We got slightly above the quick water (the part that's usually scratchy)- further than I expected to go! After that, the current really wanted to turn us around at the split where you'd go to the dam or the rocky spillway, and I was tired. The river is WAY up and there was impressive current for much of the trip today. The wind added on to it. I am really glad we went elsewhere on Tuesday morning, after that big storm on Monday - we planned to do this trip then! The strainers weren't that bad, but there are more than we found in November.
We saw buffleheads, harlequins, mallards, osprey, red tailed hawks, painted turtles, a bluebird, a new beaver lodge, some Canada geese with a partly or fully domesticated outsider in their flock (I got a photo - it was odd!), as well as about 10 other paddlers. Not one had a PFD on, let alone cold weather gear. Some didn't wear a shirt!
Finally, we found one floating watermelon, all the way from Guatemala. My mom will be thrilled - her birthday is Tuesday!
Here are the photos... I didn't get that close to the mallards, it's just zoom. They thought I couldn't see them, though! https://flic.kr/s/aHsmMG2Dog
Thanks for the report on the river Skye. I have been on that river when it is cranking and it is impressive. I think your masked Canada Goose is a Muscovy duck. I raised a pair at one time.
I knew I’d seen him before - how funny that he ran off with the Canadians! They seemed to accept him as one of the flock - I always laugh when they have "one of these things is not like the others" in their midst.
We’ve done this trip so many times, and knew it would be more challenging than its average level... but we slept better than we expected to, and rested very little out there!
There’s a Canada goose nest not far from the launch on the left (north) so give a wide berth in that area!
