The last big styrofoam collection trip on the East Shore on February 3, 2004 completed removal of styrofoam from the main lake. On the shorelines of the west, south and north sides of the lake and of Big and Small Islands and the Capell, Pope and Putah arms, the styrofoam has been removed completely. On the East Shore, the foam has been collected into large piles above the high water mark. The piles are being removed by the Bureau and by Monticello Resort. With this effort and continued maintenance,the East Shore will eventually be free of foam.

Future styrofoam collection should be a simple matter of maintaining the shorelines by collection of new stuff that is liberated from hiding by high waters and winds and then shows up bobbing against the shore. Styrofoam floats and piers will continue to escape the resorts, hopefully at a low rate. Undoubtedly, a few pockets of older stuff that were missed during the main cleanup will also be discovered and collected.

February 11, 2004

On a warm, calm and sunny afternoon, I drove to Oak Shores to do a maintenance paddle around Big Island. After the high NE winds of the past several days, I expected to find a substantial accumulation of wind drifted styrofoam along the windward north side of the island. Launching at 12:30 from the Coyote cartop boat ramp, I started counter clockwise around the island, picking up a surprising amount of stuff on the south side of the island. By the time I'd finished the south cove, I had a big deck load and a large heavy piece in tow. After pulling yet another loose hazard buoy onto a small beach on the south side of the island, I headed up the north side, surprised again at how little accumulation was on that shoreline. Apparently, cleaning off the north and east shores of the lake has successfully reduced the source of wind blown foam, good news. I collected several more large pieces in the north facing cove from a beach that is a major focal point for floating debris. The Bald Eagles were not at the nest as I paddled by and collected one more large chunk from another focal point. With an oversized deck load and three piles in tow, I landed around 4PM, left the three largest pieces in a pile for ranger pickup and trucked the rest to partially fill a nearby dumpster. There were several beaches on the north side of the island that were covered with smaller pieces due to drifted large pieces being torn apart by the large waves of the past few days. Those beaches will be collected into bags (which I'd forgotten to bring) on another trip. It's been about three months since my last pass around the island so it looks like four large kayak loads per year will be needed to keep Big Island clear of foam. This collection rate should decrease as the residual foam in the lake is removed.

February 12, 2004

Awoke feeling a bit drained so I decided to take it easy. After lunch and a nap, I left around 2PM and paddled slowly up the Putah Creek Arm to collect some large pieces of foam that we had seen on February 8 during a BASK paddle up that way. A light S breeze under whispy skys announced the next incoming weather system. Loading up my deck and the tow line as I proceeded, I stopped at the north side of the abandoned BSA Camp and walked the full load up to the access road for pickup by the rangers. I also noted a small cove that will need to be cleaned out. Landed at 5PM after a slow relaxed outing feeling a bit better.

February 18, 2004

Large Load from East Shore

After the strong south winds of the last few days, I paddled over to the East Shore to see how the styrofoam piles were holding up and how much new stuff had arrived. Also, the heavy rain has raised the lake well above the overflow and I wanted to see if the water was floating any of the piles. First, however, I noted that the pier assembly that I've been trying to get the Bureau to do something about had finally floated free and out of its cove. So I grabbed some rope and launched early, just after 8AM and paddled over to tie the assembly to shore. Crossing the lake on a mirror surface, I started at pile S33 and paddled north, collecting storm drifted foam as I went. One large pile needed to be moved to higher ground, a bit of an effort. Several other piles needed to be recollected after being somewhat dispersed by the wind. The amount of styrofoam floating was significant and it was slow going as I collected larger pieces and added them to existing piles. The Field of Foam is beginning to float but I bypassed it as I was feeling somewhat fed up with styrofoam and the Bureau's slow collection rate. Just north of the Field, I hit the jackpot, five large floats in a group (see photo above). The grouping indicated that the stuff had been dumped, either from the land side or from a boat. This was the first time I realized that some of the styrofoam in the lake may have been released purposely just to get rid of it. After towing this to pile S21 and eating lunch, I decided to give it up for the day and paddled back across in a biting N wind, landing around 2PM. Maintenance is going to be a bigger effort than I had anticipated.

February 19, 2004

Looking for a shorter outing after yesterday, I set off up Putah Creek at 11:30AM. About 2 miles up from the lake, just past the line of 5mph buoys which mark the end of the BoR land, is a point of land suitable for camping. On the map it looks like this is a small slice of BLM land that touches the lake. So I thought I'd take a look before setting up a group trip. Good thing I did because after the recent heavy rains and resulting rise in lake level, most of the site is now under water. No trip for now. I sat eating lunch in the perfect quiet while watching the front edge of the next weather system move in. On the return paddle, I picked up some floating styrofoam but skipped any that was well anchored to shore. This was to be a relaxed paddle. Also most stuff was trapped in large log jams that I've learned are tiring to force through in a kayak. Leaving the collected stuff on the BSA Camp road next to the much larger pile from last week (which I was surprised to find still there), I landed around 3PM properly exercised and relaxed.

February 20, 2004

Continuing the trend towards shorter outings, I launched around 2PM for an easy paddle part way up the North Shore. The goal was to check two large fields where the North Shore Trail is undefined to see if my proposed route is still above water. Turns out it is but just barely. So we'll probably move the route a bit further away from and above the high water line before we tag it and chop a path through the thistle. After stopping to pull yet another loose buoy up on to dry land, I collected a small deck load and took several large pieces of foam under tow on the return paddle. One piece was a new record, the size and shape of a small refrigerator. It was the first time I've encountered a piece so large and heavy that I couldn't lift it. The waves had pushed it so firmly into the mud and rock cliff that a small landslide had been triggered, partially burying the chunk and causing it to begin breaking up. I was able to dig the piece out using my paddle as a shovel and refloat it. Fortunately it was less than a mile back to the boat ramp at the resort because it was a slow tow. I dragged this monster up the ramp and notified the rangers who I hope won't have too much difficulty lifting it into a truck. Landing at 5PM, I wondered where all this fresh stuff is coming from and how to take steps to cut off the sources.

February 22, 2004

Weather overcast with occasional light shower. To beat cabin fever, I launched at 11:30AM for an easy paddle just poking around. First I went up Putah Creek looking in all the small coves for the abandoned assembly of piers that has vanished from in front of my motorhome. I had mentioned this assembly to both the resort and the Bureau since the high lake level refloated it and I had to tie it to shore to keep it from drifting away. The assembly was nowhere to be seen. After towing a large piece of foam a short distance and throwing it on shore at the BSA Camp, I paddled into the main lake and around the resort to examine the marina. The piers look old with lots of worn foam floats. Still no old pier assembly. Perhaps the Bureau came and towed it away, I'll look for it down there next time I visit. Continuing south, I collected one large piece near Berryessa Pines where the shoreline remains mostly free of foam. I also marked a couple of large outbreaks of arundo with the GPS to add to a map of arundo for the Berryessa Projects web page. On the return paddle, I added two more large pieces of foam to my deck from Schoolhouse Island which also has much less foam than last year. Pulling most of the foam out of the lake is beginning to show results as there is less to be blown around onto various shores by storm winds. Landed at 3PM as a little bit of blue sky and sun began to penetrate the gloom.

February 23, 2004

A couple of days ago I was scouting the shoreline north of Schoolhouse Cove with the idea of extending the tag line for the North Shore Trail from Gibson Flat to Racoon Lagoon. Along the high water line of the cove below the Blue Monday pullout I discovered a substantial amount of styrofoam hidden in the thistle. This was not visible from the water and had thus been missed when I cleared the North Shore in November. So today, being Monday with some blue sky, I drove up to the Blue Monday pullout and spent 1 1/2 hours walking up and down the trail between the pullout and the cove carrying all the stuff up to the road. This effort resulted in a surprisingly large pile for the Bureau rangers or maintenance to pick up. Plus I got a nice hike on a cool day.

February 24, 2004

Launched from Smittles around 11:30AM to get in a paddle around the islands ahead of an incoming major winter storm. Blue sky, south wind, cool. Only one piece of styrofoam on the north side of Small Island because, with the lake high, that side is vertical cliff to which floating debris doesn't stick. Discovered and marked another large clump of arundo. The Bald Eagles were absent from the nest. The large pier with steel floats that has been blighting the area under the nest has refloated in the high lake levels. Continuing around the north side of Big Island, I was feeling good about the lack of foam. Then I arrived at the south cove. Shoreline full of foam, blown in by the last storm. I collected a full deck load and gathered the large pieces into several piles atop the cliffs for later collection. Just didn't feel like a long tow today. Also pulled out two more buoys. Took a large piece under tow across from Coyote, added yet another large piece on top and made a quick stop at Coyote to dump everything into the dumpster. Then back with a nice tail wind to Smittles, landing around 5PM.

February 26, 2004

Yesterday the biggest storm of the season came in off the Pacific with lots of rain and a strong south wind. I waited this morning for the rain to taper off and then drove up to entrance E1, the new foot entrance and rolled the boat down the old road to launch around 12:30. This is a better launch site for the north end of the lake than the treacherous cliff at Eticuera. Good news yesterday. Peter White of Monticello Resort responded to my call for volunteers with boats to collect the piles on the East Shore and carry them to the west shore for disposal. He's going to send out the resort work boat and a crew and will begin from the north end of the lake and work south. So I paddled along this shore to pick up stuff brought in by the storm before the wind shifts behind the incoming front and blows everything back down the lake. Just east of Eticuera I found the large pier with steel floats from Big Island. It had apparently been blown north by the storm. The floats had been dislocated under the wooden platform by storm waves last May. This storm finished the job as two of the floats were floating next to the platform. I pulled the small float up onto the grass and was able to get one end of the larger float resting on shore enough that it should stay put. The main pier I secured somewhat tenuously to a stick pressed into the mud using a rope. At least paddlers around Big Island won't need to look at this anymore.

Paddling against a still stiff S wind, I continued for about a mile down the shore, collecting pieces and adding them to existing piles. Only one pile seems to have been floated away by the rising lake levels but several others are close to the water. A few piles had been scattered by the wind and needed to be recollected. I created two new piles, one from an area I hadn't yet cleared. The White Pelicans are still clustered on this part of the shoreline, south of entrance E5, so that quarter mile or so will remain uncleared until next winter. A few showers passed over but mainly the sky was dramatic clouds and some sun. On my way back with a nice tailwind, a magnificent rainbow appeared to cap the day. I collected some stuff as I went and landed around 5PM. I loaded the collected pile onto the boat and rolled it back to the entrance where I left it for ranger pickup. Another good workout and productive outing on my last East Shore trip before I move to the Russian River next week.

February 27, 2004

Feeling like an easy paddle, I set off up the North Shore at 12:30 to enjoy the occasional sunshine and tie up loose ends on shoreline cleanup. Stopped first to mark another arundo bush with the GPS. Then paddled gently onward, picking a small piece of foam off the shore here and there. On one small island, I got out to collect a medium piece. As has often happened, when I stood up and gained a better view, I found myself in a small field of foam, large pieces lying flat in the grass and thistle that can't be seen from the low vantage of a kayak seat. Gathering all this into a large deck load, I arrived at the cove below Blue Monday pullout which I had cleared last Monday. Taking on a small tow load at the cove entrance, I marched the entire collection up to the road in two armloads. Only a buoy remained to complete the cleanup of this cove so I towed the buoy around the corner to Schoolhouse Cove and dragged it to the pullout. I just ambled slowly along on the return paddle while admiring the huge billowing cumulous overhead. Our atmosphere may be just a thin skin when compared with the entire globe but it sure looks huge on days like this. Landed at 4PM after a relaxing trip; probably the last North Shore paddle before the move. This shore is looking very good now both from the water and from the trail.

March 3, 2004

Collection from East Shore by Monticello Resort

For the final lake paddle before moving to the Russian River for the summer, I crossed over to the East Shore to look things over. The forecast was for sun but the sky was increasingly overcast and I noted a south breeze. I stopped briefly to admire a Bald Eagle high on a large shoreline tree. The piles north of the Field of Foam seemed only slightly scattered by yesterday's high winds. Some of the piles were gone. Tom Gamble's sheep should appreciate the enhanced view from their pens. Very good to see this; hopefully the rest of the shoreline piles will vanish before too long. A light rain started just as I finished lunch so I paddled on back in the quiet sizzle of drops on the water.

I learned later in a nice note from Peter White that his work boat and crew from Monticello Resort had picked up the missing piles (see above photo). This was the beginning of a major volunteer cleanup by Monticello of all of the accumulated piles from the East Shore, an effort to be commended. See the Monticello entry in the Styrofoam Chronicles for the full story with photos.

March 22, 2004

Large Pier Assembly on the East Shore

On a visit to the lake, I paddled from Putah Creek Resort to the East Shore and checked out the collection being done by Monticello Resort. Using the GPS, I double checked removal of all the piles north of the Gunn Easement. Five piles were still there and I marked them to add to maps for the Monticello crews. I also created a new pile from a large deck load of pieces I found floating against the shore. The shoreline is now looking like the wildlife area that it's supposed to be. Very pleasant to paddle along and see the large flocks of wintering flocks of birds in this more natural setting.

To my unpleasant surprise, I also found the large assembly of docks that had been across from my motorhome at Putah Creek Resort during the winter (see above photo). The assembly had disappeared in February while I was away for a few days so I had assumed that either the Bureau or the resort had disposed of it. But it had somehow become untied from the shoreline and drifted across the lake to below Entrance E11. I alerted the Bureau to this new source of loose styrofoam and hope someone can finally remove the assembly for good.

October 13, 2004

Paddled from Oak Shores across to the north end of the Gunn Easement and then south along the shoreline. All of the styrofoam piles in the easement have been collected, a nice surprise. Probably the Monticello crew picked them up although several may have been collected from the road by the Bureau rangers while on patrol. The Rumsey fire had just reached the north end of the lake and Berryessa Peak so the smoke was thick. Aircraft could be seen fighting the fire along the north shoreline. Noted on the return paddle that the piles on the banks of the south cove of Big Island which I collected in February are still there.

December 1, 2004

After settling into Putah Creek Resort, I paddled along the North Shore and then to the East Shore to check on progress. The North Shore remains delightfully free of new foam although the two piles in La Pointe Cove haven't been collected. The three remaining piles at the north end of the East Shore are gone. My guess is that the Monticello crew did a final collection after my last check in March. A cold north wind came up so I did a return paddle in substantial following wind waves. Nice to be back on fresh water after our long trip in Baja.

December 2, 2004

I noticed two workers collecting 5mph buoys for the resort. So I mentioned to them that I'd seen an identical buoy yesterday on the shore of La Pointe cove. Turned out this was the last buoy they had to collect and that it was missing. They immediately headed out in the work boat and were soon back with the errant buoy. Another buoy removed from the shoreline, this time without the need for disposal. Would be great if the resorts and the Bureau would label their piers and buoys so that I'd know who to call to retrieve the many buoys and few piers I've found around the lake.

December 3, 2004

Paddled across to the East Shore, starting on a mirror surface and ending in a north wind. Checked out two more piles which are now gone, the good news keeps on coming. Below E11 I found, no surprise, that the large set of docks that was across from the motorhome last winter is still where it drifted in a storm last February. Will need to pursue this and several other large wooden piers, all containing large foam floats. The wind died as I sat in warm sunshine eating lunch so I paddled north to observe the Field of Foam near E6. More good news, the large amount of foam in this field and against a bounding fenceline had also been collected, most likely by the Bureau since the field is accessible by truck. This means the East Shore is now cleared of all the foam I'd collected into piles plus the loose foam in the field, a major milestone. The shoreline looks great from the water, a big improvement. Only the half mile or so of shoreline south of E5 remains to be cleared. After a calm return crossing, I checked a large pier near the old BSA camp in a cove off the Putah Creek arm. The high water last spring had refloated the pier and moved it a short distance. But now it's high and dry so the large foam floats should be collectable once I obtain some help lifting off the heavy wooden frame and decks.

December 8, 2004

Weather overcast with showers, the end of several days of rain. To avoid the stormy seas on the main lake, I paddled up the Putah arm of the lake, collecting a full stern deck load on the way. Left the collection on the BSA camp road for Bureau pickup. Located the small pier that was across from the resort last winter, now further up the arm across from the BSA camp. Noted more foam to pick up on a future outing.

December 9, 2004

Partly sunny and warm today. Paddled back up the Putah arm on a mirror surface, enjoying the perfect quiet as I tromped the shoreline collecting the remaining foam blocks that I'd noted yesterday. Added a huge deck load to the pile on the BSA camp road.

December 10, 2004

Launching from Oak Shores, I set out to paddle clockwise around Big Island, collecting new foam along the way and then bringing in a tow load of piles left last March in the south cove. More good news, the large piece of foam under a heavy concrete deck has been collected, probably by the Bureau. A Bald Eagle flew in and landed next to the large nest. I had a full deck load plus two large chunks in tow when I reached the north cove. So I headed back, leaving the load at the north end of Oak Shores. Heading back out going counter clockwise towards the south cove, I soon had a huge deck load from the shoreline across from Oak Shores. In dense ground fog, I groped my way back to the mainland and then to a landing where I half filled a dumpster at Foxtail with foam. Never reached the south cove. It will take a few more outings to pick up new foam from the rest of Big Island and to bring in the piles from the south cove.

December 12, 2004

First paddle up Pope Canyon. Completely free of styrofoam. One loose buoy on the gravel bar at Trout Creek. Plus about 8-10 "No Trespassing" signs nailed to trees starting on the main lake and continuing up Trout Creek. These were probably put up to keep people out of the interesting ruins of the resort at Samuel Springs. Contacted the Bureau about having these removed.

December 13, 2004

Took another paddle clockwise around Big Island, launching from Foxtail. Passed under a Bald Eagle as I found almost no new foam along the north shore of the island. As usual, however, lots of new stuff on the south shore and in the south cove. Collected a huge deck load plus a single large piece in tow. A pair of Bald Eagles fished from a small island in the south cove. Tidied up the four piles remaining in the south cove from last February. Hopefully I can get the Bureau to come out for these plus some other stuff in the cove.

December 16, 2004

Meeting with Bureau folks to review and discuss the shoreline cleanup. The Bureau will look at collecting the piers but is severely resource limited. So I'll continue to do what I can to complete the removal of shoreline styrofoam.

December 17, 2004

Spent the afternoon removing the two remaining piles on the North Shore from La Pointe Cove. The large pieces were paddled to Barton Cove and walked up to the pullout. Smaller pieces were paddled on deck to the BSA Camp access road and added to the existing pile there. The really small stuff ended up in the dumpsters here at the resort. I also dragged the two hazard buoys in La Pointe Cove next to the old buoy so that everything remaining on the North Shore is in one place. Hopefully the hazard buoys can be reinstalled before the lake comes up and hides the long rocky point just below the surface, ready to catch fast bass boats unawares.

December 18, 2004

Another day on the lake towing foam in warm sunny weather. Launching from Foxtail at Oak Shores, I paddled to the south cove of Big Island on a mirror surface. In two round trips, each with a large deck and tow load, I was able to finish removing the four large piles I had left above the high water mark last February. Several large bags of what I had thought were household garbage left on the shoreline turned out to be bottles, cans and foam someone had picked up along the shore. Nice to know I'm not the only one interested in the cleanup. These bags I also paddled back to the dumpster at Foxtail. With these collections and yesterdays pickups on the North Shore, ALL of the styrofoam piles on the entire lake have now been collected. It was great to look back into the south cove as I left with the second load to see the green hills and blue water unblemished by multicolored spots of foam blocks. Natural and peaceful.

December 28, 2004

After returning from a family Xmas at my brother's place in Reno, I took an afternoon paddle to the East Shore to check out the short uncleared section of shoreline just south of entrance E5. Clouding up as I launched with a few sprinkles. The uncleared section is well back from the waterline due to the usual low water at this time of year. I dragged another loose buoy well above the high water mark for later collection and then noted a second buoy a bit further south. Both 5mph buoys have normal can tops but the lower floats are chunks of raw styrofoam attached to the top by a metal rod passing through a hole drilled in the foam. The anchor line is a light weight chain. These substandard buoys are used by Monticello Resort and perhaps others and are in contrast to the better buoys, all encased, used by the Bureau and by Putah Creek Resort. I've been finding these lighter buoys, sometimes in one piece and often just the top or bottom, all over the lake during the cleanup. Clearly, better buoys are needed with improved anchor lines to prevent this constant escape. My return paddle, with a large chunk of relatively new foam on the rear deck, was accompanied by a steady rain.

December 29, 2004

Set out in broken sun for a relaxed paddle poking south along the shoreline towards Monticello Resort. Here I found that the line of substandard 5mph buoys that line the shoreline of the resort had not been taken in for the winter. Hence the appearance yesterday of two of these buoys on the East Shore. Another buoy was visible far out in the lake drifting slowly northward. On Schoolhouse Island I picked up the top part of yet another of these buoys plus a loose hazard buoy which I towed slowly to the north end of the Pope Creek bridge. I left both buoys there on the access road for collection by the Bureau. Something needs to be done to slow down the rate of release of buoys into the lake.

January 2, 2005

Steady rain today. As a cure for cabin fever, I bundled up in layers plus the usual waterproof exterior and paddled across the lake to continue dealing with the buoys I first discoverd on December 28. One buoy, a nice new 5mph one with a blue foam float, I walked up to the East Shore Road across from the large silver barn where I heaved it over the fence for the rangers to collect. A bit further north, I came upon yet another buoy which I left with the second buoy from December 28 that I'd previously dragged to higher ground (see photo at right). Continuing north past the Gamble Ranch, another buoy came into view and was left on the old road from the north foot access gate for future transport to the main road. All this time I steadily collected a growing deck load of foam carried in by the storms. I attempted to carry the foam up the path at Eticuera but discovered that this path becomes an unusable mud slide in the rain. So I headed south along the North Shore, continuing to add storm foam to the deck load. At the entrance to Schoolhouse Cove, I came upon yet another loose buoy, bringing the total for the day to five buoys, all from the resorts. My arms gave out trying to tow this buoy to a collection spot so I left it for another day. After walking the styrofoam up to the Schoolhouse pullout in three armloads, I paddled on to Barton Cove where I located the large foam base for the buoy top I had found on Schoolhouse Island on December 29. This I carried on back to the motorhome for later disposal. It was great to get back inside and dry off after six hours on the water. Well exercised.

January 3, 2005

Buoy Transport

Awoke early and headed back to the East Shore at first light. Overcast with a light NW wind, no rain initially. After my problem yesterday towing a buoy, which was more like towing an anchor, today I tried an experiment. Behind my sea kayak I towed, on a short line, my Kopapa river kayak. With the Kopapa empty, my cruising speed was reduced from 3.5mph to about 3.1mph. Reaching the pile of two buoys I had gathered yesterday near the large silver barn, I placed the heavy buoy in the Kopapa and lashed the lighter buoy on the deck of the sea kayak, along with a large piece of styrofoam. As the rain returned, I then paddled this load back across the lake to Schoolhouse Cove. The tow was much easier with the buoy in the Kopapa rather than simply towing the buoy directly. Wish I'd discovered this sooner. The sea kayak was fairly tippy with the other buoy on deck, requiring attention to balance. As I was dragging the last and heavy buoy up the trail to the Schoolhouse pullout, one of the maintenance guys pulled up, waved, loaded the big pile of foam from yesterday and the first buoy from this morning, waved again and drove off. So I left the rest of the stuff for another collection. I had hoped to try the Kopapa with the heavier buoy that had given me problems yesterday but the wind had carried it away. It will turn up eventually, probably on Big Island. Ended the outing as the rain let up by towing a final piece of foam, too big and heavy for either boat, back to the Putah Creek pullout. After five hours on the water, it was again good to get back into the dry warmth of the motorhome.

January 4, 2005

After the morning fog cleared, the sun made a rare appearance. To give my arms some rest, I launched from Foxtail for a slow relaxing paddle around Big Island. Conditions were idyllic, warm full sunshine, blue skies and a mirror surface. Gliding smoothly, I enjoyed the almost complete lack of foam along the waterline as I passed under the Bald Eagle nest and along the north shore of the island. Fishermen also took in the beauty from a few bass boats trolling along underwater fish habitats. At the east tip of the island, I came upon a large block of styrofoam making its way north in the breeze. Taking this in tow, I noted the reappearance of heavy dark clouds arriving from the west over the Cedar Roughs. Only a pair of small chunks of foam decorated the south side of the island, an encouragingly low amount. Clouds thickened and a cold south wind stiffened as I landed and hastened to load up before sprinkles began. The two hour paddle was a much needed sunny break in this long rainy spell.

January 6, 2005

A cold overcast morning, again. The prediction is rain for the next several days as a series of winter storms move off the ocean. I paddled up the North Shore to get in some outdoor exercise time before the rain descends. Very pleasant on the lake, calm and smooth. At the NE corner of the lake, I strapped a loose buoy collected earlier to the kayak cart and rolled it up the old road bed to the foot entrance E1 where I left it by the road. I had planned to clear the road of driftwood to allow the road to be used as a kayak launch point. But the Rumsey fire had burned through in October, completely removing all thistle and driftwood and leaving a nice smooth surface for rolling a kayak. I'll add this to the Trail and Paddle Guide as a better launch point for this part of the lake than Eticuera. The sun burned off the overcast as I started back for a nice sunny and warm return paddle. The blue sky gave my mood a much needed boost.

January 18, 2005

Heavy Buoy

Styrofoam collection has settled into mostly a maintenance mode, finally. On every paddle, collection of a few pieces has become incidental to exercise and bird watching. Today was a bit more involved as I launched from Oak Shores for a paddle around Big and Small Islands. The day was sunny and calm. The recent series of storms left some new large foam blocks in the usual spots on the south side of Big Island. This I left to collect at the end of the day. Through the binocs, I could see some large pieces on the East Shore along with a large stray 5mph buoy which is missing from between the two islands. Also a loose pier with railings. In a west cove of Small Island, I came upon a heavy spherical buoy tied to a large plastic buoy top (see photo above) which I was able to drag out of the water for later collection by the Bureau. The strangest things show up on the lake. I took two large chunks of foam under tow and started south along the mainland just as a cold south wind arose. The drag of the tow load and the headwind combined to make the return paddle a slow exhausting grind. At the Coyote swimming area, I was able to dump the tow load over the barrier line which greatly helped the remaining paddle against the increasing headwind and resulting wind waves. Getting off the water took priority over collecting the foam from the south side of Big Island which will have to wait for another day. After leaving the deck load in the dumpster at Foxtail, I drove back to the Coyote swim area to collect the load I'd left there and put it in the dumpster at Coyote. Good exercise for the day.

January 20, 2005

To investigate the items I saw on the East Shore through the binocs a couple of days ago, I drove down the East Side Road to launch from the south foot gate at entrance E14. On the way, I stopped and walked out to the water to collect a hazard buoy I had found hidden in the bushes last week. Strapping this to the kayak cart, I rolled it up to the road and left it for the rangers to pick up on one of their patrols. At entrance E14, I found that someone had cut the lower wires of the fence next to the the foot gate which made it convenient for sliding the kayak through the fence. An easy walk down the broad smooth trail with the kayak in tow brought me to the gentle beach, perfect for kayak launching. As the fog began to clear, I paddled quietly south through the mist accompanied by the sounds of Grebes and Loons. I noted several large blocks of styrofoam to be collected on the return paddle and marked yet another loose buoy. The large 5mph buoy I had seen through the binocs was gone, carried away by the strong south winds of the past few days, and will no doubt show up at another location before too long. After three miles, I came upon the loose pier with railing that turned out to be a floating walkway (see photo at right). This walkway, in good condition, sat upon several large blocks of crumbly styrofoam which already showed signs of disintegrating from being beaten against the shore by windwaves and boat wakes. I continued south and stopped for lunch, basking in the warm sunshine. On the return paddle, I collected a deck and tow load of the foam blocks I'd noted on the way south, one of which had obviously come from beneath the floating walkway. After landing, I piled more foam on top of the kayak from a pile that hadn't been collected after being left last winter. On top of the foam already on the kayak from my paddle, this made for a delicate balancing act rolling everything up to the entrance where I left the foam for collection by the rangers. On my return drive, I noted yet another buoy on shore which looked like the one that had escaped a couple of weeks ago from Schoolhouse Cove. Feeling fairly well exercised, I left this for another day.

As an experiment, I sent an email to the resorts along with a photo of the floating walkway and a link to an online map showing the location of the walkway. Hopefully, if one of the resorts recognizes this walkway as having recently escaped from their resort, a boat will be sent to retrieve the walkway. This may work because the walkway has value, unlike most of the stuff that shows up on the shoreline.

January 24, 2005

There has been an unusual amount of dense ground fog here this winter. After waiting for the fog to clear around noon, I set out directly across the lake under full sunshine on a mirror surface. At the end of the three mile crossing, I located a buoy I had noted several days ago near entrance E9 and rolled and carried it up to dump over the gate at the entrance. While doing this, I noted several large chunks of foam that had recently blown in and were bobbing against the shoreline. So I paddled around and towed these to below E9 and then walked them up in several trips and dumped them over the gate to join the buoy. A pickup truck load ready for collection by the rangers. Since a fairly complete cleanup was done last winter of most of the foam on the lake, I can't help but think that most of these large pieces I continue to find this winter have been recently released into the lake. Hopefully we can track down and stop this release at the source. It's a little discouraging. The return paddle was also a smooth glide on a mirror surface, accompanied by the quiet calls of the large flock of Western Grebes wintering on the lake. Pleasant.

January 25, 2005

Kopapa Collection

Ahead of rain predicted for later today, I took the Kopapa for a short outing from Oak Shores to pick up a couple of large pieces of foam I'd spotted a few days ago in the south cove of Big Island. Sometimes wrestling with the sea kayak seems too much so I opted for the more convenient river boat. Another mirror surface, just beautiful. I had expected to pick up and tow only a couple of pieces but, at least when it comes to styrofoam, the lake always exceeds expectations. I ended up with a full load (for the Kopapa) as shown in the photo above. I'd really like to know where all this new stuff is coming from. This was the first time I'd used the Kopapa to collect stuff; seemed to work ok. On the way back, I passed a pair of Ross's Geese, white and small with a quiet call. An easy paddle.

January 30, 2005

Carol, myself and Paul and Cathy, managers of the McLaughlin Reserve, met near Eticuera to tackle removal of the large metal floats that have been on the shoreline since last winter. These floats were part of a large dock that first appeared on the shore of Big Island in the spring of 2003. At that time I tried without luck to interest both the Bureau and Monticello Resort, from which the dock most likely came, to retrieve the dock which was new and looked expensive. So the dock sat as a stranded eyesore in its cove. Almost a year later, in February of 2004, a strong winter storm carried the refloated dock north where it wrecked on the shore near Eticuera, with one float coming to shore about a mile south near gate E6. Before leaving the lake last winter, I pulled the now detached floats above the high water mark.

McLaughlin Reserve, managed by UC Davis, had asked me about obtaining floats for Davis Reservior and other smaller ponds on the Reserve. I didn't want to give them unencapsulated styrofoam floats because this would lead to the foam mess that had built up on the lake over the decades. The metal floats seemed perfect for the needs of the Reserve. We assessed the pier and floats and decided that all four floats, including the 15' one, would fit in and on the truck from the Reserve. Paul and I drove down the East Shore Road to gate E6 and carried the float there up to the road with some effort and several rests. Back at Eticuera, Carol and Cathy had started final diassembly of the pier with wrenches, removing the remaining float and some of the heavy duty brackets and other metal fittings. All of us then carried the two smaller floats up to the truck and then ganged up to roll the large float up. This was all successfully loaded with the long float straddling the truck cab and tailgate. Quite a sight. Great to have these floats off the lake. On a future trip, the metal fittings and many of the deck boards will be collected, leaving the bare frame to float free on the lake to join the many other large tree trunks and limbs rotting around the lake perimeter.

This completed, Carol and I hiked along the Pope Canyon Trail from the parking lot at the east end of the trail to begin resurrection of the east end of the trail. We cleared a half mile or so of the old trailbed in a couple of hours of lopping and pulling deadfall. Great and productive exercise on a beautiful warm and sunny day.

February 10, 2005

Paddled across the mirror smooth lake to look at one of the old rotting piers on the East Shore. Only three large floats were left under this set of finger piers. I was able to remove one by lifting the pier but the other two were under immovable heavy center sections of the docks. So I pulled the nails from one section of decking to see if the foam block could be lifted straight up out of the framing. As I lifted the deck section, I found myself facing at close range a very irritated and noisy rattlesnack that had been resting under the deck on top of the foam block. Startled, I dropped the deck and went for lunch after towing and then walking the first foam block up to the road for collection. Returning to the piers, I used my paddle to again flip the deck plate up and away to encourage the now exposed rattler to go away. This it did with more rattling and back slithering. Attractive beast. I finally found that the two remaining floats will come up through the frame but only after I cut away some supports. So I'll return later with a saw to try to extract the floats from their owner. The wind came up a bit for the return paddle giving me some nice wind waves.

February 23, 2005

On a warm and sunny day I returned to the old rotting pier to attempt to wrestle the reamaining two large floats away from the rattlesnake. Fortunately, the critter was not to be seen or heard. Trying a new strategy, I used the jack from my van to lift and brace the heavy wooden pier just enough to slide the floats out from underneath. Good workout. Then towed them a short distance along the shore and walked them up to entrance E14 for ranger collection. Nice to have all the foam removed from this set of piers. On the return paddle, a large seaplane (a restored Albatross) almost landed on top of me before I waved it off with my paddle. The plane then circled around me and did a couple of very noisy landings and takeoffs in front of me. Considering the size of the lake with lots of room for landing practice, I considered myself harrassed. Otherwise a nice smooth and quiet paddle.

March 9, 2005

Maintenance continues as I keep finding and collecting large blocks of styrofoam that appear to have been recently released into the lake. On one paddle around Big Island, I towed in a bed sized float topped by another blue float and then collected a large deck load from around the island.

Today I gave up waiting for the Bureau to collect the five hazard buoys on the North Shore. Taking my Kopapa in tow for carrying buoys, I picked up the two hazard buoys that had anchor weights attached with sturdy cables and dropped them on La Pointe. This should lessen the chance that a fast moving bass boat will rip out its hull on the rocks lurking just below the surface. I then towed the other three buoys to Barton Hill and rolled them up the trail to the pullout for collection. Now hikers along the recently reopened North Shore Trail won't have to look at this stuff. Good workout in beautiful weather.

March 16, 2005

Yesterday's strong winds added two new hazard buoys to the one already on shore just north of the motorhome. Again taking the Kopapa in tow, I hefted each of the two buoys without anchors into the Kopapa and towed them over to the entrance road to the BSA camp. The third buoy still has an anchor so I'll move it back to mark the shallow area in front of the BSA camp where a couple of hazard buoys are missing.

March 24, 2005

On a beautiful clear slightly cool day, I set off from Oak Shores with the Kopapa tagging behind to collect the remaining two buoys and a large blue plastic barrel from Big Island. While launching, Rich stopped by to chat and, good news, told me that he and Les motored over to the East Shore yesterday in high winds and towed in the large collection of piers from below gate E11. They took quite a beating in the wind waves. A backhoe was then used to break up the mess and load it into a large dumpster. Progress. On a mirror surface, I drifted in perfect quiet north and then around Small Island. After cleaning out a small deckload of old styrofoam trapped behind a clump of arundo and tearing down two remaining old signs, I ate lunch while watching a Bald Eagle sitting on the nest on Big Island. I collected the first buoy from the eastern tip of Big Island while noting that no new foam had been carried in by yesterday's gale, more progress. In the south cove, I took the blue barrel in tow (over a year after reporting it) and then the second buoy, a new hazard buoy with attached anchor. This collection of towed items slowed my progress to a crawl so I set into a steady cadence and enjoyed the lake for the hour paddle back to Oak Shores. This good workout completed the cleanup of of Big and Small Islands for this year, a milestone.

March 26, 2005

Thin overcast accompanied my paddle up the North Shore. A sign of the future: I came across an encapsulated float which I left for McLaughlin near Eticuera. These floats, which will be required at all resorts after the contracts are rebid, will solve the problem of loose styrofoam on the lake. The tradeoff is that the encapsulated floats are much heavier to collect than raw styrofoam. Picked up two large pieces of styrofoam near Eticuera and left them at gate E1. Noticed that someone had undone the barbed wire that someone earlier had used to closed the E1 foot entrance. In the cove south of the Gamble Ranch, I rolled a buoy that has been in the cove for a couple of years up to gate E2. As I've noticed on the East Shore lately, someone sat nearby in a car and watched as I worked on the buoy. Maybe a neighborhood watch for ranchers. A south wind came up creating nice wind waves for the return paddle.

May 14, 2005

Drove out to the lake from my summer spot at Riens Sandy Beach on the lower Russian River to help out with the Napa Valley Triathlon and to check progress by the Bureau on several items I'd reported. After meeting up with the other swim support kayakers at our camp spot just below the resturant at Putah Creek Resort, I paddled up to the Putah Creek Bridge. There, to my dismay, I discovered that the wrecked pier I had reported at the end of March, just as I was leaving, on the small beach just north of the bridge hadn't been cleaned up. Large blue blocks of styrofoam were everywhere as shown in the photo at the right. I collected the foam into a pile away from the water so that the beach didn't look as trashed. Continuing under the bridge and up to the BSA Camp, I found that a large pier in a cove on the south side of the camp hadn't been collected. The Bureau had collected about five piers from around the lake this Spring (major progress) but had missed this one. Time being short, I decided to deal with this later.

Heading back south past the resort, I paddled through the loud floating party under the Pope Canyon Bridge, almost being run down by a large slow motorboat in the process. Rounding the first turn up the canyon, I entered a new world of natural quiet as the music and boats from under the bridge were left behind. After a couple of miles I came to Trout Creek where I found that the No Trespassing signs along the shoreline hadn't been removed. It's been six months since I reported this intrusion and was told that action was being taken. Paddling up Trout Creek, I discovered a truck stored at the end of the old carriage road that comes down from the ruins of Samuel Springs. Last January I had noted a new cut on this road made to reopen the route from the Springs to the shoreline. All this well inside public lands. Hope the Bureau can find some time to talk to the landowner about all this.

Back at camp, we were all sitting around in the evening looking forward to some peace after the constant roar of cigarette and other very loud boats all day, augmented by the newest plague, high power sound systems on ski boats blasting out across the water. It was not to be. Several unmuffled hot boats launched from the resort ramp around 7PM and roared back and forth in front of the resort. A massive case of inconsideration. Several of our group grumbled that they hadn't been out to the lake for many years and it would be many years again before their return. Something really needs to be done to get these excessively loud boats off the lake. Live music started up right above our camp at this point to add to the din of loud music from nearby auto sound systems. No sleeping through this so I drove my van over to the almost empty RV area where I spend the winter and fell into a long deep sleep in the perfect quiet.

May 15, 2005

Triathlon Swimmers at a Turn

After a brief hi to Carol (who was also helping out) and then sheparding the 200 swimmers in the Triathon around the course at Putah Creek Resort, I took advantage of the wait while the athletes were out on their 56 mile bike ride to paddle back up to the large pier south of the BSA Camp. With some effort, I dislodged the pier from shore and dragged and towed it a short distance north to a beach next to the camp access road where I left it tied securely to shore. This makes it easier to collect from the land side and harder to ignore. Spent the rest of the day helping out with the Triathlon before heading to the south end of the lake for some socializing.

May 16, 2005

Yesterday's cool overcast (perfect for the triathlon) gave way to showers this morning. Leaving Carol's for the trip back out to Riens, I stopped at Oak Shores for a paddle around Big Island. The noise and commotion of the weekend was gone so I had the quiet lake almost to myself. The two adult Bald Eagles were near the nest on the north side of the island but I couldn't see any little eaglet heads poking up. A north wind came up to give me a nice tail wind and following wind waves as I was blown south along the east side of the island. Only two medium blocks of foam needed collecting on the whole circut of the island, a positive sign that new foam is not being released into the lake in any significant amount.