Last weekend we went kayaking in Wilson, NY in the western side of Twelve Mile Creek.

I’ve been wanting to try this paddle for a while. It was a beautiful September day. Really more like a July day. It was a 78º warm and almost perfectly sunny day. Western New York is gorgeous when it’s nice.

So the short version is that I was a little disappointed in this paddle. We like to go out for at least two hours, depending on the wind and waves. This was a little shy of that.

I had done some internet researching… We asked at the gate ($7 parking fee) which direction they would recommend. The recommendation was what I had read and for exactly the same reason…

Go west… because the eastern side was full of plants and smelly dead creatures. Since we went west, I can’t speak at all about the Eastern branch of 12 Mile Creek. Maybe we’ll try again in the spring, early in the season.

Our NY Park Passport has really paid off… 12 Mile Creek is in Wilson Tuscarora State Park and we rolled right through with our Passport.

The launch was easy. There was steady boat traffic but we didn’t have any trouble getting in or out. There were clean, working rest rooms just up from the launch. It’s a pretty park along Lake Ontario, Wilson Harbor and of course, 12 Mile Creek.

Our paddle started with a tour around Wilson Harbor. I love adventures and it was an adventure. Everyone was is a good mood, one what might have been the last nice day for the season. Squeezing out that last little bit of summer.

We didn’t head out into Lake Ontario, mostly because we didn’t know about the creek. Instead, we headed up the western side of 12 Mile Creek. The creek is clean and has a slow current. The cat tails were standing tall, having grown all summer they were ready for the end of the season.

We’re new at paddling and had never run into a creek covered with algae. Not sure if you can see it in the pics. At first, we tried to navigate it. When we reached a downed tree – possibly the cause of the lack of current and stifling algae – it was time to turn back.

All in all it was a nice paddle. Quiet and remote… houses were set back so it felt like you were in the middle of nowhere.

We didn’t see much wildlife. The requisite turtles and ducks. We turned one corned and heard what at first sounded like a kitten crying for her mom. Looking up, it turned out to be a baby squirrel on the electric lines who probably meandered farther from mom. We wished it well and kept on paddling.

Overall it was a nice paddle, shorter than I had expected.

We stopped at Woodcock Brothers Brewery for lunch on the way home. Yummy food, good beer in a fantastic venue.

We’ll try again in the spring and see the difference.