Rabbit Slough/Palmer Slough Kayak

 I finally got out on the water in my kayak. This summer has been so busy with, I'm not really sure what, but I just haven't gotten out in the kayak. Lots of hiking plus lots of yard work have kept me pretty busy. There have also been quite a few rainy days where I just wanted to avoid being outdoors at all. I took my Oru Kayak to the Rabbit Slough dock and put in with Bella as my navigator and paddled upstream as far as we could go. I usually try to find a route to the Wasilla Boardwalk, but today it was just nicer to keep following upstream to see how far we could get. There were a few bright yellow water lilies brightening up the calm water. Soon after we started moving, Bella started barking loudly at a moose in the brush. I kind of wanted to take a picture, but decided it was safer to paddle hard and get out of her view. I wouldn't want an angry moose jumping into the water and swimming after us. There is very little current, and it was almost effortless to paddle upstream. The farther we went, the less current we had. I finally came to the end of any current at all into what was basically just a large calm pond with little water plants all over it. Bella seemed to want to jump out and seek land, but I think she realized there wasn't really any land close by. It got pretty warm, and I noticed she was panting a lot. I offered her some water by dipping her bowl into the water, but she wasn't interested. Since she was wearing her life jacket, I simply picked her up by its handle and placed her in the water for a few seconds. She looked a little startled by it and swam a few strokes before I plucked her out and put her back in the boat. We were both now soaking sopping wet. But she was no longer panting from the heat. After exploring this pond area, I turned back, and we just floated back downstream. There was enough current to keep us moving but I did need to paddle occasionally to keep us moving straight ahead. We passed some folks in a canoe and on paddle boards and kayaks. They all enjoyed seeing Bella looking out the front of my kayak. It was the most enjoyable, 3-mile low stress peaceful thing I think I've done all year. I'm not sure whether Bella enjoyed it or not, but I sure did!