Spring 2009
We returned to kayak the longer stretch of the Russian river, from Alexander Valley CampgroundRivers Edge Kayak helped us to launch our boat.
Wildlife:
We saw turtles basking in the sun on logs and boulders partially submerged in water. Schools of salmon swam in crystal clear water next to us. (We saw more fish this year than last year. I’m not sure if that is due to time of the year or different section of the river.) A variety of birds dwelling near the water were seen frequently – cormorants, blue herons, a great white egret, ducks and mergansers. Eagles and hawks soared over sand bars and we saw an osprey perched up on the top of a tree.
The River:
Mostly the river was shallow - less than a foot of water with swift current. In a few spots it slowed down and the water was deep enough to not see the bottom. The water was warm enough to take a dip and feel good on this 90F day with no cloud cover. We saw a few abandoned and rusted cars along the side of the river. Watch out for interesting stones on the river sandbars. There are many swimming holes along the way - though in this section of the river at this time of the year there were few takers.
The river – sometimes calm, sometimes swift
(A video at the end of this blog)
Kayaking Tips:
After writing this blog I came accross an excellent book on River Safety.
(River Safety - A floater's guide. Stan Bradshaw. Greycliff Publishing Company, Helena, MT 59624)
Distance : Alexander Valley Campground to Rio Lindo ~ 11 miles
Time : 11am to 3pm (with 1 hour for breaks)
It is important to read the river current well to avoid getting tipped over or to land in the trees. The river changes course often and follows the pattern of turn, speed up and ripples. The ripples are a sign of shallow water with rocks/pebbles underneath. Watch out for a V-shape patter (sometimes the V will run closer to the bank). The idea is to stay in the deeper portion by staying near the middle of the V. If you are closer to the bank and are going to run past a few twigs duck down and hold your paddle low.
Do not take your wallet, expensive electronics etc if you do not need to. We saw many people lose phones and cameras or suffer from irreversible water damage. Zip-lock bags do not cut it. We had taken waterproof camera and dry-bags for food and cell-phone. These items were securely attached to the kayak or our life-vests. We were fortunate that we lost nothing, but others were not.
Do not go alone. Even if the river is shallow, there can be a risk of serious injury if you hit a tree and become unconscious. We were happy to see one of the guides from Rivers-edge Kayak waiting halfway along the river and checking on people as they passed by.
Please wear water-shoes. Sneakers will get wet and flip-flops will leave you when you flip in the water.
A sandbar – our lunch break spot
Food Suggestions:
Ideally waterproofed or something that will float if it does fall in the water. Attach the dry bag of food to the watercraft securely. Coolers do not cut it. We learned that orange floats on water (at least tangerine does) – as we dropped one and found it nice and cool floating in water along with our water-bottle a half mile downstream where the river had slowed down. Bags of chips – prefer to take smaller packets which are individually wrapped. Nutrition bars. If items are individually wrapped, you have better luck that they will remain dry and edible even if the lunch box takes some water.
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Summer 2008
Russian River, as the name indicates, was once influenced by Russian presence in this part of Pacific Coast (in early 1800s). The river flows through the redwood forest and vineyards of Napa-Sonoma area before meeting the Pacific ocean at a little town called Jenner. We kayaked 5 mile stretch between Rio Lindo and Healdsburg (a 3 hour trip with little help from the river current).
Paddling down the River
For river Kayaking, the access to launch point requires entry through private land. We sought help from Rivers Edge Kayak in Healdsburg for launching our Kayak at Rio Lindo. There was Class 1 current in the river (about 1-2 feet /sec) and the water was barely 6 inches deep in places. That provided plenty of fun as we did not have to paddle much except to steer the kayak and our sit on top ocean kayak was very forgiving to stay afloat in 6 inches of water.
We had the river to ourselves as it was a weekday with few tourists venturing out. There was plenty of wildlife that we saw on this part of the river. A couple of blue herons, green herons and snowy egrets looking for tiny fish near the banks of the river. At one point we saw a couple of (what we swear were) Salmon from their pink color in a foot deep water. Further down the river we saw a few river turtles basking in the sun on partially submerged rocks and tree stumps. We also saw a beautiful Western Tanager , sitting on the grassy bank and looking for insects in a still pool of water. Its beautiful yellow body and orange head was reflecting perfectly in the water. Isn't it cool that this bird does not make the red forehead color? It gets the color from the diet of insects ( insects presumably get the pigment from the plants..)
A picture of Western Tanager
(Picture credit: http://www.nps.gov/cebr/naturescience/tanager.htm)
A Blue Heron
On the way there were many a pools, some with rope swings, and sandy beaches and islands. We had a riparian lunch picnic at one of these islands(photo below). There were little birds on the island nesting in the grassy twigs growing on the bank of the river.
We had picnic lunch at this beach
We were surrounded by these little birds making nests on the grass
It was nice day, just overcast enough to not sweat and have the warmth of sun on your back and the water was just cold enough to enjoy dipping your feet in the water.
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