Spent a wonderful weekend at Nehalem Bay June 13-15. Seven of us participated in camping, cooking, fire building, story telling, kayaking the bay, kayaking the Nehalem River, kite flying and wildlife viewing!
Arrived Friday the 13th…it was sunny and windy. Rod and Holly got there first and settled in. Since Nehalem Bay State Park has electricity at all the sites, Rod brought the coffee maker, rice cooker, a spot light and several strings of Christmas lights! After dark it made for a very merry atmosphere. Friday’s paddle was quick and boy was it windy.
Saturday was overcast until about two o’clock. We wolfed down a breakfast of berry infused pancakes with bacon. Then we headed out in the bay and up the Nehalem River with the incoming tide. We made it to Wheeler at high tide. It turned out to be dungeness crab festival day! We saved our packed lunches to have a nice feast of steamed crab, corn, slaw, bread and a beer! That allowed enough time for the tide to turn. We returned to our camping spot on the outgoing tide. Rebecca had her dog Riley along for the ride! He’s a real cutie!
Saturday late afternoon was spent resting and then beach combing and kite flying! I have to 
admit the breeze was great for the kite but I was chilled by the cool breeze. I found many groups huddled in sand pits to avoid the wind. But it was sunny and that was good! Dinner was HUGE! We made skewer after skewer of veggies, mushrooms, lamb, tofu and spiced pork. We were aghast how much food we had. Yet we actually ate it. As each group of four skewers left the grill, they were gobbled up fresh with the yummy jasmine rice. Kathy brought dessert, which was also a treat. Later we played a game of “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” by the fire.
Sunday’s paddle was a two-car shuttle. We picked a route which started six and a half miles up the Nehalem River, ending at the public dock in Nehalem. The day was bright and warm, with clear blue skies. Wow! This paddle was just beautiful - almost hypnotic in its perfection. We passed hills, saw wildlife, looked into the river below. It just could not have been better.
Filed under: All Posts by rod Date 17 June, 2008
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Took the brand new Riot Brittany with my Sea Kayaking group out on the Willamette River Saturday June 21st. We met at Oak Grove Ramp in Milwaukie, Oregon, at 9:30 a.m. Then we paddled upstream to Willamette Falls in Oregon City. It’s a 5 - 6 mile paddle each way. We stopped at a park in Lake Oswego en route where the oldest steel furnace on the West Coast is located. Then on to the falls!
It was cloudy and in the low eighties. We were thankful for the clouds as we would have been roasted alive if it were sunny outside! The river is still very high and it’s up to the trees on the banks in most places. Also, some of the islands were buried. This is a nice stretch of the Willammete very close to Portland. It’s line with multi-million dollar homes and lovely lawns and docks.
