July 24th East River Kayak Trip

Trip Overview

Lots of animals around the banks. Nice place with a great landing for a 2-hour paddle. Great time for a first trip ever on a kayak. I saw geese, ducks, a sandpiper thing, herons, egrets, red-tailed hawks, fish, and kingfishers. The Lifetime Payette kayak may not be the best, but it's great for my slow, slow trips looking at nature! If anyone is in Green Bay and has not paddled the East River, you need to do it! This was my first time out on the water with a kayak my parents gave me for graduation. I was amazed at how much wildlife there was so close to my house! The Manderly Way launch was pretty great too! It has a kayak launch that is wheelchair-accessible as well as a place for people to back up to the water. I may not be the most experienced kayaker,(seriously though, I started today) but I still managed to have fun on this extremely hot summer day. Some of the animals I saw today were: ducks, geese, great blue herons, a smaller heron, white egrets, kingfishers, muskrats, swirling fish, and a red-tailed hawk that screamed when I was by the tree next to it. I also saw some sand piper-looking bird digging around in the bank. The river has completely changed since the last time I was by it(running on the trail). The water level has gone way down and has left a bunch of mud exposed. I know the birds like it! Hopefully the next time I go out paddling it'll be as fun as this was. Because I'm a beginner, I only paddled to the Allouez bridge. I did this three times to get a true workout though. Be warned, a sweaty lifejacket does not feel good... but it may save your life someday. The first trip of many