February Paddle on Eagle Creek

Location: Eagle Creek - Ford Road to Lafayette Road
Distance: +/-3
Date: 2-25-08
Gauge: 2.2
Paddle Time: 1 hour
Paddlers: James Nichols (Breeze), Doug Mark (Zirconia)
Weather: 36 degrees, cloudy, calm

Another really nice winter paddle. It was really cloudy and gray, but the temperature was around 35 so it wasn't too cold. We hit the water about 5:00 at the Ford Road bridge. The weather was supposed to get nasty on Tuesday so we needed to get this month's trip in before that or the end of the month.
The water was amazingly clear. We could see the bottom unless the water got over about four feet deep. That was surprising since it never seems to be that clear in the summer.

The last time we did this section most of it was in the dark so it was nice to see what we had missed. One spot where we had to carry around a tree last time was different; the giant tree that had been blocking the creek was gone.

There were some really cool ice formations on tree branches that had been in the water, but the water had gone down & left ice between the small tips of the branches. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us so we weren't able to get pictures.

We took out just before the reservior. Parking is easy on Lafayette Road and it saves a long flat water paddle to the marina in the park.