This summer was a bit rough for me and my kayak. The weather was not cooperative, the mosquitoes worse that usual, and my lupus making me more sore and tired than usual. I was worried about autumn become rainy or having a premature winter but it hasn’t been too bad. Neither have I. Not that I’m feeling 100% tip top but I seem to have a bit more energy to indulge my wanderlust.

As I’ve said many times before, Pike Lake is one of my favorite places to paddle. It’s not always quiet but you can easily remedy that by paddling southwards and either follow the lake around or continue down the creek which is what I did in late September.

I shockingly had the energy to wake up early one morning, pack my gear, and head to Pike Lake which is about 39 km SSW of Saskatoon. Even with my feeling a hair better, I’m still very careful to only paddle on calm days and this was a perfect day to be on the water. The weather was lovely, the waters were still, at the foliage…oh my, so beautiful!

I’m still scared to paddle with my DSLR. Even with low wind and solid idea for keeping my gear dry, I’m still a chicken. So, I popped my smartphone into RAW and away I went. However, I was far too excited since it didn’t immediately occur to me that shooting through a plastic waterproof bag wouldn’t yield the greatest results. But it was a happy accident since some of my photos ended up with a lovely haze effect. What do you think?