lake Caballo near Truth or Consequences – Oct. 15, 2011.  On the Rio Grande River.

New York / #15 Grand Island – Beaver Point – Sep 25, 2010 -

North Carolina / #26 An unnamed lake – Nov 10 2010

North Dakota / #10 Langlier’s Bay on Lake Oahe,  July 28, 2010.

Ohio / #33 Mad River – July 28-29, 2011 - http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=1573053507#!/media/set/?set=a.1880713828904.2087534.1573053507&type=3 Buck Creek State Park Lake – July 2011

Oklahoma 2012?

Oregon / #4 Siltcoos Lake – Aug 31, 2009

Pennsylvania / #32 Loyalhanna Lake, Bush Recreation Area – July 24, 2011.

Rhode Island / #21 Put in at Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from RI to CT to mouth of Little Narragansett Bay.  Oct 25, 2010.

South Carolina / #27 Folly Beach – Nov.  13, 2010.

South Dakota / #11 Mobridge, SD on Missouri River on Lake Oahe – July 28 2010.

Tennessee / #30 Newport / Leadvale – July 18, 2011

Texas 2012?

Utah / #8 Quail Creek Reservoir near St. George – Nov. 2, 2009

Vermont / #18 Oct 19, 2010 – name of small lake???

Virginia / #25 First Landing State Park near Virginia Beach -  Nov 5, 1010

Washington / #5 1) Port Angeles – Sept 9-15, 2009  2) Port Townsend Sept 12, 2009  - http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=1573053507#!/media/set/?set=a.1121698694000.2016126.1573053507&type=3 3) Port Angeles – July 1, 2010

Washington / #5 Elliott Bay @ Alki Point

Washington / #5 Wenatchee – Turtle Island

West Virginia / #33 or 31st? Sutton Lake – July 23, 2011

Wisconsin / #13 Apostle Islands National Lake Shore – Aug 14, 2010

Wyoming / #9 Big Horn Canyon Recreation Area – Horseshoe Bend Lake – July 25, 2010.

   
   If you have suggestions for places to kayak in the states I have not yet visited, please email them to me at charlene.swankie@gmail.com.



    

Getting Healthy On-The-Road Again: Day 3

OK, I sit on an overlook, looking back down into the valley that has been causing me so much grief. It has just rained a little.  Chicken is on cooking for homemade chicken soup.  I’m still coughing.

I can get t.v. here…. 52 channels, but only sporadic internet.  That will make laying in bed resting easier.

Soups on….

 

Spotty National Access internet… but I’m trying to get my blog caught up.  Nothing more on the schedule but to sit right here and rest/sleep/eat.