This is most definitely one of the best kayaking journeys I have taken thus far and I was only sad that no one could come and enjoy it with me! It was absolutely fabulous. I highly recommend this site! One of the greatest aspects (out of many) is that it is accessible all year!
Today, my kayaking adventure began at the Scappoose Bay Marine Park in Warren, Oregon. This park has a 3-lane boat ramp and a completely separate area to the right for launching all other watercraft (like kayaks).
(For those kayaking alone, the marina store has rollable carts to haul your kayak down to the water as it’s a bit of a walk down the docks.) This park is owned and managed by the Port of Columbia County. Here is a great map of the entire park. I’m guessing this is a very very busy park during the summer months and on weekends. However, since I was there on a Tuesday morning – I only saw a handful of boats and only 2 other kayakers. So, if you can kayak during the week – go then!
Before I detail today’s adventure, I want to provide a bit of history (and a warning) about Scappoose Bay.
“The original inhabitants of the Scappoose Bay area were the Chinookan peoples who hunted, fished, and gathered in the area. During the 19th century, American settlers developed the area, clearing land for farming. Wood product manufacturing began in the early 20th Century.” This area was originally referred to as “Cappo Creek” and later became Scappoose.
So, when you leave Scappoose Bay Marine Park and head north, you will immediately begin to see extremely large wood posts in the water located on both sides of the bay. In fact, they’re everywhere!
All of these posts are related to the old (now non-operative) lumber mills located on the water’s edge. There are three of them.
After doing some research online, I soon discovered that all three of these now non-operating mills have left considerable pollutants in and along the water’s edge. In fact, the DEQ and Oregon Health Authority have issued an official warning regarding this issue.
“Oregon Health Authority is issuing recommendations on the amount of resident fish, shellfish and crayfish from the Multnomah Channel and Scappoose Bay that people should eat. Fish tissue data that Oregon Department of Environmental Quality collected show high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and dioxins and furans in resident fish, shellfish and crayfish in Multnomah Channel and Scappoose Bay.”
OK. Sorry, I got a bit distracted. But, I wanted everyone to be aware of the issues and to understand what you will see as your kayaking along. Now, back to my journey…
One of the first things I came upon on my kayak adventure was a business actively building “floating homes.”
I sat there for a few minutes and watched them work. I think it would be so incredibly awesome to own one of these “floating” homes. I’ve seen them on many of my previous kayaking adventures, but this is the first site I’ve seen building them. Very cool!
As I continued my journey, I was absolutely blown away by just how many birds and ducks I saw. They were everywhere! I saw 4 Eagles, Heron, Egrets, Woodpeckers, Ravens, Seagulls and a ton of our other feathered friends. I was able to capture some of them in flight!
(I’m fairly certain he was swearing at me for disturbing his peace and quiet! Ha! Ha!)
It was just so fun to sit there and watch them flying all around me. I stopped many times just to enjoy their company. In fact, at one point, there were 3 or 4 Seagulls flying around above me and I watched two of them dive down straight into the water – they came up empty beaked, but they were definitely hunting for some fish! It was fun to sit there and watch them.
One of the cool things I saw was atop the crane workings of the now defunct Boise Cascade paper mill.
A very large bird nest. In fact, from the other side it looked like as though there might have been 2 or 3 of them. What a cool place for a young bird to grow! As I continued my journey, I just became so entranced by all of the birds. They were sunbathing on nearly every post sticking up out of the water and it was then that I spotted two Eagles sitting in a dead tree together.
(Not a great picture of the Eagles, but the best my cell phone could do for me.)
After approximately 3 miles of paddling, I had passed the Multnomah Channel and finally made it out to the Columbia River.
And it was here that I had the best view, way off in the distance, of Mount Hood. The recent snow covered top was so incredibly white! In fact, it was the brightest white color I think I have ever seen. The pictures really doesn’t capture what I saw in person. Plus, those clouds just wouldn’t go away. It was awesome anyway!
From here, I turned around to head back. I had remembered seeing a half submerged boat on the east side of the river and so I crossed over and began paddling back, with a planned stop at the wreckage.
Now, this isn’t the first boat wreckage I saw along my journey. In fact, I think I saw a total of seven or eight! And there were pieces of boats/ships in the water as well.
I came across all of these in just 3 miles. They were kind of fun and interesting to kayak up to and check out, but this leads to a HUGE question! Why are they still in the water? Who is responsible for getting them out? How long have they been in the water? Why? Why? Why? I tired to find information about them online and couldn’t find anything specific. If someone knows the answer to any of these questions, let me know, please!
Well, I was starting to get tired and so I began a non-stop paddling approach to get back quicker. Well, here’s the thing…the further I traveled in a southward direction, the more I began to think I hadn’t seen what I was now looking upon. But, during my return journey, I was passed by a pusher boat moving a large barge through the water (he passed me when I was going north as well). So, I assumed (for awhile) that I was traveling in the right direction.
But then, I realized I hadn’t come upon any of the old lumber mills and thousands of posts in the water. STOP! I reviewed my map and realized I had turned the wrong way. I was now headed south on the Multnomah Channel rather than Scappoose Bay. EGADS!
First off, it was beautiful and if I wasn’t already tired I might have gone a bit further, but I needed to get back. So, I turned around and headed north (again). Well, when I had stopped to look at the boats in the water on the east side, I continued around the other side of the island and continued southward. Well, because of that I completely missed the turn to stay on Scappoose Bay and I was now paddling the Multnomah Channel. Lesson learned – and don’t make the same mistake I did. Ha!
Despite my wrong turn, my entire trip was fantastic. The clouds came and went at different times throughout my trip and they made the most remarkable patterns in the sky. It was so beautiful!
But, even more beautiful were the signs of Fall all along the river. Most of the trees were just starting to change colors. If you’re thinking about going, wait a couple more weeks and you will likely then see an abundance of color!
I’m so glad I took this trip. Despite my nearly 2-mile detour and hitting “rush hour” traffic through Portland on my way home – it was absolutely perfect! I highly recommend this location if you haven’t been!!!
2024 – Kayak Trip #41
