My trip today was so overdue and so needed!!! The last time I had kayaked was the first week of April. Due to the weather and also waiting for a new tire for my vehicle, I missed out on a lot of great days. BUT, today’s adventure was absolutely perfect!
My kayaking adventure took place on the Willamette River on a section I have never ventured upon. It was absolutely fantastic! Our trip began at the Valley River Center boat ramp. It is immediately behind Valley River Center Mall. There is no boat ramp or docks here. You can, however, drive your vehicle down to the water’s edge on a large compact and solid gravel area.
It is important to note that this is not a great area to leave your vehicles overnight. But, for your daytime adventure, your vehicles will be fine here.
As we began to crawl into our kayaks and begin our journey, I noticed this fantastic tree out in the middle of the water near the shoreline. I thought it was one of the coolest root systems I have ever seen!
Not having kayaked this section of the Willamette River before, I had no idea what to expect. First and foremost, plan for class 2 whitewater rapids. And thinking back, one of the very first sets we went through bordered on being class 3. But, let me tell you – FUN!!!! I have only dealt with class 2 rapids a few times and this trip had some fun ones, for sure!
So, let me insert some words of advice from my unprepared self:
- Wear a dry suit or at least waterproof pants and top. I did not! I was soaking wet after the very first set of rapids. After the second set, I had to take my shirt off and ring it out. Lesson learned!
- If you’re not a very experienced kayaker in rapids, please don’t make this trip by yourself. It’s always good to have someone with you because you never know when one of you may flip upside down. (Yes, it’s happened to me before!)
- Take/wear all safety gear – vest, whistle and a phone. Be prepared!
- Lastly, if you get wet (like I did), be sure to have a dry set of clothes to change into when you finish.
OK, back to the river! My biggest recall from this trip is just how beautiful it was! There was tall luscious green grass growing along both shorelines and the trees were in full foliage and absolutely stunning! I just couldn’t get over how green everything was!
Just over a mile from our put in, you come upon a split in the river. We had earlier decided that we would stay to the left which goes by Whitley Landing. This section of the Willamette River was absolutely stunning! The channel is about 3 miles in distance and the views are absolutely breath taking! Everything was so GREEN and absolutely beautiful!
The current of the river slows down a bit in this section and it gives you more time to look all around you. We saw ducks, Canadian Geese, and either an Otter or a Nutria. There are homes along the river’s edge here, but they are somewhat hidden. Mostly, it was so incredibly quiet. The island in the middle is commonly referred to as Confluence Island (because of the confluence of the McKenzie River and Willamette River on the other side of the island). When the water levels goes down as summer approaches, I would love to go back and walk along the island. One of the folks I was kayaking with stated there are quite a few swimmers in this section during the summer months. If the water wasn’t so cold still, I may have been tempted to jump in.
We came across this picturesque bridge along our journey. At first I thought it was a pedestrian bridge, until I watched a cement truck drive cross. Ha! However, it was very pretty nonetheless.
A few more pictures from this section of our kayaking adventure!
Once we reached the end of the Whitley channel, it was back into the much wider section of the Willamette River. At this point, personally, I was absolutely frozen because I was soaking wet. Remember my tip to wear appropriate attire. Yes, do that! The longer we were out on the river, the cloudier it seemed to get. The weather forecast called for a dry day, but I sure missed the (warm) sunshine!
As we continued our journey, I saw a set of ducks with babies and then a set of Canadian Geese with babies. But, the other nice surprise were the wildflowers growing in the grass along the river’s edge. They were beautiful!
Today’s journey was absolutely fantastic! I’ve never kayaked in rapids as I did today and that was SO much fun! But, I was so impressed with just how beautiful this section of the river was today! This summer, as the weather and the water warm, I shall return as there were quite a few great spots to looks for agates and other adventures.
We finally made it to our take out spot. Pictured below is the boat ramp at Marshall Island Access. It has a nice ramp and there was a lot of parking as well!
Until I embark upon another adventure…
2024 – Kayak Trip #19
