Stories and experiences from a guy, his dogs, and the thoughts they have about life, love, and chasing rabbits.
These were seen on Bear Island on Percy Priest Lake, southeast Nashville, Tennessee. I was very surprised by the variety of wildlife we saw while we hiked around the island. Thankfully no bears, I feel like that needs to be said! 🙂
A few things we didn’t snag a picture of that you might want to note if you plan to visit or camp on the island: ticks, snakes, and spider webs… we walked through a million spider webs.
-Out of the Wilderness
What started as a kayak adventure turned into a half day of kayaking AND hiking when we beached our kayaks on Bear Island (yes, it’s shaped like a bear).
We had already checked out Luau Island (more on that here) so when we arrived at Bear Island, we explored nearby. Then we started walking along the rocky shoreline.
Walking.
Said hi to a few folks who were fishing.
Walking.
Said hi to campers.
Walking.
Walking.
Are we going around the entire island?
Walking.
How big IS this island, anyway?
Walking.
Should we turn around now? No, our kayaks are just around the corner!
Walking. Walking. Walking. Walking. Busted flip-flop.
Walking barefoot.
Walking.
Seriously, just around THIS corner!
Four corners later…
…still walking!
Over 2 hours later, and a lot of spider webs to the face, we finally found our kayaks. We refueled with food and water and rested… thinking about how far we had just walked. It was quite the adventure! If you go to Bear Island and want to hang out for a bit, bring bug spray, sandals (not flip-flops), and food and water, of course.
Here are a few photos I took along the way.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Out of the Wilderness
This little island on Percy Priest Lake plays host to people of all kinds, and all sorts of little treats and treasures can be found in the form of rocks and aged glass. If you’re in Nashville and have a boat, kayak, or paddleboard, go to Luau Island!
-Out of the Wilderness
I realized today that after I came back from Florida 2 months ago I haven’t done even one thing by any body of water (except one bath last week, if that counts??). I can’t blame it completely on COVID-19, to be honest. But the time came to break this bad trend in my life. Water fun came in the form of kayaking on Percy Priest Lake. Check out the path of the paddling below… in total it was around 8,800 meters (roughly 5.5 miles).
Being on the water was so fun, especially knowing there were no alligators or sharks. We did see a snake in the water, though. Other “more safe” creatures we saw were birds, turtles, minnows, frogs, lizards, and caterpillars.
I was craving something like this trip and it turned out to be exactly what I needed! We also did a bit of hiking on Bear Island (the island seen in the middle picture above), which deserves its own post so be on the lookout for that one in the coming days. This year has been pretty weird, right? But I’m hoping I can kayak (and hike) with some regularity! This kayak adventure was a good start to a better trend 🙂
-Out of the Wilderness
Greetings! Today is Friday and it’s technically the last day of a week I’ve titled “Adventure Week!” I did so because for the last month or two, I was in a routine. Not a rut, per se, but just doing each day without many bells and whistles. That’s all fine and good, but I knew things needed to be shaken up!
Monday
The first day of this week-long adventure kicked off with an early afternoon movie at a local theater. I actually love going to watch movies but haven’t been in many, many months. So I treated myself to a movie I’d been wanting to see since I first knew about it; Yesterday. Great movie! I almost cried multiple times (in a good way), and laughed often. The plot of the movie really intrigued me and although they never really address the why and how of what happened in the movie– everyone in the world except for a handful of people never knowing of the Beatles (or Coke, or Harry Potter, also)– it was fantastic. And I’m not even a die-hard Beatles fan.
Tuesday
On this, the second day of Adventure week, I went kayaking. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t been all year, in spite of having kayaks at my disposal all day every day. So I hit up a nearby lake and it was extremely satisfying. I mostly stayed close to the shoreline because I like to see turtles and birds and whatever other creatures pop up.
Wednesday
I decided to do a repeat of Tuesday, so I went out to the same lake but launched from a different park. Just like Tuesday, kayaking was a big success. On both days, I ventured out in the late afternoon so by the time I was paddling, the sun wasn’t scorching and I was able to be on the water as it neared dusk. Very fun!
Thursday
I kinda cheated on the Adventure week because I didn’t really plan something special for this day… I did what I’ve been doing the last few weeks on Thursdays… play volleyball. I absolutely love playing and at a particular sand volleyball court area, a bunch of folks show up on Thursday to play pick-up volleyball. So it’s a great chance to see friends I’ve made out there, and make new friends. Now I’ll admit something, it wasn’t as fun as it’s been in the past and I don’t know exactly why, but evenso, it was still a great time on the court.
Friday… today.
Today is still a mystery but I have a few ideas for Adventure Week. Check back soon and I’ll have an update!!
Thanks for reading, have an adventurous day!
-Out of the Wilderness
