Lakes of 2010 - Lake Alvin, Harrisburg South Dakota

After spending most of the winter 2009/2010 building my first cedar strip boat - a 15' 6" canoe - the 2010 paddling season has been a very rich and rewarding year! Having spent almost every possible free moment on lakes or starting work on my new build (a 16' 6" kayak), it has been difficult to find the time to sit down and share the details of the experiences. I greatly appreciate the efforts others make to chronicle their trips as it helps me in my own planning to a great extent. I hope this short excerpt of some of my adventures will offer similar insight for those planning their own paddling trips.

Lake Alvin

October 19th, 2010

This tuesday evening marks my first time visiting Lake Alvin (largely inspired by Jay Heath's posts on his blog "Kayaking the lakes of South Dakota".)  My mother has never been in a canoe so my 14 year old daughter Michaela and I loaded up the kayak - inside the jeep - and the canoe on the roof, and we headed up to Lake Alvin for an evening paddle.  It was a beautiful day and the lake was smooth as glass.  There were a couple fishing boats and we witnessed one great catch while we were paddling the lake. 

 There are a few homes along the shore line and some horses grazing right up to the edge of the banks on the South side of the lake.  We put in at the dock on the North shore and headed toward the Southeast end where the creek comes in.  Before we got anywhere near the creek the water had become to shallow to navigate further.  I had made great pumpkin soup earlier in the day so as we sat on the sandy swimming beach watching the last pink light of the day disappear we enjoyed a simple warm meal and one of the last perfect days of the season.