Millville Lake, Salem, NH

Lake for May 18, 2022

Today I woke up at 5:30 AM to hit another lake. I am not much of a morning person but there is nothing that excites me to wake up and hit the water more than knowing that there will be full sunshine, about 60 degrees in temperature, and low wind to know that this morning will be a blast. Once I arrived, I instantly found a beach to enter in from and was greeted with a cute sign that stated, “This is a Family Beach” with one of the rules stating, “No Foul Language”. I made sure to do what the sign had told me, but it was challenging once I got on the water. Also, to briefly describe the kayak I use, it is a green Tucktec that I am able to fold up to fit nicely into the backseat of my Prius.

Once my kayak was built, I pushed it into the water, able to kick off at roughly 6:30AM. The conditions were perfect, the sun was fully out, the sky was completely blue and the wind was minimal. I deeply enjoyed the ability to bask in the glory of the day. Something I have noticed about New Hampshire lakes and ponds, especially in southern New Hampshire, is that quite a few of them have quaint New England style houses near the shore, many of them having their own private beaches, and boats that they are able to enter into the lake directly from. These houses also add additional flavor to the already amazing scenery.

At this point, it seems as though spring is in full force. The trees that were once bare are now vibrant with color. As I kayaked, the water started to develop more ripples as the wind gently blew, luckily not so much that it made the journey difficult. This was a unique lake in that it was more elongated than most lakes/ponds. Most lakes and ponds I have been on have been circular or almost circular in their layout, but this one was more like a strip that had several branches/pockets that would lead to dead ends, generally private residences.

This whole time, I have not seen a single soul, despite all of the houses that dotted the lake. I believe that this is the prime time of day, the weather is perfect and everyone is generally asleep so all that can be heard are the leaves blowing in the wind and the birds chirping, as happy as me that spring has returned.

I finally reached the end of the strip and as I headed back, the wind picked up a bit. This was where the real arm workout came in and I was glad that this was not my first time encountering some turbulence so to speak. I even saw the water ripple rapidly towards me as I felt a strong gust of wind suddenly hit me in the face. After that gust, it became a bit more mild as I traversed across the more wavy terrain. Before I returned, I went around a cute island with a speed limit sign (10 MPH). I thought it was odd that lakes would have speed limits but was also relieved that there is no way my boat could even come close to those speeds only using the power of my arms.

Once I arrived back to shore, I broke down the kayak and loaded it into my vehicle. At this point, it was around 7:45 and the neighborhood started bustling with life as people power walked, biked, and road their dogs. As I got into car on my way to work having thoroughly enjoyed the water, I knew today would be a great day!

In liberty,

Zephan

PS: For those interested in tracking my progress, here is a list of all of the lakes I have done/need to do so far!