Howl at the Moon Festival Paddle April 2013
Lake Martin is at its peak beauty, in my opinion, in late Spring. There are all sorts of iris along the edge of the lake beside the old boat house where we put our boats in the water colors ranging from pink to purple to yellow. And the rookery is at its peak, with all of the crazy croaks from the babies and adults, it’s like a little city just crops up every year and disappears all too soon. There are favorites parts of this paddle that I hope everyone enjoys as much as I do. First is the paddle ...
Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2013
Shop local this Mother's Day! Our staff has put together this list of the best gifts for Mom. We have a wide selection of women's clothing, shoes and accessories. Don't forget, we do free gift wrapping! AVENTURA CLOTHING - Aventura's mission is to help the earth one garment at a time - they're passionate about creating fashionable clothing with low environmental impact. From fabric swatches to photo shoots their clothing is designed by women for women for a great fit. PURSES - A woman can never have too many purses. Give Mom something special she can carry around with her ...
Migratory Bird Hike at Lake Martin April 2013
We left Pack and Paddle at 7am with a threat of rain in the forecast. We arrived at Lake Martin, stopped at the south entrance of the trail and started our bird watching hike. We saw lots of great egrets and roseate spoonbills nesting from the trail. The group were friends and relatives and were quite fun, lots of joking around which came in handy when the rain started. We stayed under a tree that arched over the trail but then decided to continue down the lake trail so we could make it to the Nature Conservancy Trail on the northeast side of ...
Wild Nezpique Paddle Trip April 2013
We dropped the boats off in Jennings then dropped the vehicles off in Mermentau. We had a large group of folks that were eager for the 7 mile paddle down one of the most beautiful and easily accessible rivers in south Louisiana. Half of the group paddled with me before and they are lots of fun, some driving quite a distance to get to Lafayette. As we paddled down the river, there were eastern tent caterpillars everywhere in the water, falling from all the trees along the waterway. I hate to see them trying in vain to reach ...
Kayaking 102 – Self Rescue – April 2013
Patrice, Holly, Jim, Romeo and I started the kayaking 102 class at the pool. The weather started out sunny, we practiced sit in and sit on top kayak rescue skills: the wet exit first, followed by the "T Rescue" in sit in kayaks, an assisted rescue with the sit on tops, and the cherry on the pie, a paddle float rescue. Jim had brought his own boat that we used for some of the rescues. These self rescues are great for building confidence - having these skills makes you feel safer on the water. After a great lunch at subway ...
Festival Fashion: Santiki Skirts & Dresses
Breathable natural fabrics and bold patterns make Santiki the perfect style for Festival Season. We have a beautiful selection of Santiki clothing with many cute styles of tops, dresses and skirts ...
Waterfall Hike Level 1 April 2013
Clark creek natural area has been my local favorite for a long time and the last 2 Waterfall Hikes here have not disappointed. One of my favorite parts of this trip is the ever changing landscape that is continuously being eroded from the cool soft flowing natural springs. On my last couple of visits I found a natural damn that was caused by a large fallen tree and shifted boulders. I can only assume that from the last couple of rainstorms, the large amount of rain washed out a tree close to the bank, caused it to fall over and ...
Open Arms Skirts at Pack & Paddle
Open Arms is an Austin-based clothing company with a mission. Open Arms is a social enterprise founded to provide refugee women in the US a living wage for making stylish products from 100% recycled materials. Open Arms Mission Statement: At Open Arms, we are committed to providing refugee women in America a living wage (the baseline hourly income necessary for food and shelter [including housing and incidentals such as clothing and other basic needs]) which typically runs $3-$7 above the federal minimum wage. Combined with ESL classes, childcare and family-friendly hours, this meaningful work and living wage are intended to set ...
Mojo Sportswear Fishing Apparel
It's fishing time! When you're out on the water all day, it's important to protect your skin and stay cool. Mojo Sportswear shirts are rated UPF 50+ with extra breathability and moisture control. Check out the Redfish Vented Wireman and the Flats Camo Performance Shirt at Pack & Paddle. Info from Mojo: "Mojo Sportfishing Gear is a new kind of fishing apparel, carrying on the tradition of functionality and durability for the serious fisherman while introducing a unique look and feel that makes the line perfect for wearing on or off the boat. In addition, Mojo also incorporates the latest ...
Howl at the Moon Paddle Trip March 2013
The weather prediction was wind…and more wind, 25-30mph. This can make for some of the most fun paddling, letting the wind push your boat along as you just sit back and rudder. It can also make for some of the hardest paddling if you have to paddle into it, your boat hardly moving but a good workout. Keeping this in mind, we let the wind push us across the lake from the boat launch to the south western corner of the lake. We all made it to the cypress except for one boat, as they approached the cypress where we ...
Valentine’s Evening Romance Paddle 2013
Becky and I were lucky enough to lead yet another wonderful Valentines evening paddle trip. Our group met at Pack & Paddle and after some short introductions, we were off to Lake Martin. We unloaded our boats with a signature Lake Martin sunset in the background. Our trip started out with a small mishap when one couple made a splash (literally) at the put-in. Undeterred, this couple forged ahead with the paddle trip even in the chilly weather. We're not naming names - because as you may or may not know - what happens on the Valentines paddle stays on ...
Demo Day has Moved Location
Pack & Paddle is excited to announce that we have partnered with Vermilionville to bring you the biggest, best demo day of the year! FREE EVENT! Vermilionville has plenty of parking, beautiful scenery, bathroom access and is only a 3 minute drive from the shop. Demo boats will be located at two different points on the pond. We've created this reference map to make it easy to find: This FREE demo will run from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Bayou Vermilion District & Vermilionville are located at 300 Fisher Rd., near the Lafayette Airport. Directions to Vermilionville ...