Messin' About in Canoes - Johnson Pond...
Had a nice paddle with Michael and Chris (who came down from New Hampshire to join us - it was great to meet him).
Put in at the eastern launch at the entrance to Veasey Memorial Park - nice lot (six slots) for cartop boat launching and shore fisherman. Crushed rock ramp leading to an inlet that takes you out to the main body of the pond (the inlet is a bit weedy but still very paddle-able).
It was a beautiful evening and we circled the pond. A couple of fisher folk on the shore line. The north end of the pond is dominated by a large white house, but the rest of the shoreline is mostly woods with a couple of residences. There is a large, brick industrial structure with a slate roof and an outbuilding that's marked as a pump house on one map. The photo below gives you a sense of the shoreline…
There's a spot on the shoreline (if the inlet is at 3 o'clock and the big house is at 12 o'clock, it would be at about 7 o'clock) that looks like it got hit by a wind sheer event - trees snapped off several feet above the ground and scattered around.
An unusual find was a small bird's nest floating (empty) on the surface of the pond. Mostly pine needles with some birch bark oven in - very pretty.
We completed a comfortable lap around the pond a little after 7pm. Just hung out for a bit when we got back off the inlet -- Michael practiced some stand up paddling and Chris and I chatted about go straight strokes and paddling in general.
All in all a nice evening on the water.
Keith
P.S. I was in a Nova Craft Fox 14 solo, Michael in a Wenonah Adirondack 16 tandem and Chris in an Esquif Adirondack 12' solo.