It's difficult to put into words the sensation of sliding off a sand beach in a kayak and being grabbed by the force of an ebbing tide of the lower Columbia River at flood stage. One moment you are on solid ground, looking over the smooth surface of water, the next minute you're being swept downstream on the back of a freight train.
It was 755 in the morning when we made the transition from solid to liquid substrate. The sky was cloudy and there was a light drizzle; the wind varied between none and a slight breeze. The water surface was slightly dimpled. In other words, another beautiful day for paddling!
Our destination for Day 3 was Vista Park at Skamokawa, Washington, about 22 miles downstream from Gull Island (see map, below). We paddled for three hours and at 1100AM stopped at one of my favorite spots on the lower river, the seasonal waterfall of Cougar Creek, Washington.
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| Lower Columbia River, Day 3. Gull Island is under the word "Beach" on the right; the town of Skamokawa and Vista Park are on the upper left. |
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| Gull Island to Cougar Creek waterfall (Waypoint 018) GPS track; 0755-1100AM. (image 2013 Google) |
And here is a photo from a previous paddling trip when the river was even higher and we could paddle behind the waterfall:
From the waterfall, Dry Bag and I pointed our bows - well, the bows of our kayaks - downstream once again. Soon the old river town Cathlamet came into view. In his 1906 book, Cathlamet on the Columbia, Thomas Nelson Strong described the town in which he grew up:
Cathlamet, on the Columbia, was, from time immemorial, the center of the Indian strength on the lower river. The Indian lingered longer and the Indian blood is more conspicuous there now than at any other place between Portland and the Ocean. Chinook was a mud beach, a mere fishing station, but Cathlamet was an Indian town before Gray sailed into the river or Lewis and Clark passed by on their way to the sea. Here at the last gathered and passed away the Cathlamets, Wahkiakums, Chinooks and Coweliskies... At its best it was the largest Indian settlement on the Columbia River west of the Cascades, and from the Indian stories must have numbered in the town itself from 500 to 1,000 people.
Strong was born in 1853, and many of the tales he told in his book were from memories of his childhood, which included talking with native people still living in and around the town. He mentions Queen Sally, of Cathlamet, who was the oldest (about 70) living Indian on the Lower Columbia during the 1850's and early 1860's. Queen Sally remembered the Lewis and Clark expedition that passed through when she was a girl, probably in her early teens.
Today Cathlamet is a pleasant river town. Our first view of town as it glided into view was a series of old docks and floats with associated boats and shacks, most of which were slowly melting into the river. Yes, derelicts of Cathlamet on the Columbia. I think Dry Bag and I have learned a subliminal message through the years of our paddling together: if you sit idle on the big river it will claim you by rust and rot.
We thought briefly about taking out in Cathlamet and walking into town for lunch; but the river was carrying us, and our destination for the day was foremost in our minds, so we continued downstream.
Just downstream from Cathlamet is a complex of islands called Hunting Islands. The narrow part of the river between these islands and the mainland is known as Elochoman Slough, and the thought of paddling through a smaller waterway protected from the wind and waves was very appealing. We knew the tide was ebbing, and that parts of Elochoman might actually go dry on a low tide, but after quickly consulting the charts and the time, we decided to go for it.
We were wrong! It sure looked like a great idea, but almost halfway through the slough we knew we were in trouble - our hulls were scraping bottom. Now we had to really hurry, because the tide was still dropping and we didn't want to sit in our boats in the middle of a mud flat waiting several hours for the tide to lift us off. So we turned around and headed back upstream towards Cathlamet until we got to the entrance of Elochoman Slough, rounded the corner, and headed back downstream in the mainstem of the Columbia. This failed shortcut cost us an hour!
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| GPS tracks from Cathlamet downstream to Skamokawa, with a failed shortcut through Elochoman Slough. |
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| Our boats on the beach at Vista Park, viewed from the top of the stairs to the campground. |
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| Relaxing. |
In the back of our minds was a shared goal: burgers and beer at the Duck Inn! We had been on the river for three days, and a hot meal with a cold beer, prepared and served by someone else, sounded like a great idea. At dinner time we walked out of the campground to the highway, across the bridge over Skamokawa Creek, through the main part of town, and into the Duck Inn. The burgers were hot, juicy and delicious; the beer was cold. A perfect meal for the end of Day 3.
A short note about Skamokawa, Washington. The "main part of town" mentioned above consists of a post office/cafe, a paddling company shop, a small inn and a couple of rental houses. Years ago, in my consultant life, I helped a client get permits to redevelop Skamokawa. He had purchased the small cluster of old buildings and some vacant land where the creek and Steamboat Slough meet and then flow into the Columbia. He renovated the old buildings, and built the first two of several planned two-story homes with killer views. The plan didn't work out as envisioned, and the remaining homes were never built, but Skamokawa is a nice place to stop for awhile, or to get away for a few days alongside the big river.
Old Dry Bag Dave and Paddlin' Paul slept well that night, next to the Big River of the West, their muscles a bit tender and their bellies full.
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