Today’s journey took me back to Foster Lake. However, this time with friends, rather than being by myself. This was a planned kayak adventure and there were 5 of us total. While I enjoy kayaking by myself, I equally enjoy kayaking with other folks.
I persuaded the group to follow the path I traveled the last time I was here. The clouds had mostly cleared and the sun was shining brightly. On top of that, we didn’t encounter a single person. That means there were no spectators, boat, kayaks or anything else. We had the entire Lake all to ourselves. In addition, there was absolutely zero wind and so the lake was the smoothest I have ever seen it!
We left the boat ramp, heading out into the lake. I was excited to show everyone all of the huge tree stumps that were completely out of the water. We got out of our boats on the large dry area (due to low water level) and walked around a bit.
I can’t begin to adequately explain just how big some of them were. The one with me pictured standing next to it was over 6 ft tall and probably double that in circumference. The stump shown in the middle picture is my personal favorite. I think it looks like a gigantic spider or some other crawling insect. The last one shows me sitting in my kayak holding my 7.5 feet long kayak paddle. It’s a good size perspective! They were all so unique and so majestic!
We continued our journey around the dry land area until we were on the furthest southern part of the lake. It is there you can finally see the Calkins Boat Ramp. Even though I’ve already seen it in this condition, just last week, it’s still startling to see. My photo isn’t the best quality, but it shows just how low the lake is during late fall and winter. My understanding is this boat ramp is usable around the middle of March.
We continued our path to the left, traveling in an eastward direction. We went under the bridge and then it’s like magic. As many times I have kayaked around Foster Lake, this is definitely the greenest, has the healthiest and most robust foliage and the cleanest water! It’s like two separate adventures – there’s the lake and after the bridge is the magic! This channel is actually the South Santiam River emptying into Foster Lake.
There was so much to look at. Due to the winter weather, there were many waterfalls. They were all different sizes and each one was so unique and wonderful! I have shared about these in a previous post, dated February 3, 2024. You can go check them out!
The longer we were there, the better the weather got. The photo on the left shows all blue sky! It was so wonderful! And the bright sun provided some awesome scenery reflections on the water’s surface. It was so great to keep encountering different types of buds on all of the plants! Yay! Western Oregon will have thick and luscious foliage here very soon!
I want to make a point to say that if you’re really not sure where to paddle on Foster Lake – definitely go to Calkins Boat Ramp and paddle up the river! The water is so clean!
The last time I paddled here, I stopped at the waterfall that runs under the tree. But today, after picture taking, we continued our journey. The river became much narrower, with high cliff walls. We had to stay diligent about watching the water while we were paddling because there were many places where it got very shallow. We journeyed forward for a bit until we came across “mini” rapids. The water was so shallow here, that it was crashing down on the rocks. That was as far as we could go. It was absolutely beautiful to watch!
After a short rest and visit, we turned around and headed back. By afternoon time, nearly the entire river channel was shaded and so it got a bit cool. But, I knew as soon as we returned to the main body of the lake, we would be under sunshine again. Another sight we talked about a lot was an older car that had obviously come down off the highway and crashed into the woods. The car looked to be like a model from the 70’s-80’s and so I have no idea how long it’s been there. But, I’m guessing quite awhile. We talked about returning when the water level rises and seeing if we can stop and hike up the mountainside to check it out. That could be interesting!
Our trip back to the boat ramp was absolutely gorgeous. We came back to the bridge and it was definitely worth photographing!
Because the water is so shallow and the reflections were so vibrant, it made the bridge look like it was twice as high as it really was. I love this picture I was able to capture. And again, it shows just how smooth the water was throughout our journey.
The sky was absolutely gorgeous! I took a ton of pictures, but I’ll share just a couple here.
On my way back, I crossed the lake (traveling north), so I could see the landscape on the other side. It was just as gorgeous. This is my favorite photo I captured.
What an awesome trip we enjoyed! We paddled just over 6 miles and every inch of it was absolutely gorgeous! (If you want to check out this scenery, go now before the water levels increases.)
2024 – Kayak Trip #6
