Paddle to Redhead Lake

There is a little lake on the Chain of Lakes called, Redhead lake. You don't see many power boats out there and it is tucked away from the wind and waves. This was my first time paddling to Redhead. I dropped in at Lighthouse Marina just south of rt 12. I only had 2 hours before the sun disappeared, so I decided to see how close I could get to making it to Redhead.

With the weather starting to warm up, the smooth water, and the amount of seagulls that were out; I didn't feel that I was paddling in Northern Illinois. While out on this trip, I only saw 2 other boats. That is going to be changing VERY soon. I don't think I have many more "calm" paddles out on the chain o lakes this season.

Right at the channel that heads to Redhead Lake, there was this little break in the cat tails. I tried to float into it, but the water was only a few inches deep.

And here we are at Redhead Lake. While I sat here, I saw 3 good sized fish jump with in 10 feet of my canoe. It was pretty cool to see. The water was so smooth, I didn't want to disrupt it with my paddle.

I did not bring any nav lights, so I had to start heading back to the Marina before the sun set completely. The best part of heading back into the sunset was being able to WATCH the sun set the whole way back. It was a great start to the season to see a sun set from the water. I don't know why, but there is a difference between watching the sun set from the shore and watching it from a canoe 2o feet from shore. The difference is HUGE!

While in Redhead lake, I noticed that there was a boat launch and parking lot on the shore. I am going to be searching out how to get to that park via land and launch there next time. I don't know if it is a neighborhood park or public, but it would be a great starting point for a paddle. Just paddling Redhead lake and the channel that connects it to the Chain would be a nice relaxing time also.