Porcupynecopia

I went searching for whitewater... this one was too low... this one had too much ice...
So I broke out the trusty Pintail, set up a rope to make sure I could get out and then slid across the snow and ice into the water. 

I paddled upstream, attained into another flow via a short class I rapid and found himself in a porcupynecopia of wildlife. Gaggles of geese trumpeted my arrival, running across the ice, flapping their massive wings and taking flight, mergansers buzzed the surface while mallards flushed from the frozen brush and grass. Four heron's flew upstream and would be flushed again and again.

Whitetail deer bounded from the marshland while others stood there ground as I coasted past. On the return trip from the frozen big lake I watched some otters playing in the water and running across the ice floes. One otter took off for the river left shore and disappeared. The second otter dove under my boat and climbed up on shore. I was able to get some video of him on shore.  Further downstream another otter was sliding on the ice and diving through a hole, a few seconds later he would pop back up and get a running start, slide and dive back in the water.
When I reached the launch site I used the rope I had rigged to pull myself up out of the water and off the ice shelf into the snow.

 

 

Upscale Beaver Lodge with Indoor Plumbing