Isthmus, Davis, and Shinglehouse Sloughs (Coos Bay)

At 7:00 am I launched at the boat ramp at the south end of the Isthmus Slough. The tide had been going out for two hours already so I had to leave early.

My plan was to paddle approximately 15 miles. Melissa had no interest in paddling that far so I found myself on my own.

About 2 1/2 miles up the Isthmus the Davis Slough joins it. I then paddled the entire way to the end of it against the outgoing tide. With no other people around, and the water as calm as it was, relaxing was very easy.

Throughout the paddle there was the occasional large farm style house. I never saw any cars or people around the houses. It would be a shame if these houses were forgotten.

After paddling back to the Isthmus and another 4 miles of paddling I came to the Shinglehouse Slough. The Shinglehouse is half a mile shorter than Davis and a little narrower. Time to paddle against the tide again.

When I was on the Shinglehouse I came across this bird that was unusually brave. It allowed me to paddle within 20 feet of it. I got some good pictures of it including this one.

This was my favorite house on the paddle. Two stories on the river with a wrap around deck, I'll take one.

This old barge had seen better days. I don't think it was even floating. It did have a line tied to the dock, kind of unnecessary but if I owned it I wouldn't want to lose this gem either.

It was raining off and on through out the paddle but only hard enough to gather on the lens of my camera and mess up the pictures until this point.

Here is the bridge that goes over the the Isthmus Slough were it connects with the bay. I am getting pretty tired at this point but I still have about 3 more miles to go.

With the end in sight I crossed paths with this tug boat. At this point, there was no wind and no rain. When the wakes came to me they were about 2 feet which is usually no problem but the water was as smooth as glass. Since there was no texture on the wave I could not tell exactly how fast they were moving or how deep they were. It was very unnatural. After I landed I had to walk across the 101 highway to the hotel and the kayak trailer with my kayak on my shoulder. It was the last paddle of my vacation. After 15 miles of paddling and a 200 yard kayak carry I am about done.

Lazy Days (Coos Bay)

The first week of our trip had been pretty eventful so we decided to take it easy. We usually need a vacation to recover from our vacation so this time I planned ahead. If we only took one week off we would have come home in need of some rest. Week two has been the the second vacation. We went for a walk on the beach Sunday. Melissa collected more sea shells than the two of us could carry with out the help of a plastic grocery bag from a passerby. Monday we rented a Polaris Razor and rode the dunes in the morning and in the afternoon we walked to two of North Bend's local book shops and an antique store with an extremely talkative owner. Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday we hung out in the hotel room, read a book, watched TV, crocheted, did word searches, did puzzles, ordered in pizza, and took a nap whenever the mood struck. In the afternoon on Thursday we were going a little stir crazy so we went for a walk around Mingus Park.

The park is less than a mile away from the hotel and is deceptively large. You can only see a small part of it from the road but once you get in it just keeps going.

I think the person who designed this park was a big fan of buffet style dinners because there is a little of everything here. A large duck pond with a walking trail around the perimeter, Asian Gardens, wooded walking trails, a small boardwalk along side a stream, an amphitheather, and a playground for kids, all in about four acres.

Here is Melissa on the Asian Bridge between the duck pond and the gardens. It is amazing how green everything is here compared to Redding at this time of year. The funny thing is they have fire season warning signs up around town.

Milicoma River Paddle (Coos Bay)

Another beautiful morning. We launched at Dorris Place on the Milicoma river and paddled up to Rooke-Higgins about 3 1/2 miles. The banks were lined with trees and the occasional farm. A great start to an epic journey.

Melissa was enjoying herself as we paddled with the tide up river. It is an interesting experience to paddle up river with the current. My instincts could not get used to it.

On the way back the wind picked up. I told Melissa that it would be easier for her to paddle if she got out of the middle of the river and paddled near the edge were the wind was blocked by the steep incline of the bank. She must have really wanted out of the wind because she started paddling about a foot off the bank. As we paddled around a corner she encountered a patch of what she thought to be short reeds. Ignorant of this mercilessness unstoppable predator, she paddled into its waiting jaws.

"Um, I might be to close to the bank." she said as the reeds began to slow her progress. "Why would you think that?" I responded as I snapped the second picture of the epic battle unfolding before me.

"Because its getting hard to pad, hey, why are you taking pictures of this? Stop it." She said in laughing frustration as she began to realize the true cunning of her unsuspected foe.

As the kayak came to a demoralizing halt all she could do was hang her head in shameful defeat. Normally I, being the great hero that I am, would have come to her rescue but upon seeing her distress was immediately attacked by a fit of laughter and was unable to paddle to her aid because of the camera in my hands. Alas, she was a good wife, I will miss her.