Kayaking and Hiking Adventures

 Another section of the Willamette, and one we've done before , putting in at  Willamette Boat Landing, or Crystal Lake boat ramp  in Corvallis, and taking out at  Hyak Park  outside of Albany. We were invited to join Leanna's sister's friends on this float, and we ended up with 13 humans and 1 dog, with 9 floating devices, including a tube for the dog and it's owner! For this float, I was trying out the Akaso "GoPro" like camera that we got last year. The resolution is not as good as the iPhone, and I had it mounted so that it was taking pictures of my foot, so these pictures are all cropped heavily. But I wanted to try it out. As I've mentioned before, this is a very calm stretch of river. It was packed at the beginning, but once we passed Michael's Landing , we were relatively alone. Except for the couple in the inflatable raft smoking weed and listening to music. We took our time floating, enjoying the company. We did stop for a bit on an island a...

 What a gorgeous day to kayak! We decided to float a section of river that we had not done before, putting in at  Willamette Boat Landing, or Crystal Lake boat ramp  in Corvallis, and taking out at  Hyak Park  outside of Albany. As I've mentioned before, each of these parks have plenty of parking, a nice boat ramp, and bathrooms (gold star to Hyak for the clean flush toilets). There were a few large groups putting in before us, and the Benton County Sheriff boat was moored at the end of the dock, checking to make sure that everyone had the right safety equipment. Specifically a PFD, whistle, and permit for watercraft over 10 feet long.  We had our group of 5 in kayaks, plugs double checked, and we set off for our almost 11 mile float. The temperature was in the 70s, and we had a bit of a headwind to start off with. Nothing serious, but it kept swinging the bow of our kayaks to the side. The river here is wide, calm, and clean. There is some road noise at fi...

 Today's adventure was going to be exploring the Calapooia River, starting at Bryant Park in Albany, which is where the Calapooia empties into the Willamette. (And then an ABBA tribute band concert in Albany afterwards. Honestly, that was the main reason for the trip, and this was close to the venue.) We didn't know much about the water levels of the Calapooia, but we went anyway, because, why not? Bryant Park has a boat ramp according to their park map. But when we went to Bryant Park, there is no boat ramp. It seems to have been filled in. You could carry kayaks down to either river, but it's a bit of a trip. Also, the Calapooia seemed low, and it was obvious that we would be portaging around rocks a lot. So. Change of plans. Instead, we drove to Hyak Park , which is only a few minutes away on Hwy 20, on the opposite side of the river. I've driven past this many times, but never stopped. It's a nice clean park, with a nice ramp, and decent parking. Also, there a...