On a calm and sunny early April morning, I drove down Highway 5A South past Shumway Lake and the Roche Lake turn-off.    About halfway down Trapp Lake is a short side road to a parking area on the shores of the lake.   I did a hand launch into the muddy lake and paddled south down the west shoreline and back on the east shoreline, a 70″ minute paddle.

Trapp Lake is a long, narrow alkaline lake next to the highway.    It is not a fishing lake, nor a spot for recreation boating, but it is a good spot to kayak in the spring.

The only drawback is highway noise; it is a good spot to wear headphones, zoning out from the world, being in the moment, keeping a steady rhythm on the water.

There were ducks (mostly barrow’s goldeneyes) and geese on the water. Small birds flitted in the trees, blackbirds called from the marshy edges, and a first, a nesting turkey vulture on a rock ledge above the lake. Although the lake can be paddled in one session, I usually kayak the south end on one day, then return another day to do the north end. It is not a great spot to paddle in the summer when the algae and aquatic vegetation sets in. There are several shallow lakes like this in our area, a destination for spring paddling only.