Full Tilt Sailing Team

Kayaking on Lake Lillanonah

Joyce had yesterday off from work, so we decided to take advantage of the perfect autumn weather and go kayaking on Lake Lillanonah.

Joyce readies her kayak at the West Street marina launch ramp, just below the New Milford dam.

The marina is located in a quiet inlet. We took a few minutes to explore it before heading out into the river.

This is one of three boats that zoomed by us within seconds of each other near the marina. It was the only motor boat traffic we saw all day.

Me at the railroad bridge near New Milford. This is the track that crosses the main road in New Milford center.

Joyce passes under the same RR about 1 mile downriver, near an inlet by the abandoned silex works by Lover's Leap State Park.

Joyce in the Lover's Leap gorge, under the historic bridge.

In the gorge, Joyce pauses beside the high sheer wall.

The requisite self-portrait. Just because.

After passing through, the lake opened up and became very picturesque. In another two weeks or so the forest will be blazing with colors.

We saw several crew teams practicing on the river. That, and a couple kayakers was the extent of all the traffic we saw the entire way.

Joyce pauses to view some of the wildlife around the lake.

We saw a number of big blue herons. One was sitting on someone's dock, and it was so big and still, we thought it was carved out of wood. It startled the hell out of us when it took flight as we got near. The bird must have been five feet tall!

Joyce shot this photo with the sun completely washing out the LCD screen. She just pointed the camera and clicked it. Turned out OK, dontcha think?

Late in the day we kept expecting to see the bridge near our haul-out spot every time we rounded a corner. The sun was getting low and the shadows long when we finally spotted the RT 133 bridge in Bridgewater.

We hauled out where we left my car, at the public launch ramp right near the bridge. After tying the kayaks onto the rack, we had to go back to New Milford to pick up Joyce's car.

It was a very good day.

posted by CT Bob @ 9:36 AM