Kayak riding in 2026

Its spring in the Midwest! Trees are green, flowers abound and water looks inviting. I have always wanted to ride in a kayak. I have imagined riding kayaks lazily on a lake nestled in tall forest trees on a sunny day, looking for feeder streams to go up and down and explore. The few times that I have actually done that, I have seen fish, frogs, birds and possibly a few reptiles too. Most captivating sights for me are the landscape and the bed under the water in shallow areas. There is so much variation to take in and be amazed by. Hence, this spring, I want to make a serious attempt at spending more time on the water, in some forest, some place nearby.

The thing about kayaks that I like is its independent agency. It feels like I could sit in my kayak and spend all day exploring shores, take a few hikes maybe, bite off on my sandwich and get back to the trail head all by myself or with friends. If the water is nice, I could even get into it for a swim. It just feels free and inviting. Riding anything bigger than a kayak feels like there are more variables to be concerned with - more yaw, more pitch, more oar and more back. Canoes being slightly more than kayaks and boats being a lot more so. On a kayak, the main variable is body angle. If one avoids turning or twisting too much, kayaks are very stable and easy to navigate. One can go fast or slow, close to shore or away.

Anyway, in 2026, I want to get to a point where I am able to choose to be on a kayak whenever I want without much prep work. That means, I should be able to swim a bit, be comfortable in cold water, I should have a good back to row and, eventually, my own kayak. To get there, I am going to apply the same personal habits and technics that I am developing in 2026. I need to think in terms of baby steps. First baby step is to do a guided tour on a kayak and just remind Visali and myself - what is a kayak and how it feels. I have booked a guided tour at the starved rock state park for May 17th. It is a 2 hour tour in the Illinois river. Starved rock is a beautiful state park, very close to the Chicago south west suburbs. They are one of the few places that are already open for the season - most kayak and water sports places don't open till late May or after Memorial Day. I am looking forward to it.

When booking the guided tour in Starved Rock, they ask you to confirm that you've watched an educational safety video. I did not know such a thing existed. It is a series of YouTube videos that are listed here. I had taken such a lesson in the state of Missouri to obtain a boating license to ride motor boats and water skis on Lake Ozark. It never hurts to revise. Scuba diving certification is also a great education in safety. Scuba diving is all about safety; the equipment itself is relatively easier to operate - it is the decision making when you are 60 feet under water in open ocean that can mean difference between life and death. I will cover Scuba diving in another post someday.

For a bit of dreaming, I asked bing chat "how to select the best kayak for me". Bing chat described various types of kayaks, the technical differences and what they mean. This bit of a research helped me answer an important question. I know it is simple to drop a kayak in a lake, go wherever and come back to the trail head. How does one do that in a flowing river? If you drop upstream, go downstream and if it is hard to row upstream, how do you get back to your car? :) The answer of course is to drag or carry your kayak upstream on the shore back to your car. That sounds HARD. Never fret - it seems I could get a "folding kayak". It is 32lbs and can fold into a nice box that I could carry. Neat! It is expensive though!

I will write next week how it goes with the guided tour at starver rock. Wish me luck.