Evening Paddle in Monte Rio Going Down River and Back

Wednesday May 7, 2014 Monte Rio CA.

A little shopping first though

Once I got it going this morning I headed to the Home Depot and Wally’s to do some shopping. Then I went over to visit my friend Marty and we shot the bull and looked at a bunch of his jeeping pictures. We also did some planning for a trip up to his cabin in Boonville soon.

I returned home and unloaded the stuff I purchased and had something to eat then went on down to Monte Rio for a late day of kayaking. I arrived just after three PM. Not many people around the river at this time. I put my boat in the water and headed down stream at a leisurely pace stopping along the way. The water was up a bit as the river’s mouth seemed to be closed down at Jenner.

The osprey at the Villa Grande Hole was on it’s nest as I went by.

I stopped at the Villa Grande hole for a bit before continuing on down the river towards Sheridan beach.

This was my view as I paddled along headed for the Sheridan beach area.

Steve was fishing at Sheridan

I ran into Steve fishing just below the Sheridan beach. It was a little breezy so we pulled under some trees and shot the bull for a bit, killing time, waiting for it to get later in the evening hoping more fish might come out to take Steve’s hook.

Eventually, the breeze died down

He fished around that area for a bit then we started to head back up the river as he fished.

This is our view of Sheridan Beach as we paddled on by it. It’s a bit later in the evening now, so things are a bit darker out in that spot.

As we approached the Villa Grande area again where there was still some sun shining, I spied this Green Heron fishing away.

Steve fished around in the Villa Grande Hole area for quite awhile without success. He was trying out a new fly rod and was happy with it even though he didn’t catch anything.

A crow landed near me and was looking for something on the rocks, but I couldn’t tell what?

That crow or another one flew up and landed next to this great blue heron that was getting some of the last sun rays of the day.

It was getting dark at Villa Grande Hole where Steve went to shore for a bit in this picture looking down river. Villa Grande Beach is on the left, with Steve on it.

Eventually we headed up the river again towards Monte Rio, just before the sun was going to go down in that area. Since the River has turns in it, some areas are in the sun and some are not as we paddled along.

The sun was down in this part of the river just below Monte Rio as we paddled on back up the river.

When we got to the Monte Rio area, the sun was still out for just a bit.

I passed by this pair of Merganser ducks sitting on a log.

And there are always some Mallard ducks to greet you at Monte Rio.

We decided to go up under the bridge to take a look up that way.

Our view as we approached the Monte Rio Bridge that we paddled under.

We paddled under the bridge and this was our view up the river, before we turned back down and headed for the boat ramp.

We were off the water sometime after 8PM for a nice day paddling on the Russian River in Monte Rio.