#10 - Willamette River - Whitely Landing to Marshall Island Access

 


We found ourselves in the Eugene area, and decided to take the kayaks for a spin. Because we had another kayaker coming with us, we decided to float downriver and shuttle back, unlike our other trips where we put in and take out at the same place. We put in at Whitely Landing County Park near Santa Clara, and take out at Marshall Island Access near Junction City, about a 6 mile trip. Both parks have restrooms (although Whitely's is a bit sketchy), lots of parking and usable ramps (Marhall Island's is better).


The river is beautiful here, away from most traffic noise. We didn't see any other kayakers, only a few fishermen on the entire float.




The water was a bit low, and there were a few other obstacles along the way, but nothing we couldn't get past. My kayak did scrape rocks a few times, and I didn't put my pedals in for most of the trip because of how shallow it was.









We came across a few rope swings, including one for river surfing, but again, the water is lower than usual, so I didn't try them out.


Since this was our first float downriver to a different pull out, we got to experience some "rapids" for the first time. They were very tame, but the current does pick up, and there are some underwater obstacles, and it was a refreshing change to just floating along. 

The scenery is similar most of the way; lots of trees, grass, rocky islands. It is also very peaceful most of the way. There are places to pull off if you want to get out, have lunch, or swim. 

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to float this 6 mile stretch, and I would recommend it. Paddleboarders might have some issues at the rapids, but could probably make it sitting down alright.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

S2.7 - Trillium Lake.

Image
  Trillium Lake is just past Government Camp, on the foothills of Mount Hood. The boat ramp area is decent, with a small loading and unloading area, and a pit toilet. There is a decent amount of parking, and we got there around 9am, so no trouble finding a spot. However, it got a lot busier as the day went on. There is a day use area on past the boat ramp, and that's where most people go who are just coming to swim. It's always nice to get that first glimpse of the water you will be floating for the day, but the view you get when you get to the bottom of the boat ramp is breathtaking. Everyone who comes down always stops to enjoy the view, and usually to take some pictures. During our time on the lake, I took quite a few breaks to just enjoy the view. And take lots of pictures. There is a day use area on one end of the lake, and a campground on another. A 2 mile trail goes around the lake, although part of it was closed when we were there. The campsites are spaced quite a ways
Read more

#6 - Ermie Walters - Alsea River

Image
  We went camping at Beachside, just south of Waldport. Our intent was to try the Alsea water trail, which starts at the mouth of the Alsea, heads upriver, and into Drift Creek. Leanna's sister was with us, and so we called around to rent a kayak for her to join us. The advice of the renter was to skip the water trail due to wind and waves, and head upriver about 19 miles to the Ermie Walters Boat Ramp . So we did. Ermie Walters is a nice boat ramp with decent parking lot for this far upriver. No bathrooms. There were 2 other cars in the parking lot. One waiting to rent kayaks, like us, and another belonging to a couple who had set up shop at the bottom of the boat ramp, and were cooking up some crawfish they had caught. Once our other kayak arrived, we put in. I got all the way in, unintentionally, as I was trying to get in my kayak. The water level was pretty low, and I had to pull my kayak into a deeper channel from the ramp. Just slipped on slippery rocks. Good news is the wat
Read more

S3.5 Larison Cove

Image
  We seem to be going back to places we've been before lately. This week was Larison Cove, in Oakridge, which we kayaked last year . However, the water level was much lower this time. Significantly lower.  This was also a fun practice at backing up the trailer down a long dirt road with lots of potholes, maneuvering around cars. Good times. 5 of us kayaked today, including Dody and her Drippy Plum kayak. No big adventures today, with calm, flat water. Also, very few other people here on a Saturday. I took this photo to help show how far the water level has fallen recently. And I also thought the texture looked cool.  There were a few places we couldn't get to this year because of the water level, smaller coves or inlets that we could navigate last year just didn't have water in them this year. We did see some turtles and a mama duck with 9 very small ducklings. The highlight of the float was getting out of the kayaks, and swimming. It wasn't super hot out, but there was
Read more