Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, Jenner, CA.
I decided to go Kayaking today.
Yes, even though the river is up and muddy, I decided to go kayaking today, as it will likely be raining on Sunday. So, I headed down to Jenner around eleven this morning. I drove down to the overlook at the mouth first to see how things looked from up there.
The river mouth was opened real wide from the storm. Below you can see the river mouth at the jetty area. This is at high tide and the ocean is real rough.
Below is the right side of the river mouth. Look close and you might be able to see a green kayak laying in the rubble, maybe not as it blends in well. If the river comes up high enough from the next storm, it might take all the sand that is left in this picture out. This part only goes out when the river gets real high.
I talked with a few people that where down there watching the river, then went back to the Jenner launch area to put the boat in the water. No one there but me.
Below, you can see that the high river piled up a lot of stuff on the boat ramp, so I put in on the other side of the visitors center.
The launch area on the left side of the visitors center had a lot of stuff on it too, but I was able to get around it, or maybe I should say over it. Below is the pic of the launch area.
I decided to head down to the mouth, as it was high tide which meant that the river wouldn’t be flowing quite as fast as it does during low tide.
Below is a picture of what the mouth looked like from a yak on the water. See the rough ocean breaking over the end of the jetty?
These vultures where eating something on the shore near the mouth of the river. See below.
And the seals where taking it easy too, not much use fishing in the muddy water.. See all the seals and birds taking it easy in the pic below.
Despite what everyone else says, when the water gets muddy, nothing much catches any fish, so all the big fish coming up to mate, laying eggs, make it easily up river and back down too, if they are steelhead. Salmon die and only go up. Most people don’t think of all the young fish that have to go to the ocean for the first time to get big. Lots of these little guys and it’s much safer for them when the water is muddy. Never have seen any fish in distress or dead from muddy water. I’ve only seen fish in distress and being eaten in low and clear water.
Of course, I’m the only one in just about the whole world that thinks muddy water is much better for these types of fish than clear, during the runs.
After spending some time down at the river’s mouth, I headed up the back channel of the island up river a bit and took this picture. See the wood stuff coming down the river. People always think that wood stuff is real dangerous, but since it and the boat are going the same speed on the water, it isn’t of much concern. It’s like the freeway, when all cars travel the same speed, they can maneuver around each other.
I only spent a little time up river than headed back in and went home for a nap.
Nice day on the river, as usual.