It was a clear and calm early morning, and Sam and I were on the water at 07:45.  We found ourselves squinting pretty often as the path of the river frequently aimed us directly into the low angle of the sun.

Kent and Sam ready to go.

The water was moving along nicely and we negotiated several “slingshots” along the cut banks.  We continued paddling through moving pools and occasional riffles in a most pleasant manner.

Sam in shadow

Mature bald eagle giving us the evil eye

 

Bald eagle in the clear

Kent watching the eagle disappear (Photo credit: Sam Reyna)

Sam striking a pose

Nice rocks and reflections

We ate our snacks at a slow place in the river – a very long pool that was moving less than 1 mph.

Toward the end of our adventure, Sam took too much time deciding which way to go around a small island and found himself broadside and attached to a fallen tree.  He managed to keep the water out of his kayak for quite a while, and was valiantly hanging onto his paddle, but while trying to work his way out of the pinned state, he rocked a little too aggressively and filled it up. I think this is where he let go of his paddle. I threw him a rope from the shallows, which he got connected to his kayak, lunch bag and himself.  I jerked and snatched, and the lunch bag got hung up on another part of the same tree.  Sam unfastened the lunch bag from the rig and, with a little bit of encouragement, the boat slid out nicely, but Sam’s PFD got hung up on the lunch bag limb and he had to disconnect himself from the line and work himself free as I was bringing his kayak over.  He freed himself and floated downstream, working himself over to my bank until he found shallow footing and clambered out to his kayak and me. 

Sam emptied his kayak and put his spare paddle together as I re-coiled the throw rope.  We lit out after his lunch bag and paddle, hoping to find them before we arrived at the take-out.  Sam found his lunch box just after a beaver found it, and the beaver fought Sam for the treasure.  Sam won.  The paddle became yet another of our offerings to the river gods.  Maybe the beaver can integrate it into his dam as an expensive consolation prize.

We saw great blue herons, bald eagles, hawks, crows, a little blue heron and turtles.  Oh, and a beaver.

All things considered, it was a great little trip - except for losing that paddle (ouch).

Imposing rock wall

Little turtle

LESSONS LEARNED:

In route-finding, a wrong decision can be better than a late decision.

                  

The Author, Kent Walters

Link to Photo Album