PNC Days 96-98 – Onto the Lower Columbia

These three days took us through some fast flowing water & some non-flowing water, then into the Lower Columbia River — the big barge-filled river we’ve been curious about since Canada. And, we had visitors!! We paddled through Yakama, Wanapum, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, & Palouse ancestral lands ancestral lands.

Day 96 – CR Mile 869.6 – Free flowing river!

All last night the wind was blowing so hard we thought it might knock over the tent. We were worried about what the conditions would be in the morning… We got super lucky and shortly before sunrise the wind slowed dramatically and we were fine to hit the water. Woohoo!! We portaged Priest Rapids dam in a fun way: a super nice dam worker named John escorted us in his truck to protect us from traffic as we walked the canoe around the dam. He was fun to talk to and it was great having his flashers warn cars behind us not to run us over. When we put back in below the dam we got to paddle down one of the longest free flowing sections of the entire Columbia. We moved fast all day, typically about 6 mph but at one point we were going 11 mph! We passed a ton of salmon fishing boats on the way, but we didn’t see very many of them reeling in salmon.

In the evening we found a place to camp at a boat dock with road access — my siblings came to meet us this evening on the river, and for tomorrow we reserved them rental kayaks so we’ll do a stretch of the river together. Can’t wait! We sat on the beach chatting, catching up, and drinking hard seltzer. For dinner we had chili with noodles. Yum! -T

Day 97 – CR Mile 898.3 – Visitors + Thieves

We are super excited to have visitors this weekend! We woke up before Abby, Peter, and Ricky and pounded out 20+ miles through the Tri-Cities in the morning. We saw so many boats out fishing. We also saw a cruise ship and our first barge! The river is changing! It’s starting to get big. Abby, Peter, and Ricky met us at noon at a park on the river just south of the Tri-Cities. They rented kayaks and joined us for an overnight. We paddled to a nice island for lunch. Then we paddled to a boat ramp and set up camp. We enjoyed dinner and some beers together. Being close to a city for their visit was a good and bad thing. It meant renting kayaks was easy, but camping near a city is always a bit challenging. We camped at boat ramps both nights, which was not super scenic compared to the remote beaches we have found many nights on the river.

We put our canoe and their kayaks in the desert grass on a hill above and out of sight from the parking lot. We were camped ~200 yards away but down by the river. After dark a pickup truck pulled up and some teenagers got to do some fishing. They walked past our boats on the way to their fishing spot. We yelled hi to them and asked what they were fishing for—catfish. We decided check on the boats as they were leaving, and two of the kayaks were gone! (Thankfully our canoe was still there!) We ran down to the parking lot and one of the kayaks was there. The pickup truck was gone but came back a few minutes later (presumably to get the next kayak). We flagged them down, and luckily they pulled over to talk to us. We told them our boat was missing and asked a few questions. We noticed two kayak paddles in the back of their pickup truck, and they admitted they had taken the kayak. We took the paddles out and asked them to bring the kayak back. They said they would go get it. They sped away, but five minutes later they actually brought back the kayak. Crazy. But luckily we got everything back!

Day 98 – CR Mile 926.6 – Big river

One thing was obvious today: the river is getting bigger. The channel is wider, there are more boats, and the boats are bigger. Today we were rocked by the wake of a barge going full-speed ahead. Big waves tossed us up and down by several feet for over a minute. The only thing that hasn’t gotten bigger so far is the flow: there was pretty much no current today, and instead there was wind. Headwind. We realized early it would be a long slog and tried not to let it discourage us. We did a pretty good job of keeping our spirits up, but fighting the wind did tucker us out physically. 23 miles into the day we hit the McNary Dam. I was actually looking forward to carrying the canoe as a change of pace from fighting the wind. Unlike all of the other dams we’ve crossed since Canada, this one has a lock, but only boats with motors are allowed to use it. Instead we followed a marked portage route for just under a mile, so it was actually one of our easier portages. After the dam we paddled for several more miles before finding a campsite officially maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers — they also operate the dams on this stretch of the river. It was a little bit earlier to call it a night than we wanted , but the campsite was too nice to pass up. It has a nice beach where we landed the boat, a picnic table, and even an outhouse for tomorrow morning! Plus, we have it all to ourselves. For dinner we had taco pasta on the picnic table. Yum! -T