5-28-12 Kayaking down the Black River

Brenda, Scott, and I (Jerry) went kayaking down the Black River near Littlerock, Washington today.  The Black River is a very slow moving river with dark water.  Unfortunately, the day was kind of overcast with occasional sprinkles and a very stiff headwind.  The wind was so stiff and the current was so slow that if you stopped paddling, the wind would push you upriver.  It made for a very long trip.

The lily pads were in bloom.

These bird nests were scattered down the river.  I wonder what lives in them?

Here's a closer view.

Here's a close-up of Brenda.

Here's Brenda's serious side.

And her happy side.  As you can see, we took Pacé with us.  

Here's a good picture of Scott on the river.

I'm guessing this is the remains of a bridge?  It was all metal.

Another part of the ruins.

Here I am with Pacé.

There were many sheltered areas on the river where the water was like glass.

There were quite a few ruins like this along the river.  We think they are made for fishing.

When we saw this tressel, we knew were were getting close to the end of the trip.  By this time, we were all pretty tired and ready for the adventure to end.

Kayaking with Leo and Sara on 3/24/12

We took Leo kayaking for the first time today and had a great time.  We do have to remember though not to try to kayak up McAllister Creek when the tide is coming in.  Up wasn't a problem, but coming back down we paddled against a very strong current.

Leo and Sara getting ready to put into the Sound.

Sara's in 

 Helping Leo with his skirt... I bet he never thought he'd see that in print.

And then I put in.  Brenda was first in so she took all these pictures.

I forgot to mention that this was Pace's first time kayaking too!

He wasn't too sure he would like this at first.

Roxy started with Brenda.

Then spent a little time with me.

It really was a beautiful day out today!

The mountain was out.

Here's the best picture (I think) of Leo from the day's adventure.

We saw plenty of eagles today.  Here's a female trying to blend into the branches.

Here's a nice view of the mountain with the new Nisqually Wildlife Refuge gazebo in the foreground.

And another view, this time with more of the boardwalk in the picture.  We didn't get any pictures of it, but there was a lady on the boardwalk who dropped her glasses into the Sound.  The water was pretty shallow there and I was able to recovery her glasses for her.

As you can see, Pace got a little more comfortable as the day went on.

Brenda and I decided to switch doggies again, so she's paddling towards me.

Pace didn't want to wait.  He would not have wanted to fall into the water today.  It was COLD!

We were heading back by this time and the current was very strong.  Sara was a good sport though.

Here's another female bald eagle.  Where were all the males?  Probably watching TV and eating Doritos.

And here are a couple of group photos at the end of the day.  We happened to run into one of Leo and Sara's friends, Mira, and Mira's friend Tom.  They took the pictures for us.

You can see the Olympic Mountains in the background of this photo.