Monday, May, 6, 2013, Monte Rio, CA.
Monte Rio to Casini’s and back
I originally was going to kayak at Jenner today, but Steve left me an email saying he’d be at Monte Rio, so. I decided to stop in Monte Rio on the way to Jenner and if he was there, I would go to Monte Rio instead as it’s always a real nice area to kayak.
When I arrived at Monte Rio, about eleven thirty, Steve had just put in so I unloaded my boat and we headed down stream toward the Villa Grande hole.
Some wood ducks hang out in the area. This male was by itself. The female is likely sitting on some eggs at this time.
A wood duck in the bushes is pictured below.
And turtles, there are usually a few of these guys sitting on logs on the edge of the river. Just have to pay attention to see some of them.
We worked our way down to the Villa Grande hole taking our time.
Below is the view of the Villa Grande hole, as we headed down the river. Always real scenic here.
We sat around the Villa Grande hole for awhile watching what was going on then continued our trip down the river. I was thinking we should go down to see what the biologists might be doing, just below the Casini Ranch, at the Duncan’s Mills fire station. They have been working in the area putting in some kind of fish counter. I put it to Steve about going down there and he was looking for a little exercise so we headed down that way.
We continued down the river. There were clouds in the sky and it looked like we might get a shower or two. At the Ryan’s beach hole, it started to sprinkle, so we pulled under some trees to let it pass. It wasn’t much in the rain department which was fine with us. The wind had picked up a bit too.
Below, are some of the clouds we viewed as we passed the Ryan’s beach area and had to take shelter under a tree for a short spell.
The shower was short lived so we didn’t have to stay under the tree long. We continued down the river to the Casini Ranch, where the wind was real calm.
Below is the view as we came into the Casini Ranch area, looking down the river.
There is a gravel ripple at the Casini Ranch. Sometimes you can paddle though it when the tide is right, otherwise, you have to walk your boat though it. Today, the tide was going out, so we had to walk the boats though it on the south shore side.
We got back in our boats and continued down the river.
Below is a pic of the Casini area, just below the ripple looking over what is called Browns hole.
That’s Steve in the blue yak. It’s always real scenic in this area.
Just below that we came to the area where the biologists had been working. No one was there. They had these four inch pipes across the river with wires going into them. This counts fish that have little rod tags embedded in them, so they know what fish pass this area.
Below are the steps that come down to the river from the Duncan’s Mills fire station. You can see the four inch pvc pipes going into the water on the right.
There wasn’t much happening there, so we headed back up the river. Of course, we had to walk our kayaks back across the Casini Ripple again.
Below is Steve walking his kayak back up across this ripple.
The mallard ducks seem to be hatching out their little ones right about now. This female mallard was seen just above Casini’s.
There is a big osprey nest at Ryan’s beach and this guy was sitting up near it, below.
We continued to paddle back up the river. The breeze had calmed and it was real nice.
Below is the view up river, just below Monte Rio.
We spied this mallard family in the weeds. See all the little guys hiding in it?
And another mamma mallard duck with her little ones, she is protecting them on the shoreline.
Just above that we spied this Great Blue Heron and a turtle sitting there too, below.
We arrived back at Monte Rio about five. A good work out and a good day.
