On the beautiful, warm, sunny early fall afternoon of Saturday, September 30, Jan and I drove to Rice Creek near Wilmington NC. We put in the water at the NC Wildlife Commission boat ramp for Rice Creek. The creek borders and wends through a swamp. We encountered only one tree that had turned to bright red fall colors. The blackwater was flat and calm, with just a little bit of wind ripples. This trip was the first time Jan and I had paddled together other than on a lake in New Bern, NC.
I paddled my canoe in solo configuration, with four airbags strapped in, while Jan paddled her solo recreational kayak. We were both comfortable with our boats and competent on the water. Along the way, we encountered several lily pad ponds with a few bright, yellow flowers. We did not see another person on the water. There were a few other small groups at the wildlife ramp, but none had paddle boats. They were all motorboats going downstream for fishing. We went upstream where the Creek is narrower and goes through the swamp. I used my Garmin Montana 750i GPS for practice and it worked fine. I was able to follow the route back to the takeout.
The trip was good practice for our paddling, and we had a fun time.
