Viewing Nature on a Pedal Boat
The natural world has an incredible amount of beauty and comfort to offer us. While we can sample this wealth from the shore, we cannot fully appreciate nature's wonder without embracing it in every capacity. As such, paddle boats provide an avenue through which we can fulfill the potential stretching water has to offer.
Paddle boating offers unparalleled opportunities to observe aspects of nature otherwise inaccessible. This is nowhere else more clear than in the secluded reserves of a lake, tucked away from open shore and available only to boaters. Paddling to the quiet nooks and crannies of bodies of water, untouched by land-goers and kept clean for those navigating the lake's surface, is an experience unmatched by any on rock. Different fish become available. New birds make themselves available in better view. One's understanding of nature is changed though an inclusive and fulfilling engagement of the outdoors on water.
Perhaps most important in the experiencing the wonder of the outdoors through paddle boating is simply getting away from the shores and surrounding one's self with water. Allowing the boat to rock in the open waters of the center of a lake provides an opportunity to relax in a way unavailable to those on shore. Escaping to a paddle boat removes much of the noise forced upon us by contemporary society, letting birds' songs ring clearer. Getting out of forested areas and onto the water also provides otherwise unnoticed views. Simply kicking away from shore on a paddle boat allows nature's full beauty to come into focus, with vantages obscured while on land being revealed in open view.
While one could certainly experience such a close relationship with aquatic wildlife via other water-going vessels such as rowboats or canoes, paddle boats allow greater accessibility for those uninterested in the hindrances such vehicles carry. Many people find the use of oars utterly exhausting or are physically unable to row with their arms. For such individuals, paddle boating unlocks a part of nature they would otherwise be kept from. Of course, others simply prefer the freedom pedaling with the feet provides, allowing the hands to hold a fishing pole, pair of binoculars, or cool drink.
Finally, just as hikers, skiers, and trail runners gain new respect for nature's intricacy and beauty through a physical engagement with it, so too can paddle boaters more fully understand its wealth. In the same way that a tourist standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon cannot accurately imagine the views supplied by stepping down into the canyon's trails, those standing on the shore do not get the full experience offered by bodies of water. To set off on a paddle boat, working the legs and feet just as a jogger, connects the boater with the outdoors in a unique and empowering way.
Simply standing on the shores of a crisp, clean mountain lake can be a wholesome and distinctly pleasant experience. Yet we most certainly miss out if we do not kick off and take ourselves out onto the water itself. Paddle boats offer a unique way to engage all that nature has to offer and surely provides a pleasant opportunity in any outdoor adventure.