Onion River Exploration Project: Magical Gerber

Eileen's second Fairy Environment of the Day

Day 7 (7/23/15)

After a morning of biking on the bike trail with Wade we decided to head up to Gerber Lake to do some kayaking. As we were filling out the envelope to pay docking/parking fees we realized that we apparently had not been to Gerber for two years so I guess it was overdue. As we paddled away from the dock we reminisced about all the magical times we have had on this lake. We were the only ones on the lake when we first got there. Unfortunately that did not last long and about fifteen minutes after we started out we heard people yelling as they unloaded their boat. I understand that sound travels better over water but discussions with the person in the front of the boat don’t have to be heard two lakes away. We made the best of it though and stayed as far away from the other boat as possible. Part of our reason for coming to Gerber was to set up and photograph Fairy houses, a project that Eileen has been working on for several years. We started by going up the small creek that runs into the lake. At best it is very shallow with a lot of downed trees and now it was just about impassable. We did however make it up to the bridge which is our usual turn around spot. I pulled myself under the bridge to see if there were any baby birds which I have found there before. I found a nest but no babies. It is very creepy under the bridge with spiders and other insects that seek dark damp places inches from your face. After turning around and working my way back under the bridge we headed back down stream looking for suitable fairy environments. There were lots of possibilities but few that were accessible in the kayak. Judging by the smell of the mud we did stir up it was not someplace you would want to wade in. We did finally find one spot that worked well and while Eileen set up I looked for birds to photograph. After completing and photographing the site we packed up and moved further down the stream. When we came to the mouth of the stream there were some areas which worked well as environments so while Eileen set up I spent my time fishing. We could still hear the people in the other boat even though they were on the other side of a small peninsula and on the other side of the lake. Perhaps one of them was hard of hearing. It was in the middle of the afternoon on a hot day so I didn’t expect to get a lot of action fishing and I didn’t. I could see them and had a couple of follows but nothing serious. After one more setup we notice that the loud talkers were getting closer so we headed across the lake and through a narrow straight which opens up into another part of the lake. It is the actually the part of the lake that has the boat landing that we left from and it wasn’t long until another boat of loud talkers arrived. These were females. Fortunately they passed through the straight to the other side and even though we could still hear them at least it wasn’t quite as obnoxious. I know that at times I start to sound like a real curmudgeon but it just seems like a sacrilege to seek out nature only scare it away with constant jabbering. Eileen did one more environment before we determined to call it a day.