Discovering Our Northwest Waterways: Kayaking Lacamas Lake

I can already tell that my paddling adventure is going to much more than a way to get out on the water—admittedly my personal happy place. After only two outings, it's challenging my ability to absorb new information, move in new and sometimes daunting ways and—at 71 years of age—to accept some of the limitations that come with being an older person.* It's also teaching me about the waterways that are such a critically important part of our life here in the Pacific Northwest. Kayaking trip? You bet! When my friend Keith suggested a paddling trip to Lacamas Lake just across the river near Camas, Washington, I jumped at the chance. The weather was going to be spectacular—this fall has been one for the record books in terms of warm-but-not-too-hot days—and the lake was fairly close, just a half hour drive away. Plus it would give me practice in launching from a dock rather than the shoreline, an important skill. The lake is a bit more than two miles long, with the boat dock located at…