Saturday, Dec. 7, 2012, Jenner, CA.
Meant to Kayak Monte Rio, but went to Jenner instead.
I got up this morning with intentions of working on my van, but I had a ton of stuff to think about, so decided to go down to Monte Rio to kayak and so I headed in that direction, but I did put my flat shovel in the car, just in case the ramp was a bit on the muddy side, as the swollen river had dropped a bit.
As I drove down the access road, a lot of mud appeared, just above the launch ramp. It was sloppy, but I have a four wheel drive Subaru, so not much worry. Well, there sure was a lot of mud on the boat ramp. I was going to have to do some shoveling if I wanted to use it without getting all muddy.
So, I got out the shovel and proceeded to shovel a path down the right side, moving the mud snot off to the side. This took about a half hour. Below is a photo of the trail I made in the mud down the right side of the boat ramp. There are always friendly ducks here.
But, when I got it done, I decided to go down to Jenner instead to avoid the mud, boy was I wrong about that.
It was low tide, the water was down and the mud was a showing where I usually launch, so I decided to use the new boat ramp instead, however, I had to do some more mud shoveling first.
Below, you can see the low tide and the exposed mud that is deposited by the muddy storm water.
Rain and waves will eventually wash it all back into the deeper part of the river.
Below, you can see my kayak sitting on the boat ramp after I shoveled a trail down the left side.
One of the reasons I decided to come down there is the wind was down. Below you can see what it looked like looking out of he river mouth, into the Pacific ocean.
The surfers where here again today. Apparently, the sand that gets washed out the mouth of the river creates some nice wave action when this happens. Below you can see one of the surfers just outside the rivers mouth. Lots of birds in the water too.
It was interesting to note, that I saw a surfer walking out there on the swallow sand that got washed out the mouth. It gets washed way out there, which causes the waves to left up for a nice ride. It looked like the water was only about a foot deep out there where he was.
Below is a photo of this guy walking on the sand way out there if you can make it out.
I didn’t stay out too long today, I was back around two thirty pm.
Below, you can see the mud at the visitors center where I usually launch my kayak. It’s still low tide, once it comes back in, the mud is covered by water and not a problem.
It was a short day, but a good day and I got most of my thinking done. I came home with intentions of getting some chores done, but it was cool and not encouraging type weather to do any work, so I got something to eat instead and sat in my chair and napped instead, until it got dark and my wood stove was calling for some wood.
Had a great day.