S2.5 Willamette River Wheatland Ferry

 


We chose to spend a hot day on the river, and headed down to Willamette Mission State Park. Our goal was to explore the Mission Lake inside the park. Our plan was to use the Willamette Boat Launch just north of Wheatland Ferry. This is a nice boat launch, with bathrooms, plenty of parking, and a short dock alongside the ramp, which is a bit narrow. There is a small cove here so there is no current to worry about while putting in. 



The Wheatland Ferry is just upriver from the boat ramp. The ferry is not operating right now, and it is in 'dry dock' for upgrade and maintenance. We headed upriver to find the outlet for Mission Lake.
Unfortunately, that outlet is not passable, and we just headed upriver to see what was around. Yay for pedal kayaks!








The river here is very shallow. There were many people using this for swimming on this hot day, and a few kayakers were literally standing in the middle of the river collecting cool looking rocks. We did pull over to cool down, but it was so shallow, I just had to lay down to get wet.







We put in around 4pm, so there was plenty of shade on the west bank of the river. It's pretty quiet here. Wallace Road is not far off, but traffic noise is rare. 




Then after about a mile and a half of pedalling upriver, we found this inviting cove, so we went in. A heron was off to the left, but flew away as we approached. The water was glassy, but covered with pollen. There is a smaller creek off to the right, which is Spring Valley. There is no river access that we could see, but it was very isolated.








We headed back to the larger cove, and were greeted by a nutria, which came very close before swimming away. No picture, unfortunately. We ended up seeing at least 3 of them. This was a gorgeous place to visit, and felt very isolated.

And then the best part of the day, turning around and floating back. 

So even though we didn't quite get to where we planned, we got to experience a new part of the river for us. I would recommend this stretch, even for paddle boards. It is slow, easy to avoid any ripples, and a lovely view.






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