Friday, June 21, 2013, Jenner, CA.
I’m making some boysenberry jam right now too
Today, it was going to be kayak at Jenner, wind or no. Most like wind. Off I went bright and early for me, about ten AM to the Jenner launch ramp at the visitors center.
Of course it was a bit on the windy side when I put my boat in the water, but not too bad, yet. I paddled across to Penny Island and headed down it’s north side toward the west end of the island, where I thought I might put ashore and see if I could find some berries to eat and go for a little bit of a walk too.
This is where I put ashore on the west end of Penny Island, looking west toward the ocean.
I didn’t find a lot of berries on this part of the island. It’s mostly a mix of swamp grasses and grasses as this part of the island goes underwater when the closed river mouth backs up the water onto it. Then I will be able to kayak it.
This a a photo of what a lot of the west end of Penny Island looks like.
I stayed on the island for a couple hours just poking around and taking it easy. The wind was getting stronger as I was there.
By the time I put my boat back in the water, the wind had picked up pretty good. I thought about going down toward the river’s mouth, but after paddling into the wind for a bit, it just seemed like a better idea to turn tail and let the wind blow me up the river on the back side of Penny Island, so that’s what I did.
This photo is me just starting to paddle in to the wind and head down to the mouth, just before I got smart and turned and let the wind carry me back up the river.
The wind was blowing up river pretty good, so I didn’t have to paddle, just keep it heading in the right direction.
This photo is looking back up the river on the backside of Penny Island. I’m headed back up there to the east end where I will take the boat out of the water again while I look for some more berries to eat.
With the wind blowing me along, it didn’t take long before I was at the east end of Penny Island where I went to shore for another little walk and some berries.
This photo is where I put ashore on the east end of Penny Island, looking west down the back channel.
This end of the island is a better place to find berries to eat, but it’s also a lot harder to get around in this area as there are a lot of berry bushes and brush.
Below is what one of the trails looks like in this area, very lush and over grown.
I did find plenty of berries to eat and had my fell. I put my boat back in the water and crossed over the little channel on the east end and made my way over to the visitor’s center take out. I took my time as the wind was up and I like to just sorta ride the waves as I cross over, enjoying the water, knowing I’m almost to the car and this trip is almost over, so don’t hurry.
The boysenberry jam I’m making
I’ve been gathering berries out of my garden the last couple of days and think I have enough for a quart or two of jam. The birds are really working them over now, so good I got mine when I did. I put them in a big pot with some sugar and am now boiling them to 220 degrees F, and putting that in jars. I’ve been sampling it as it’s doing it’s thing and boysen is it good. :O) I hope I have some left to put in the jars. :O)
Another nice day.