Saturday, June 13, 2020 - Baum Road - Smith Creek - Northwest River
Today we got a respite from the rain and the temps were in the upper 70s. So it was perfect (if perhaps a little cool) to get out on the water.
I decided to launch at the Baum Road put-in in Chesapeake. It's on the eastern edge of Northwest River Park and is managed by the City of Chesapeake. It's just a small area with enough parking for about 5 or 6 vehicles. And the put-in is just a cleared area along the bank. But for kayaking and canoeing, it's perfect.
There's almost never anyone else at this area and the creek is small, so there typically are not many powerboats.
When I arrived at the put-in, there were 3 people with long kayaks getting ready to launch. As I said, I almost never see other people at this launch. They were taking their time getting out, so I had to wait a bit to launch. But I wasn't in a hurry.
The put-in is on Smith Creek and is protected by heavy stands of trees. It was a bit windy when I started, but the tree cover is thick enough and the creek is narrow enough, that I was sheltered from the wind for most of the paddle.
The water level was at about a normal stage, but you can see evidence of it being much higher as marked by the mud stains on some of the tree leaves overhanging the water. Surprisingly even though we have had a lot of rain, the water in the creek was not muddy at all.
It's interesting to paddle the same areas over different time periods. You can see gradual changes along the way such as docks getting consumed by vegetation and natural overtaking them.
I heard lots of birds in the trees and saw a HUGE blue heron launch from the trees a few times. (Never got a picture of him.)
The blue pickerel weed is in full bloom. The bumblebees were enjoying the spiky blue-purple flowers. And they didn't seem too bothered by me getting close to take pictures.
At one point, I looked up in the sky at the Sun and there was a full circle rainbow around it. It's known as a Sun Halo. I only managed to capture half of it. But a very cool phenomenon. There were lots of turtles sunning themselves on logs. The turtles are usually very quick to slip into the water before you get close, but I was able to get a shot of one big guy on a distant log.
Smith Creek wraps along the eastern and southeastern border of Northwest River Park, and at one point, I came across a nature overlook platform that is part of Otter Point Trail in the park.
I paddled the whole length of the creek, checking out the little side creeks as I went. I didn't encounter much wind until I was near the mouth of the main river. Once I got back into the smaller areas, the wind subsided.
This was a really great paddle. Lots to see and hear and paddling was smooth and easy. And today is National Get Outdoors Day. So check that box! :)
2 hours and 30 minutes on the water and 4.2 miles on the GPS. Scroll below the pictures to see the track map.
Click here for the GoPro video.
