Another Quiet Paddle in the Sun

     The weather forecast for today looked very good, and the forecasters were right - it was a beautiful blue-sky day.  I'd been waiting for a day like this for another paddle on Embalse de Negratin.

   It was mid-morning by the time I reached Playa de Freila, assembled my kayak and was ready to take to the water.  Fog lay over the water when I first arrived, but it soon dispersed and the day was warming up nicely,  I set off towards the dam at the western end of the reservoir.

Submerged, or part submerged, trees were a hazard to watch out for:-

These ones were quite obvious:-

I had hoped to reach the dam on this trip, but several large inlets on my side of the reservoir, which just had to be explored, sort of spoiled that plan.  I did get a glimpse of it in the distance, from where I ate my picnic lunch, before having to head back.

Into an inlet  ..........

.........  and coming out again.

By mid-afternoon the water was mirror-like, and reflections on it were quite stunning:-

   Apart from gentle splashing of the paddle blades and the ripple of bow wave, the only other noise  was the occasional, distant sound of a chain-saw (or some such mechanical device) from in the countryside - oh, and once or twice the startled flurry and splashing of ducks taking off as I glided round a bend in an inlet.  Quiet paddling at its best.

   The first step of a circumnavigation of Embalse de Negratin has now started.  I think it  will take quite a few visits to complete it