Jerry, Josh, Tim, and Tim Kayaking down the Nisqually

We put in at my regular spot on the Nisqually River.  Chaplain Tim decided to try his new boat and Tim and Josh used my other two kayaks.

Chinook salmon were starting to run so the banks were full of fishermen.

Turns out that the boat wasn't quite as quick as the kayaks, but it was quick enough.  It's a good thing that Chaplain Tim had a motor on his boat though.  Not that he couldn't have paddled the whole way!

Unfortunately, my camera's battery was almost drained when we started so I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I normally like to take.  Here's Tim.  I should say that this was Tim's first time kayaking and he kayaked like a pro. 

Here's how Chaplain Tim powered most of his trip down the river.  He only used the motor a few times.

Here's Josh paddling away.  That sure was a nice hat he was wearing.  He would only own that hat for about 20 more minutes after this picture.  Unfortunately, he flipped his kayak and it was either save Josh or the hat.  I picked Josh.  Not that I really did anything.  He fortunately flipped near a couple of guys fishing out of their boat.  They pulled Josh out of the river, righted his kayak, and then pumped it out for him.  They were awesome!  They now have a great fishing story to tell.  I wonder how they filled out their catch card though?

The tide was pretty low and getting lower as it continued to ebb.  When we got to the Nisqually delta, in the wildlife refuge, there were huge stretches of mud flats visible.  Turns out the seals love to sun themselves on the mud flats.  But they don't like you to get too close.  Some of them dove into the water as I tried to get closer for more photos.

They are curious, but cautious.

This seal let me get pretty close.  See the wake behind the seal?  That's from the tide going out.

This one let me get even closer.

And that's it for this trip!  My camera didn't want to take any more pictures.

Jerry and Fred Kayaking at Tolmie State Park

Fred and I went kayaking from the beach at Tolmie State Park today.  The weather was awesome.  We didn't see hardly any wildlife, but there were some nice views of the mountains from the Sound, a shipwreck, and an old abandoned pier.

Getting ready to kayak.

The water was very smooth today.

Some nice views of Mt Rainier today.

This is the shipwreck.  I don't know its story, but it's obviously been here for a little while.

I couldn't figure out which of these three pictures of the shipwreck with Mt Rainier in the background I liked the most, so I posted all three.

And the old shipwreck.

It was kind of neat paddling around the pier.

Some more nice views of Mt Rainier with the pier in the foreground.

Heading back.

A nice view of the Olympic Mountains on the way back.

Scott and Corey's First Kayaking Adventure

What a beautiful day today!  It was probably 68° on the Nisqually River.  That's where we started.  We paddled down the river into the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and then over to Luhr Beach.  The water was really up in the river (thanks to the record snowfall in the mountains this past winter).  

We put in off of 6^th Ave in Old Nisqually.  We actually put in almost right under this bridge.  I loved the way the light was shining through the mist around the bridge this morning.

Here are Corey, Scott, and me (Jerry) getting ready for our adventure.

Corey, getting used to the kayak and practicing how to paddle.

When we first put into the river, there were two obstacles that we had to get around.

This tree.

And these rocks.

They did great.

Father and daughter paddling away.

Corey the paddlemaster.

She was having a good time, so far…

We passed underneath I-5 to get to the wildlife refuge.  It sure is noisy.

But it soon gets peaceful again.

It wasn’t long before we started seeing eagles.  Scott got right up on this one.

You can see the eagle flying away on the left side of the picture.

And harbor seals.

You get really nice views of the Olympic Mountains from the Sound.

Corey wanted a picture of the seaweed.

We weren't the only ones on the Sound this morning.  I thought this was an awesome picture with the mountains in the background.

It was actually quite a bit of work to paddle the last half-mile or so because the tide was against us.

And we were done!

Here's a map of the wildlife refuge.  It actually shows the entire route that we paddled today.

Corey with Mt Rainier in the background.