Small kayaking world!

So my wife and I were sailing our catboat in the creek today, and some kayakers came along. They took some pictures of us, and we took pics of them.

One of them approached our boat, and I told him we have a pair of AI's and other kayaks. He said he knew some other Adventure Islander who does expedition trips from Flamingo to Chokoloskee.

How many maniacs like that can there be in the world?

I said, "You aren't talking about Keith by any chance?"

"Yes! That's him!"

Had to be! So Chekika, I saw your buddy Don with the frame and skin boat today:



And they got some good pics of us too!

Small world, made smaller by the internet.

Hi Tom,

Yes, that is Don McCumber, a good sea kayaker and excellent fisherman. Once, Don put his fish on a stringer and hung it overboard. You guessed it--a shark came along grabbed the fish and dumped him into the water. The shark was probably as surprised as he was. BTW, he builds those skin on frame kayaks.

South Florida, especially around Naples, has a great group of sea kayakers.

I'm still out in the rockies--northern New Mexico at 9500 ft (ca 2900 meters). It is 38 deg F (3.9 C) this morning. It gets up to about 70 F (21 C) on a typical, nice sunny fall day. The leaves are turning--it is beautiful--so I think I will wait another couple weeks before returning to the hot weather of S FL.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Hi Keith,

I looked a little closer at his boat and found their website 21stcenturykayaks.com. He has some nice design ideas, and that frame and skin boat he was paddling looked like a "one hander."

More from the small world file:

It turns out I had met another of the kayakers who was with Don years ago. We were on a Moonlight Paddle that became a Monsoon Paddle together, and hid in someone's boathouse. More here.

I hope you're not going to come away from the Rockies without some photos to post Keith.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Hi Tom, Slaughter,

Tom, that was an excellent write-up of your Sun Cat river trip. Alberto got some nice pictures. We have a Klepper folding kayak which we use out here on our trips. We had planned to do a 5-day paddle-camping trip on Yellowstone Lake, but the weather (rain, snow, strong winds) cancelled us out--we are from Florida, you know!

Slaughter, I have a ton of pictures since we were car camping for almost a month in Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone, and Mesa Verde National Park, and every place in between. Here are a few everyone can enjoy. The hummingbirds were taken at our feeders here in northern NM. The coyote was taken in Mesa Verde. The last was taken in Mesa Verde of the “Cliff Palace,” the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It was occupied by Native American Indians about 900 yrs ago.









Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Wow. Thanks Keith. Those hummingbird photos are National Geo material.

Can you go in and walk around the cliff dwellings or is it restricted access ?

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Nice pictures, Keith!

This morning at dawn on the Withlacochee River, I had two hawks land on a limb right above me. Unfortunately, they were in bright light and backlit by dawn, and all I had was my cell phone camera. I got two black blobs on a stick.

Slaughter, I think there are hundreds--maybe thousands--of ruins in the Mesa Verde area. The Park runs ranger-guided tours through the "Cliff Palace"--you can get close but don't touch. Another extensive ruin, the Spruce House is a self-guided tour, with a couple rangers on duty. At the Spruce House you could enter a kiva--thought to be used for religious ceremonies. Here is a picture of my wife, Nancy, climbing down into one.



There are many other ruins, and I am sure that at the smaller ones you can walk around freely. They don't want you to touch anything because, as with a painting, your skin oils will ultimately damage the structures.

Southwestern US is a spectacular place to visit--kayaking is minimal, unless you want to do whitewater--lots of that. You can kayak great places like Yellowstone Lake and a few other similar places.

If you are in the US during our summer time, we are usually out here. You have a invitation to stop by and visit.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Sounds like a fantastic holiday. After seeing your photos I may have to do some further reading. I feel a bit ignorant. I love ancient ruins and would certainly check them out if I came over that way. Did Bear Griles do that area in one of his episodes ? I remember seeing ruins built into the rock that looked very similar. I travelled through Turkey a few years ago and was blown away with exporing their ancient Christian dwellings below.




Exploring ruins is a bit like paddeling up a river. "I'll just go round the next bend and then turn back, I'll just go round the next bend" ......etc etc.

Thanks again Keith.

_________________


Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Slaughter, if you love ancient ruins, be sure to check out Ganung Kawi near Tampaksiring and Goa Gaja, near Ubud, while you're in Bali.

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Thanks Chris. I'm onto it. You spured me on to do some research this arvo. It's now on the 'to do' list.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.