I did this paddle again. According to Google Maps Pedometer, it’s 4.6 miles. It rained two days ago, so the creek was higher than normal, and it’s flowing very fast. Both up and downstream were harder than normal – the speed differences between the parts of the river can catch the boat and swing it around or push you into one bank or the other. And of course upstream is just harder because you’re paddling against a strong current. But at least I wasn’t grounding out on a shallow stream.
The weather was just about perfect – earlier this morning I thought it might be a bit cool on the water, but it was actually nearly ideal. I worked up a sweat, and I cooled down enough but not too much when I paused paddling. The new PFD worked great, and gave me a lot more mobility in my shoulders, and allowed more cooling air to reach my torso.
There were a lot of people coming downstream – I think it must have been at least one shuttle group. On the way down I even met a few groups coming up. And of course there were tons of people and dogs in the dog park area of Ellison Park. I suppose this isn’t too surprising on such a nice day on a Sunday afternoon.