Spring is Coming! - Canoecopia

Perfection
stunned by the beautiful view of the broad summit of Moran
towering overhead. It was my first real view of the mountains,
and a scene that never left me.
Thirty something years and many Teton trips later, my wife
and I left Wisconsin to visit those mountains again, but this time
climbing was not to be the goal. We planned on some hikes
and took the kayaks to explore the lakes to get a perspective I
had never enjoyed before. The day dawned with an immaculate
sunrise, and we were out early to our put in on String Lake, a
narrow channel of water as the name implies, that connects to a
portage, and the only water entrance to Leigh Lake.
Leigh Lake is a body of water about 3 miles long, 2 miles
wide, and 200 feet deep. Carved by glaciers descending from
the Teton Range, it is fed by the frigid melt water from the lofty
peaks. The water is clear and cold, and on the day we spent on
it, Leigh Lake was as smooth and perfect as a mirror.
The weightless, suspended feeling of paddling across the
middle of the lake was mixed with a touch of vertigo as the
shadows of the boat slipped around, deep underneath us in a kind
of surreal, indescribable perspective. In all my years of paddling,
the perfect day had presented itself, and I was in it with Karen,
unable to speak at times other than to just say, “Wow.”
In my heart I know that this will be my last memory to leave
me. I hope you witness perfection as I have. You’ll know it
when you see it. Paddling will take you to places you cannot
even imagine. Let it.
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Canoecopia 2010 www.rutabaga.com