What's a guy to do with two, brand-new kayaks and, literally, dozens of excellent kayaking opportunities available within a very short driving distance of his home?
Well, he doesn't stay at home watching reruns of Dr. Phil and Dawg, The Bounty Hunter!! Hahahaha, no!! Not even a JAG rerun could keep me in today. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and Ol' Smilin' Jack was loading up the Mini for another adventure with his trusty sidekick, Cayak Carol!!
Just enough room for the essentials. And Cayak Carol.
Here's Ol' Smilin' Jack. Geared up and ready to get down!!
BTW, on a sad side note, this is the last picture taken with the Selfie Stick. I had the bright idea of taking it with me on this Paddlesport Adventure. I tied it up to a line hooked onto the Cayak and then put it next to the seat. Evidently, when I got in, I sat down rather hard and, well, poor fellow, he never had a chance, really.
And, some more invectives rang through the silent forest hills.
Ratz!!
Cayak Carol wondering how did a nice Cayak like you get into a place like this?
Hmmmmmm...!?!
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But before we could set out, we knew we'd be needing some victuals. Where better to stop for some breakfast grub than Mickey D's!?!?!
I likes me some sausage biscuits and breakfast burritos.
Mmmmmmm....Breakfast of Champions!!
And, finally, fueled up, we made it to Salmon River. Only to discover that we had everything we needed for a fun and frolicsome day on the Salmon River....except for the means with which to provide propulsion on said river.
That's right, Boys and Girls. Someone had forgotten to bring along the paddles. That someone had loaded the Cayaks, the PFDs (Personal Floatation Devices), the rope, the camera, the cell phone, his water shoes, towels, the tarp, rags to wipe down the Cayaks with and his hat. He'd remembered all that but, and therein lies the rub, he forgot the paddles.
Imagine, if you will, backing up to the boating ramp, getting out and starting to run through the scenario for launching the Cayaks in your little ol' noodle and realizing, right then, that you'd forgotten one of the key components of the trip.
D'oh!!
Hahaha, nothing to do but get back in the Mini and hustle on back home and pick up the Pesky Paddles for Propulsion. And then back again.
This time, though, things worked like a charm.
We even had an audience!!
I took a moment to scan the Mighty Salmon River before we set off on our Voyage of Discovery.
Fun Facts: The Mighty Salmon River flows from the Central Oregon Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean just above Lincoln City. About 24 miles long, it begins and ends in Lincoln County but also flows briefly through western Polk and southern Tillamook Counties. The entire length of the river is a protected National Wild and Scenic River, the only such river in the contiguous 48 states. Several portions of the river are in a protected wilderness.
The Mighty Salmon River supports populations of wild steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout as well as chinook and coho salmon released each year from a hatchery at Otis. Oh, and, as we'll discover later on, they even have some crabs in there, too.
The river was looking a bit low but that was understandable as the Low Tide today was at 1039 and we were putting into water around 1045. We figured we'd hit some low water but the rising tide, lifting all boats, y'know, would not only fill the river out but, with any luck, would make our return trip a bit faster and easier.
Hahahaha, you know, I'm all about easy.
From the picture below you can see Carol is doing her best impersonation of Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Girl needs some sun, STAT!!
As we were getting ready to launch, Carol spotted this guy floating around the boating ramp. We thought he was a Freshwater (FW) Jelly but when we checked, we found he was way too big.
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He was so nice that Cayak Carol had to shoot him twice.
We did find a site that studies FW Jellies and they asked for any information concerning sightings of FW Jellies and so Cayak Carol forwarded her pictures along with information about her sighting to the Jellyfish Research Institute.
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So from that cute and cuddly little critter to this one. A Great Blue Heron. We'll run into this guy again later on.
Eventually, after a couple of minor missteps and several loud and heart-felt invectives, we were on our way. Our first river adventure.
We shoulda waited for a higher tide.
It was a beautiful day, today!! Absolutely glorious.
Here we're looking sorta northwest towards where the Salmon River makes its final turn into the Pacific Ocean. It was there, where the river flows into the ocean that we were headed.
Hahaha, but!!! That mean, ol' nasty but. Take a close look at the picture below. If you look closely, you'll find that you can see the river bed there, through the thin covering of water.
The tide was definitely out.
But we had enough to move along without any problems. Heck, we even had time to take a picture and then send it to our sister along with a wordy text.
Hahaha, gotta prioritize!!
Just ahead is, in effect, a small peninsula around which the river flows. Just beyond, to the right in this picture, is the final bend the river takes on its journey.
Last night, Carol and I took the NASBLA Sanctioned Paddle Sports Safety Course and took heed of the good advice given while preparing for the test at the end of the course. (Which we passed with a 93% grade!! Woo and Woo!!)
Being safety conscious, I attached a line to the prow of my mighty river-going vessel to facilitate emergencies. We're shopping around for a whistle for each of us to carry for signaling while Cayaking and we're even going to get a flashlight should we be out at dusk.
Hahahaha, we is certified, y'all!!
It was peaceful out on the river today and we did a fair amount of just drifting along. There's Cayak Carol there, on the right. She's probably texting with her sister!!
A look up the river to the the east.
The hills in the distance are part of the Cascade Head Preserve.
Fun Facts: In the early 60s, volunteers organized an effort to protect Cascade Head from development. The Conservancy bought it in 1966 from the owner of the Cascade Head Ranch development. Because of its ecological significance, Cascade Head Preserve and the surrounding national forest and other lands have won recognition as a National Scenic Research Area and a United Nations Biosphere Reserve.
It is now considered a haven for rare plants, wildlife and grassland communities once abundant along the Oregon Coast, Cascade Head provides critical habitat for native prairie grasses, rare wildflowers and the Oregon silverspot butterfly.
Remember a while back, Carol and I went to an ill-fated Audubon Society Potluck Dinner? It was held here, at this Community Center for the folks living along the Salmon River. They have a pool there along with a good number of Cayaks available for their members.
It was here that I was, somehow, shanghaied, keel-hauled, uh, volunteered into being the vice-president. Hahaha, great times.
As we got closer to the bend, we noticed, because our bottoms were, literally, scraping the bottom of the river bed, that the river had become dramatically shallower.
Hahaha, the going had become decidedly more difficult. It's tough scraping a heavily laden Cayak over those sand bars. I felt like I was, at times, paddling through molasses...
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Ah, doggone it, even though the water was too shallow, it was a beautiful day.
Looking back up the river. Next time we're going to head up the river. Maybe. Maybe we'll go with a high tide and try to get over to the ocean.
And it was all because of those Stupid Sand Bars.
Here, this gives you an idea of where we got to, more or less. The Red Star marks where we launched from and the circle marks the approximate location of those Stupid Sand Bars.
Ah, well, Philosophical Jack says "You gotta take the good with the bad."
Infantile Jack says "Go to hell, Stupid Sand Bars!"
Did I mention we sorta drifted along for a good while. Well, we tried to drift. We'd go along and then run aground on a Stupid Sand Bar. But it was fun.
Next time, I'm thinking I will bring a radio to play some groovy tunes while we're out on the water.
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Feelin' good!!
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Contemplative Jackie. Contemplating where I can stick this stupid PFD so I don't have to wear it.
Hahaha, I couldn't have drowned unless I really put some concentrated effort into it. Seriously, if I fell in and couldn't stand, all I would have to do is raise up on my elbows and rest my chin on my hand until help came.
Hahaha, I knew that if I really got stuck on a sand bar I'd just have to get out and walk back to the car; towing my Cayak and my dignity behind me.
Summer days on the riv....that's what we cool kids call the river.
And we are way cool.
Ol' Cayak Carol was really into the zen of relaxin' on the Riv. Hahaha, she was takin' it to new levels. She's totally got her mind and body together in a quest for Riv Nirvana. Hahaha, she's totally put her ego to rest here.
And then a couple of show-offs came paddling up. Evidently, if you stay to the extreme side of the river you can gain a passage to the ocean. Next time.
Carol was practicing her riverine hand signals...This one means, "I have achieved oneness with the river and am ready for the next evolution!!"
And that next evolution is a trance-like state that looks, strangely, like someone sleeping, complete with snoring sound effects.
Way to go, Cayak Carol!!
And then we saw the Great Blue Herons. There were two of them flying down the river towards us.
This was an especial treat for us to see these two. And there was a third one, too. He just wasn't with the other two at that time.
I was shooting blind here and lucked (?) into this shot. The heron is distorted by a dust mote on my lens. I'm sure you know, it's tough to track a subject using the LCD monitor. Besides the sun, it's tough finding a small moving subject and staying with it.
As we were nearing the park where we had launched, we spotted these guys, standing in the water. Sorta makes the Cayak seem a bit superfluous, doesn't it? And these guys are in the deep end of this wading pool.
We found out that they're out there looking for their lunch.
Yeah, a guy told them he'd picked up a lot of crabs in this location yesterday and so they decided to come on out and try their luck at finding lunch.
Wet suits, snorkels and a mask. Then you just get on your hands and knees, cuz it's so shallow, and start looking.
Hahaha, we made it back and, glory of glories! We actually got out of our Cayaks without taking a spill.
Hahaha, River - Zero Jack & Carol - Two
And, in my triumphal glory, I gazed out over my Empire....the river looking east.
There's our landing and the Cayaks along with Cayak Carol.
OK, I had checked and I knew the low tide would peak at 1039 so I figured we'd be able to float on a rising tide. We didn't. When we got back home I happened to look out at the ocean and, look at that!! It's around noon and look how far out the tide is!!
Criminy!! When we're out there walking around the tide pools that stinkin' tide seems to come back in a lot faster than it did today!!
Carol found this in the river....in the deep, deep river. She saw it and leaned over and picked it up. Got her arm wet up to just above the wrist. Maybe.
It's a Varnish Clam.
Fun Facts: It's also known as the Purple Varnish Clam and the Dark Mahogany Clam. It's been seen in the Great American Pacific Northwest for about ten years now. The clam apparently was introduced via ballast water from Asia. The Varnish Clam is more freshwater tolerant than other species so the larger populations are found in estuaries.
And it's kinda good lookin', too.
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Well, for the second outing it went pretty good. Except for the Stupid Sand Bars. Maybe next time we'll head south for some Cayak Adventuring. Who knows!?! The world is our oyster...or maybe our Dark Mahogany Clam!!
It was a good day. The high point was our successful dismount from the Cayaks. We wuz smokin'!!
It was good. Life is good.
Hooah!!
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