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Easter Sunrise Service on Lake Oconee

Posted on April 19, 2017 By Tom 2 Comments on Easter Sunrise Service on Lake Oconee
Paddling, Photography

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-53

There’s one really good thing about being a member of the Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle. Services can be spectacular. Such was the Easter Sunrise Service Houston and I shared on Lake Oconee.

I have to admit it wasn’t easy. We had partied a bit the night before, with drums, instruments, and Moscow Mules. 5:00 am came far too early. Even so, we were up and ready to go to meet the sun.

Originally we had planned to launch from on Apalachee River branch of Lake Oconee. However, we were unsure of the launch site and didn’t want to fumble on an unknown bank in the dark. We decided to head back to Dyar Pasture, but this time we would explore more of the open lake as the sun came up.

We launched just as the sky was starting to brighten.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-11
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-4

We made one misstep back into a cove, but were soon headed toward the main body of the lake. The waning moon hung over us.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-14
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-20
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-7

There were multiple channels out to the lake. We had to just pick one and hope that it got us where we wanted to be. Tall grasses grew on the sides, and a pair of beavers crossed in front of us.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-25
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-36
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-41
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-30
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Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-29

Sunrise was at 7:01 am. However, it would be later than that when the sun finally crested the trees. We lingered a bit to watch it come up.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-43
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-50
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-52
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-55
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Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-63
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-66

As the skies grew brighter we paddled on down toward the lake, then turned back into one of the other channels. Water quality had not improved miraculously overnight. There was lots of floating trash. There was also a lot of wildlife enjoying the early morning.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-73
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-95
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Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-122

We made our way back upstream, threading back through the channels that brought us down this way.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-104
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-106
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-115
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-116
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-129
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-131
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-133

While looking at our GPS track from yesterday we noticed that if we had been able to push through that initial swampy area with the clumps of vegetation then we would have been able to find a passage through to another part of the lake. We decided to see if we could approach it from this side. We continued up the chosen cove until it began to narrow. It was tough going, and at one point we had to pull ourselves through some tough grasses, but eventually we made it through. We were back in the first channel we had explored the day before.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-138
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-139
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-140
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-141
Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-142

From there we paddled back out to the Oconee River. This being Easter Sunday boat traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as on Saturday. We made it back to the ramp and got the gear back on the truck. We had paddled just under five miles for this trip.

IMG_0432

Here is the overlay of both trips. You can see the section where we pushed through to connect the two sections.

Paddling Paths Overlay

In eight days I had done five paddling trips and done about 30 miles. My arms were starting to get just a bit sore. We spent the afternoon napping and recuperating before I headed back to Greenville. I had cats to feed and a house to put back together before Laura’s return from Florida. However, it had been a great Easter weekend spending time with my brother.

Easter Sunrise at Dyar Pasture and Lake Oconee-53

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2 thoughts on “Easter Sunrise Service on Lake Oconee”

  1. Alan says:
    April 20, 2017 at 9:09 am

    Some great photos!

    Reply
    1. Houston says:
      April 28, 2017 at 5:34 pm

      …of the handsome, rugged characters?

      It was a great immersive weekend (rambling, paddling, noise making, imbibing) with my young brother.
      HT

      Reply

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