An unfortunate lack of planning
Well, this is embarrassing. In January I wrote a post about buying the DNR Lake Permit early in the year, so whenever the time came to get on the water it would be on-hand ready to slap on the boat. Let's just say I should have listened to myself.
During January most water was frozen and I didn't make it out. February and early March I was too busy with maple syrup to get away for paddling. When spring arrived and I did have time to get out the wind was blowing 30+ mph for what seemed like days on end and I still didn't make it out on the water. Maybe I should take up sailing?
Earlier this week after getting the second "hey are you ever going to post anything about paddling again?" email from our fearless leader/editor, I assured him that I had a trip planned for this weekend. And I did. But it dawned on me Friday afternoon that while the trip I had planned on Cagles Mill Lake from Cunot to Cataract Falls sounded great, I had NOT gotten my boat permits. Though they are sometimes available at the lake, I didn't want to take the chance that they would not be, so that had to be scrapped. So much for thorough planning. Guess who will be ordering permits tomorrow, and January 1 from now on?.
But, I do have a couple of items you might be interested in if you have a little non-paddling time available. Having a few good resources on hand to refresh the memory or kill time once in a while is a good idea. A couple of books for you to consider:
Path of the Paddle by Bill Mason is geared toward canoeing, but covers both flatwater and whitewater paddling. It’s a classic from 1980, so the photos are definitely dated, but it’s an entertaining read full of good information. There are also some Bill Mason videos available online if you Google Bill Mason Path of the Paddle.
The Kayak Companion by Joe Glickman, is filled with info on gear, techniques, trip planning (maybe I should re-read that section!), navigation and paddling stories. I like it because Joe's sense of humor throughout the book keeps it from being a dry paddling manual.
And, if you're looking for paddling info for waters throughout the state you can always visit the Indiana Outfitters website. They have thorough listing of Indiana paddling destinations with information about segments of each that you can paddle, and how to access them.