Escaping the crowds
The drill is the same in any metropolitan area. It's nice outside, Friday hits and people are ready to decompress in the woods. The funny thing is, rarely do people venture even a 1/4 mile from their vehicle; and those that do are likely to be on foot. We found to answer to finding solitude close to home in the Oru Kayak
Without a roof rack, we were stoked to be able to throw these small foldable origami kayaks in the trunk and hit the road at the hint of a nice clear night. Little missed was the struggle of lifting up and strapping on traditional kayaks or canoes to the adventure mobile.
We spread the kayaks out lakeside and had them open and full of gear in about five minutes. Every person who walked by stopped and watched for a few seconds as we explained what they were. Amazingly they fit enough gear inside for long excursions, so we had plenty of room to spare for this overnight. The first time we set them up was a little difficult as they hadn't been folded into the kayak shape yet (the second time was a breeze).
Tessa took off in her 12' Oru Kayak and I pushed off in my 16' Oru Coast model. We had originally bought two 12', but found the 16' to be more stable in the open seas. They both handled the lake water well and benefited even further from being loaded up with gear!
We paddled out towards sketchier looking weather but we also knew solitude awaited the further from the launch area we would go. Although the sun was getting low late at night, with the Alaskan midnight sun we had the pleasure of a few hours of low hanging rays.
After a few hours of kayaking around we realized we were spending more time just embracing the calm of the late night water and figured this would make a good spot to camp. After a week in the city there's nothing quite like calm water therapy to heal the soul.
We popped open the buckles which secure the kayaks together and unloaded the gear during the last glimmers of light. We proceeded to cook some hot dogs on the fire, pop a bottle of wine and set up camp.
It's a bummer to feel like escaping and finding solitude is damn near impossible these days, discouraging many from even leaving town some weekends, but having kayaks changed our perspective. Human powered water transport that fits in the trunk of your car wasn't really an option before but Oru has really made a revolutionary product that works well for anyone with space limitations.