My SO and I hit the Skamokawa Paddling Center in Skamokawa, WA, this weekend for a little B and B action and some very low-key touristing. Saturday afternoon I went for a couple hours of paddling in the sloughs and backwaters off the Columbia River (it was blowing), and Sunday another couple joined us for a ten-mile bike ride on back roads surrounding the nearby Columbia White-Tail Deer Refuge. [No deer ... just a couple elk, a lotta cows, and one or two interesting roadkills.] Good weather, slow paddling, and flat riding made for a mellow weekend. Skamokawa is a wide spot on the road to the beach along the WA side of the River, and has a rich history based on the defunct gill-net fishery and still-goin' logging industry. Boosters term it "the Venice of the Columbia" because a few of the houses overlook tidal stretches of Skamokawa Creek, which bisects the town. The site was a major locus for Chinooks and other Native Americans because of the superb access to salmon runs. Some of you may remember salmon ... big, silvery fish, given to outlandish journeys from the saltchuck to their home stream to spawn and die. The Paddling Center seemed very well-laid out and did a steady business renting yaks, with maybe 30 per cent of the launching traffic being personal boats. Most folks stayed in the backwaters, and many seemed completely new to kayaks. On my Saturday trip I went up to the upriver end of the island which forms the WA side of the shipping channel, and lazed around, spying on freighters and a couple small hordes of downriver-bound paddlers, heavily stippled with folks new to paddling. Most were in yaks, but a few paddled open canoes. I believe most had paddled down from Cathlamet in protected backwaters, maybe a 10 - 12 mile paddle to the Center. There also seemed to be a largish encampment of canoeists at the nearby RV/tenter/car camper campground (Vista Park). Some were a little intimidated by freighter wakes when they hit the beach. Although the B and B prices seemed a little steep, especially considering the breakfast, the scene looked like a nice way to make use of this area during the wet season. I could dig having ready, instantaneous access to a hot shower after a dousing in cold rain this February. Only drag is that the Duck Inn is the only local restaurant, and it's strictly gut-bomb fare. We found a couple nice steaks in Cathlamet, 6-8 miles up the road, but no "healthy" eateries around. Four or five years ago, we used to paddle across the River from a launch point in Oregon some 6-7 miles away, hit the Duck Inn for a burger and a beer, and then paddle back! Seemed decadent, even when we did it. For those interested, here's the Center's Web page: http://www.skamokawapaddle.com/ I could not get a response from their email, so I'm not sure anybody is monitoring it. For the record, I have no financial interest in promoting the Center, though I know some of the people guiding out of there. FWIW, I am a skeptic about how well novices might be served by paddling out of Skamokawa, because the Center is 200 yards from the edge of the shipping channel and one of the (potentially) roughest sections of the lower River. Seems like a place where newbies could get into trouble quickly. We'll see, I guess. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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