A new place to paddle

I helped lead an event at Camp Overlook in Mountain View on a recent weekend. While there, I took advantage of the trip to check out Mountain View Lake - a place I had never paddled previously. It was a crisp and breezy fall day - one of our first of the year - and hints of color poked through the surrounding trees as Wren and I pushed off from the boat launch and cruised smoothly along the channel which leads from the launch, past a string of camps, and out to the main body of the lake.

Such camps line much of the lake - mostly along the shoreline which composes the small Hamlet of Mountain View itself. The camps offered a variety of shapes and colors to the background as I ferried us across open patches of water being sure to keep us pointed into the light, but steady wind. I also had to be mindful of very shallow, sandy portions of the water which caught me by surprise on more than one occasion (although we never got stuck) - such is the risk of paddling close to small islands and the shoreline.

Spotting birds along the shoreline

But sticking close to shore is a good way to explore and look for birds, and I found small groups of Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Brown Creepers, and Song and White-throated Sparrows in this way. Northern Flickers called as they flew overhead, and I also heard a Pileated Woodpecker cackle in the distance. It was a nice day to be out in search of fall birds.

We had seen a few ducks as well as a Bald Eagle along the channel during my program earlier that morning and so I kept an eye open for them as I negotiated the wind and shallow places. On the way out into the lake we spooked a few Wood Ducks, a few Mallards, and soon thereafter spotted the adult Bald Eagle overhead. It landed in a tree, but too far for any chance of photos, so we moved on - we would see it another time or two as we went - it seems to stick closely to the area.

Shortly after spotting the eagle, I noticed a lot of splashing on the far side of the lake ahead of us and, scanning with my binoculars, I found a fair-sized flock of Canada Geese swimming, feeding, and bathing in the water. We paddled toward them, but not noticing any other species mixed in with the geese, we veered off towards a stretch of wooded shoreline before turning to fight the wind on our return to the near side of the lake. I didn't want to go too far with the growing wind at my back for fear of a long and difficult trip back into it on the way to the boat launch.

Paddling into the wind and spotting more birds

But despite the wind we made steady progress back, spotting a few more Wood Ducks overhead as well as a few Hooded Mergansers which dipped and dived on fast wingbeats. And while the wind was cool, it was balanced by the warmth of the sun, particularly as I was forced to work harder to make progress across the water. We came back to the near-side of the lake and hugged the shoreline out of the wind's reach and began to work our way back down the channel from where we had started. A few more Black-capped Chickadees and Yellow-rumped Warblers danced around the trees and shrubs lining the waterway.

Suddenly a Merlin dashed overhead - perhaps attracted by the activity - and everything became silent. But the Merlin appeared to simply zip through and didn't stay around. At least we didn't see it again and we moved on. We reached the take-out and Wren took part in her customary post-paddle swim while I put away our gear. It was time for lunch and we were ready to eat.

There are still plenty of crisp fall days left to paddle and explore the region before winter. Check out our outdoor recreation, dining, and lodging pages to learn more!