Lake Graham

With a vacation upcoming and more weekends devoted to my military obligation, I took the afternoon of March 26th off, with supervisor approval and went after the Lake Graham geocaches with my new kayak. Spend the evening prior finding the best way to secure the kayak on top of my truck. That was a chore, but in the future it will become easier with more experience.

Being that Lake Graham is a TWRA lake, I had already purchased a fishing license, lake permit and took a pole with me. TWRA rules require a license, lake permit and fishing equipment. I began my journey from the boat landing. A few anglers were around putting their boats into the water or coming out of the water. Most ignored my kayak; I did overhear one comment that my kayak was suicidal. I shook my head in their ignorance and proceeded with my mission.

Took off from the boat landing and struggled to gain my steering under the bridge. Overcame the difficulties and made a beeline towards B&G-Bluff's H2O Micro #2. Found the cache with ease. Signing it was more difficult since my kayak wanted to drift away. After replacing the cache, I remembered that I had a rope and next time I need to secure my craft to the stationary object. The next cache ended up with a DNF (Did not find). JTP #3-Paradise Lost , two attempts to find this one were in vain. I paddled to the furthest cache at the north end of the lake. I came in contact with fisherman but other than some looks, they paid me no attention. JTP #4- Paradise Found gave my valuable experience with steering the kayak in tight areas. Found the cache without any trouble. Thankfully, I came to this lake in March. Waiting another month, this end of the lake would be infested with snakes. Next on the list was JTP #2-North Island . I had to circle around this island to find a good place to beach my kayak. Giving me some trouble was a Canadian Goose. The bird was sitting on the island and my have been ill. I choose to keep my distance from the large bird and kept an eye on it too. Found the cache and left the bird undisturbed. The last cache find was JTP #1-South Island found a place to beach the kayak and had to struggle to get out of the boat to get on the island. Searched a while and unable to find the cache, but did find many beer bottles and cans. I figure this island is a drunk fisherman's getaway. Giving up on the cache and preparing to replace the ammo can, I found what I was seeking. Signed the log and paddled back to the boat dock.

All told, the adventure took about 2 or so hours and did manage a speed of 4 mph. The lake has many hidden stumps and I found several of them. This journey was fun and rewarding.