BBQ Beach

Friday after I got all my appointments and business taken care of Otis and I jetted out of town for a paddle weekend on Lake Roosevelt.  We went to what we call BBQ beach, so named because last year we hauled out a smashed up gas BBQ grill that someone left.  It is on the Spokane Arm which does not see as much traffic as the main lake.  There were a lot of people fishing on Saturday and Sunday but few camped, at least on our side of the lake.

Short car, long boat.

When we got there I was eying that far distant line of clouds.  I watched it for about 30 minutes while I unloaded my boat.  It is probably 10-15 miles away in this photo.  I made sure I had my rain gear and a tarp on top so if I had to run for cover I could keep both of us dry.  It was slow moving so we were ok.

Otis in his normal spot.

BBQ beach with the lovely big trees, nice cover for the porta-potty (the law on the lake), and as we were to discover a very safe place in a storm with the tent pitched in just the right spot.

The water level is still low and the COE is planning to start raising it June 1st.  I was not going to take any chances though and hauled my canoe half way up the beach.

Otis was a mad man and just kept running and running.  For scale, my canoe is the white dot just above and to the left of Otis' tail midway up the beach.  Distances are very deceiving.

The clouds kept building

Swift nests in the cut-bank.

We were having weird animal things happen.  Right before this I was putting up my tarp and had the feeling that I was not alone.  I turned around and about 20 feet away was a huge wild turkey.  Then we kept getting buzzed by bald eagles.  I was sure there was at least one adult and two juveniles and they kept flying within about 30 feet of where I was standing (maybe they were cruising Otis).  Then I had just sat down to watch the clouds and heard a big ruckus in the woods and a huge splash in the lake.  I looked over and a deer had jumped in.

Then I saw why.  There were two coyotes that had chased her.  I swear they are in the picture somewhere.

Then I watched the clouds roll in some more.

Then I realized the deer had done a big arc and came up on the other side of our camp.  She stayed there through the storm.

  

And it got darker

And darker.  About five minutes later the wind started and we dove into the tent.  Evidently the wind was between 50 and 60 mph.  I had found an old fence post in the ground (remember this used to be farm and ranch land) and tied the bow of my canoe to it.  Then I carried a huge rock over and tied it to the stern line.  I was pretty sure while I listened to the wind that I would lose my boat but I was not going out to do anything about it.  The storm lasted for about an hour and we ventured out after the lightening moved far away.

And we were greeted by an amazing sunset; and a boat that only moved about a foot.

The moon was happy.  We did not see the eagles after the storm.  Right before it hit we watched one juvenile struggle to get to the top of a tree.  It was a beautiful night with some more rain and lightening but Otis slept right through it.

View from my toilet (pack it in, pack it out).

Saturday was spent paddling around the south shore.

A cool island during high water.

This is what he does the second he gets in the boat.

And this is what he did most of the time on land.

On the way back to the boat launch we ran into the eagles again.  There were two adults and 3 juveniles.  It looked like they were having a fishing lesson.  They were so amazing and a wonderful end to our weekend.