Saturday, July 14, 2018 - West Neck Creek
Since the weather forecast was for the temps to be not as hot, I decided to do something a little different and launch in the mid-afternoon rather than mid-morning. I decided to launch at the West Neck Marina and paddle on West Neck Creek.
West Neck Marina is a nice little launching spot right on Indian River Road in Virginia Beach. They have an regular concrete boat ramp for the powerboats, but they also have a cleared area with a sandy beach to launch kayaks.
As I was launching, several powerboats were queuing to come in from the water. This would portend there not being very many boats on the water while I was out.
Since I was paddling westward on the creek and the time of day, I was paddling right into the sun for most of the way going out. What that meant for the pictures I took on that stretch is that the light was very different from most other paddles I've done. The trees being backlit created an interesting silhouette.
I saw and heard lots of fish jumping all along the way. And of course, birds along the creek. Osprey, herons, egrets, red-winged blackbirds, gulls, and probably others. I saw a few turtles but not as many as in other places. Most of this creek is fairly open and not much cover.
There were TONS of dragonflies out. On the main creek and especially on the small creeks. They were everywhere. At one point, I stopped to take a picture with my phone of the reflection of the trees, and a dragonfly LANDED ON MY PHONE CASE!!! Of course, I couldn't move to pick up my regular camera, so all I could do is enjoy the moment. Very cool.
This was a nice, calm peaceful paddle. As I assumed, there was not much boat traffic on the creek at all.
2 hours and 30 minutes on the water and 4.3 miles on the GPS. Scroll below the pictures to see the track map.
