Water calms me. The lure of it and a beautiful Fall day with not-quite-peaked foliage was a good enough reason to go kayaking. Saturday's journey was to West Chester, PA and the Brandywine Creek. This area is known for Andrew Wyeth and the American Revolution's Battle of the Brandywine. It is also a place to come to get away from city life.
While often shallow, the Brandywine Creek has a few mild "ripples" (calling them Class I is a far stretch, hence "ripples") that make the journey even more fun than paddling on a canal or lake. The
Northbrook Canoe Company (NCC) offers kayak and canoe rentals and varying length trips on the Brandywine. At about $40 for a kayak for a 2.5 hour trip, the prices are a little steep compared to my kayak outing in Princeton (previous blog entry) a few weeks ago.
I've kayaked probably 3 times with NCC and every time the PFDs (personal flotation devices) have had the very unpleasant smell of mildew. While that hasn't changed, this experience was different because the hoardes of people were missing. It was a wonder, quiet paddle late in paddling season.
Of course, paddling in the Fall has probably only one con and that is tipping into very cold water. Even though the Brandywine is shallow, it is still possible to get drenched with a good roll. That happened to one of us. We had a dry bag and were prepared with extra clothes in it, but we still attempted to dry out the wet ones while we ate our lunch on the bank.
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| Drying Out |
Even with the risk of getting wet, the outdoors holds a magic that calms the frazzled nerves and stresses of a very unhappy time at work. Combine the outdoors with water and beautiful scenery and it is possible to release much of the tension and gather the strength to do battle yet again back in the concrete jungle.
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| The Dam |
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| Meandering by Changing Leaves |
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| Old Stone Bridge |
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