canoe point state park

for labor day, a. & i decided to take some much needed r&r.  through some research, i found canoe point state park, a remote state park that's only accessible via boat.  while we could have rented a boat from one of the many marinas throughout the thousand islands, we chose to travel via kayak.

this meant everything we needed for the weekend had to fit in our dry bags (and let me tell you, when a sleeping bag takes up most of one, you have to pack uber efficiently- it's like backpacking, but with a boat).  once we reached the thousand islands, we parked on wellesley island state park- the most direct launching point to canoe point, loaded our kayaks and began our paddle.  the water was choppy and there was quite a bit of boat traffic, but the hour paddle was leisurely and very enjoyable.

when we reached the island, we set up camp and collected firewood for the evening.  our camp site, covered by trees, sat right on the water & in the evenings as we sat by our campfire,  we watched the moonrise over the river.  during the day, we hiked, kayaked to rocky beaches, swam in the river, collected firewood, and a. fished as i read.

on our last night, we packed our dinner and returned to a beach we found earlier that day.  we set up our space and cooked pad thai as we watched the most glorious sunset fall below the endless water.  as we sat quietly, enjoying dinner and soaking up the last few rays of sunshine, we chatted about what's next and vowed to keep camping trips like this part of our new california life.  on our way back to camp, we enjoyed a moonlit paddle on the quiet, still river.

a slow-paced weekend was definitely what the doctor ordered.  we couldn't have asked for better weather, water conditions or campsite (though we're convinced the island was run by spiders.  never in our lives have we seen so many in one place.  yuck!) between the sun, water, hikes and fantastic paddles, we were completely in our element.  and the last few days of summer, in our opinion, couldn't have been more perfect.