Unfortunately, living in Western Oregon, my kayaking schedule is often dictated by our rainy winter season. However, today, the weather was 100% clear with beautiful sunshine. Thank goodness! Myself and 3 friends met at the Calkins Boat Ramp at Foster Reservoir.
Yes, the water level at Foster Reservoir is very low right now. This is fairly normal for this time of the year. Every winter they release a lot of water and therefore create the needed room for our rain showers. We were really wanting to launch from the Calkins Boat Ramp. As you can see from the photo below, the water level was well below the end of the ramp.
However, with some careful stepping, we were able to carry our kayaks down to the water’s edge. This view is always startling to me because “normally” the water level is so much higher. You can see from the chart below that Foster Reservoir is currently down approximately 18 feet.
So, if you choose to kayak at Foster Reservoir, just know that you’re going to have to carry your kayak down to the water’s edge. Your only other option is to put in at Sunnyside County Park. The boat ramp there is open and useable all year.
So, we successfully launched our kayaks and headed towards the right (east), kayaking under the bridge. Once you pass this point, the scenery is different. In fact, it’s just downright gorgeous! One of the first nature sights you see is on the right side (south) – a beautiful waterfall. It wasn’t nearly as large as I thought it might be with all the rain we’ve had, but I’m sure it will be soon enough.
I love the sound of waterfalls! It’s so calming! We then continued our kayaking adventure.
You don’t have to paddle very far before the waterway becomes narrower and the scenery is absolutely stunning!
The Fall colors as shown on the leaves were outstanding! The trees and bushes are just so incredibly beautiful. And then, a perfect reflection upon the water! It was really something. You know, here in Western Oregon we don’t get the bright red fall colors that many other states enjoy. However, the variations of orange and yellow are amazing!
As you can see from the picture below, the river gets narrower, but there is so much to see!
As I’ve already mentioned, the water level is normally much higher, which you can see on this photo. But honestly, I don’t know what season of colors I enjoy the most – fall, spring or summer. This photo hardly does justice to what we saw in person. With the sun sitting so much lower in the sky, most of our trip is shaded. But, it was still startling!!! I loved all of the colors reflecting upon the water. Amazing!
It doesn’t take long to reach the first hard turn of the river. It is here that you will always see at least one small waterfall/flow if not 3 or 4 of them. It just depends on how much rain we’ve had. My favorite is always the large dead tree trunk with the water running through the base of the tree.
I love to just sit there and listen to the water. It is also at this point that the sun is almost always shining as there aren’t any large trees blocking its rays.
One of the other parts of this kayaking adventure that I enjoy with every visit are the enormous rocks on both sides of the river. They’re so interesting to look at and admire.
I love this picture I took because of all the reflections upon the water. I just marvel at all of the different shapes and formations. I can’t even imagine how many thousands of years it takes to make all of the cracks and crevices. I just think it’s really cool to look at.
After winding around to the left, we finally reach as far as we can go. If you haven’t kayaked to this spot during the winter, you need to! It’s absolutely breath takingly beautiful!
You’ll see all the rocks (as shown in the picture above) and you can either stop before the rocks or you can kayak up and around at the top of the rock piles. I always go up to the top because then I get to travel in the small current when it’s time to turn around and head back. Ha!
One day, I’m going to kayak to this spot and with me I’m going to haul a chair and bring a good book. Just like the last sunny spot, this one is always sunny as well. The sound of the water traveling across the rocky bed of water – it’s all just mesmerizing!
I’ve always wanted to try and continue my kayaking adventure from this point. But, the water level is just too shallow. During the summer months, you absolutely can!
We all exited our kayaks and we were looking at the rocks searching for some hidden treasure. One of my friends found a perfect heart shaped rock. It was awesome! As I was turning around I noticed this:
The sun was shining so brightly right here and warming/drying everything up. The steam rising from this tree stump was kind of cool to watch. It’s amazing what you see when you just relax and let yourself soak everything in.
One of the other things I saw while walking along the rocks – Maple leaves. There were a bunch of them and some of them were huge! I took a couple of pictures of them because I think they’re just so beautiful!
Well, seeing as though we all had to turn back our clocks on Sunday and we are no longer in daylight savings time, we realized we needed to turn around and head back because it gets dark so early now. (PS – I hate it when the clock changes in the winter, ugh).
Our return journey was just as beautiful as you see everything at different angles and lighting.
Once we kayaked back under the bridge, the sun was absolutely overwhelming. In fact, with sunglasses or not, you couldn’t see the boat ramp. We’ve all kayaked here numerous times and so we knew which direction to take. But the sky was just magnificent.
This photo just doesn’t do justice for just how strong the sunlight was beaming in our eyes.
This was a fantastic paddle. I know there are many who save kayaking for spring and summer. But, this is all calm water. I highly recommend you go check it out! On a side note, I wouldn’t leave the boat ramp any later than 12:30pm or so just to make sure you’re back before dark.
Thanks for reading!
2024 – Kayak Trip #42
