We had a local paddler come down to the Canoe Canal the other day and load up his kayak onto his custom made bicycle trailer. This is such a great human powered way to go boating. Kudos to this gentleman for keeping out air cleaner by pedaling and not polluting! Loading the kayak onto the trailer.
Paddling on the coastal lakes can be a windy affair. Usually the wind speed pick up as the day warms up. So an early start is usually the best idea. Tahkenitch Lake is a great location to paddle because it has many “fingers” that create a variety of sheltered paddling options. Old railroad trestles are interesting to check out. It's name according to Wikipedia means "having arms running out like a crab". Railroad trestle across the Five Mile Arm. At the top of the “North Arm” of the lake. Log Cluster at the North Arm complete with hornet nests!
This cleanup was a special one because the catacanoe was involved. This superior craft designed by Wally Wallberg, has the ability to support paddlers while they haul out the big stuff from underwater! Check out the inventory of garbage that was hauled out. In all we had 15 people and 9 boats out on the Canoe Canal pulling out all kinds of stuff. Inventory below the image…. Catacanoe sacrificing itself for the greater good! 4 Tires 1/2 Barrell 50 Gallon Full Lamp with post 3 Traffic Cones Cigarette Butt Disposer GlassHookah Large Planters Chez Lounge And many other treasures.. ? More goodies including a hookah. Transferring large items to the catacanoe.
July was a great month for the Canoe Canal at Alton Baker Park in Eugene. Many happy paddlers are getting to know this lovely waterway for the first time. Others just keep coming back for more nature, exercise and fun. We had some volunteers come down on Saturday the 26th to help cleanup the canal. Thanks to all who gave their efforts on this needed task, and of course to the City of Eugene for providing many tools and hauling away the garbage. One of our biggest challenges was trying to haul out the tractor sized tire. We were only able to ferry it over to shore. Later we hauled it from shore up to the truck with the help of a long rope and some muscle. Here are some images of the hard work and fun! Tractor tire tied off to hoist it out. Lookin' good while gettin' dirty. Artistic shot…
This Eugene Girl Scout Troop had a great time last evening paddling in the Canoe Canal. We had 7 canoes out and enjoyed the evening hours on the water. We saw Great Blue Heron, Geese and Ducks. What a great group to share the experience with! Thanks for paddling with us, we look forward to the next time…. Waterfowl up close :) Evening light while on the water. Here are a couple of comments from the troop leaders.. "The girls really had a great time. I was so impressed with them when it came time to portage the canoes. This was a great experience. I saw a very confident group of canoers. The girls surpassed my expectations. Thank you for this great trip. We will definitely think of you again. Perhaps we can try canoeing some other water way?" "Thank you Ryan for having us canoe with you guys I think…
Tuesday August 26th 2014 was a scorcher, with heat in the mid 90’s. So a group of us took to the river. From Whitely Landing we paddled up the small side channel and made our way to the main flow of the river. From there we paddled downstream and enjoyed the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers. What a magical place! After floating down a bit more we turned left and went up the side channel again back to the put in spot at Whitely. This made for an adventurous loop requiring no shuttle! Here are some pictures that show us working our way up the shallow side channel. We used a small piece of line attached to the bow grab loop to haul our kayaks up the most shallow sections. There are about 6 places where we had to get out and do this because you simply can’t paddle…
Yesterday we enjoyed paddling with the 7th grade class of Madison Middle School at Triangle Lake. With over 80 paddlers in some Spring weather conditions, it was a fantastic time. Here are a few images to share from the day. Canoeing the warm waters of Triangle Lake Working on boat handling skills! A great place to be on the water. Working on re-entry techniques!
Spring is a great time to be on an a river East of the Cascades. It tends to be a lot drier in the high desert, yet a little colder in the mornings. We chose to paddle here to get away from the rain in the Willamette Valley. This trip was during the first week of April. We paddled a raft for 5 days and saw no other parties on the river. Just beaver, bighorn sheep, jumping bass, and many birds! We watched the thin clouds race along in the sky. Wearing wind layers and sunscreen is the norm. Desert wildflowers bloom and river levels rise and fall. We used a 13 foot Rocky Mountain Raft that was self bailing. With just two of us we paddled the raft R-2 style. One of us on each side in the middle of the small raft. Lots of communication between us to move the…
Working together with the City of Eugene we were able to haul quite a bit of trash out of the Canoe Canal. We focused on the section of the canal that flows behind Cuthbert Ampitheater. Unfortunately there is a large and long chain link fence keeping boaters away from the stage. This acts like a sieve and collects a tone of floating items. The only good about it is that they all collect here and it makes for easy pickin's. Fence line before today's cleanup.
Today the high temperature in Eugene area was 93! Out on Siltcoos River, it was much cooler and quite beautiful as well. We saw a Bald Eagle and an Osprey, many Kingfishers, Great Blue Heron, Doves, and on and on… Portage Time! Sneakin' through the trees! Blissfully paddling along the stream. Siltcoos RiverPortage TIme!Coming out towards the ocean.Sneakin’ through the trees.Siltcoos Grass