Kayaking and Hiking Adventures

 Our intention was to put in at Wallace Marine Park in downtown Salem, and float to Spong's Landing in Keizer. However, when we went to drop off our car, it was apparent that there is not a boat ramp at Spong's Landing. You could carry lighter kayak's down to the river, but it's a long haul for heavier craft. So, instead we dropped the car off at Keizer Rapids , and headed back to Wallace to launch. The boat ramp is very nice here, with a small dock and plenty of parking. The only bathroom near the ramp, however, is a nasty port a potty. While Wallace is smack dab in the middle of Salem (okay, more to the West, but close...) it doesn't take long to get away from busy road noise. There weren't too many people on the river, probably because we put in pretty late in the afternoon, almost 4pm.  There was quite a bit of wildlife, including this heron which took flight when we got too close. We saw several heron, jumping fish, ducks, and hawks. But the scenery is alw...

 Today happened to be our anniversary, but we wanted something close to home, so we tried the boat ramp that we see when we go to Salem, at Wallace Marine Park . The website doesn't mention a boat ramp, but the signs make it easy to find. The parking lot is plenty big, and there was an outhouse in use.  Part of the fun for this spot is that Riverfront park is right across the river, so we headed over to check out the new bridge from below, and get a different perspective on the Willamette Queen.  You can get almost under the bridge before you run out of depth.  Plenty of wildlife and scenery. There is a heron in this picture. We decided to head upriver. The river is a bit low, but the only place that was a problem was the island (sandbar) about a mile upstream. We decided to go to the left, but there was not enough water to get by. We could have portaged across to the other channel, but opted not to. We did go to the other side, and pedaled upriver until we were not ...