July 10, 2018
Trail Town held its ‘Yak and Hike’ event at Yatesville Lake on July 8th. A group of 17 kayakers met at Boones Landing and headed up Greenbriar Creek for a leisurely paddle on one of the prettiest parts of Yatesville Lake.
For a few of the kayakers, this was their first adventure in a “paddlecraft” and the weather and scenery couldn’t have been more perfect. As the crew headed past the primitive camping area into Greenbriar Creek, they watched a great blue heron standing like a statue until they paddled a little too close for comfort for the heron. The heron and its mate took to the skies over the kayakers as they continued up Greenbriar ducking under tree branches toward the upper part of the creek.
Although this event was supposed to include a “hike” component, the hike was postponed because the first-time kayakers needed a little extra time paddling up the lake which was perfectly fine with the younger kids because they found time to get out and play in the creek! After about an hour of paddling, the crew headed back to the shelter where they enjoyed watermelon and ice cold water complements of the Trail Town Committee!
“It’s great to see families coming out to events like this. Kayaking doesn’t require a lot of skill or money or even a lot of water!” Cathi Kise Wells said. “By the time we got in the creek, the water was only a few inches deep. It is also an activity that ALL ages can enjoy. We had kids here today as young as 5 and 7 and adults in their upper 60s and lower 70s.!”
Two other kayaking events coming up in the near future that Trail Town is helping to promote is the Moonlight Paddle at the Cove on Friday, July 27th at 7:30 pm organized by Legend Outfitters. If you have your own kayak, the event is $10 or if you need a rental, it will be $15. Five dollars of each registration will be donated to Trail Town to help them organize events in the community.
The second paddle event will be organized by Rebel River Outfitters in Fort Gay. It will be on August 12th and is called the Lazy Levisa Paddle. Participants will meet at the Louisa City Ramp at 1 pm and will be shuttled to Chapman Park area for the 3-4 hour float/paddle trip. Cost is $10 if you have your own float or kayak or $25 if you need to rent.
