On Saturday we went kayaking on the Willamette again. We started at the Buena Vista Ferry and took out in Independence. Chris Lande, Nick Lande, Scot Leith, Kris Walker and I, along with Twitch.
We headed to the left of the first island where there were some fun ripples and waves to float through. Twitch still likes to bark and bite at the waves. This earned him a swim. Or six.
It was an overcast day and even rained on us a couple times. I was already soaked from hauling Twitch out of the water so no big deal to me.
We stopped at Rogue for lunch along the river. First time Twitch had been there and he did ok. Barked at a few people but quieted. I did have treats with me for good behavior.
We saw quite the variety of wildlife that day. We saw a number of Osprey, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Kingfishers, a white Heron, Kingbirds, of course lots of swallows and I even saw what I think was a mink! Pretty cute little thing I spotted swimming across the river. It turned around half way and I followed it back to shore because at that point I didn’t know what it was. It came out of the water and bounded off into the tall grass. It looked like a weasel or ferret and after some research I’m pretty sure it was a mink.
We had some excitement after lunch when showboating Chris Lande tipped his kayak and flipped it over. It was a sit on top so no worries and the river wasn’t too deep.
He managed to haul himself back in and Twitch was going nuts about the splashing. Lol.
The sun did come out for a little bit but Twitch managed to go swimming 6 times that day! Needless to say he was shivering and I was pretty chilly too by the end.
Overall I think he enjoys it, though I still have work to do on teaching him to stay out of my stroke zone so I can effectively paddle. I’m considering making or buying some kind of platform for him to stand on at my feet.
Next trip I want to do a little more whitewater without Twitch. 🙂