Lake Kincaid, Jackson County, Illinois May 29th 2011: Beautiful lake in the heart of the "Illinois Ozarks"

The weather in this part of the country has been so unusual.  We were just up at Coffeen Lake a couple of days ago and had a light windbreaker due to the temperatures and lack of sun.  On this trip, it got in the 90's and was very windy.


I put in at the boat launch at the National Forest Service area off Hwy 151.  If you keep going (coming in from the south) there is another boat launch that is all run down and delapidated.  I think next time I go, I am going to launch from there and see how far I can run up Kincaid Creek.  The launch traffic was fairly high due to the holiday weekend.  The one thing I do not like to do is rush getting into my kayak or getting out of my kayak..so that part was a little challenging.


Paddled from the boat launch into the creek and went about 3/4 of a mile up in the creek.  It was fun to paddle this and fish it as well.  After about an hour or so of that, I got back on the main lake.  The wind was gusty, but only provided for a couple of challenges.  Water color was brown, and I am thinking the lake is still a little high based on how the local rivers look right now.  I look forward to coming back to this lake to paddle some more in the future.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Windy kayaking adventure at Lake Kincaid, Illinois

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Coffeen Lake, Illinois Montgomery County, Ilinois: Great gem of a lake in the heart of Illinois

Kayaking Coffeen Lake, Illinois

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This was a nice paddle for the day!  I only did about 2 miles or so....started to fish and lost track of the actual kayaking.  Nice gem of a lake right in the heart of south-central Illinois.  It is interesting, Illinois is one of those states that is overlooked sometimes in regards for great places to paddle and fish, but it has some nice opportunities.  I live in the St. Louis area, so a lot of these lakes are in actuality closer than the same kind of lakes on the Missouri end.
I look forward to coming back to this lake.  This is a long, narrow power plant lake, so a person could do quite a few miles on it if they wanted to.  I may have to come back for an overnight trip sometime.  We put in on the north access, but there is another access point in the middle that has either a picnic area or a campground right on the water.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis County, Missouri May 10th, 2011: Quick paddle/fishing trip in between rain storms and flood waters

The rain and water levels have been so incredibly bad in the Missouri/Arkansas/Ozarks area over the last couple of weeks.  Table Rock Lake hit a record high, and there has been rain more days than sun.  So, the paddling in this part of the country has been a bit "challenging".  One of the funniest post I saw on facebook was a kayak shop that sent a quick reminder out: "kayakers please note- Flood water is NOT whitewater".  I found that to be quite humorous.
I did get a chance, however, for a quick paddle and some fishing at Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis County, Missouri in between out of town trips.  My original intention was to fish and paddle Lake Sherwood in Warren County, however, I got about 1/2 to the destination, and realized that I did not pack the paddle....hmm....  I am glad I just laughed at it, turned around,  got the paddle, and then went to Creve Coeur.  Life is too short to be angry!  Just had to laugh......

Paddle ON!

MLT