Creek Kayak

I got out for a day on the water yesterday, with my kayaking friend.  We rented boats from Mountain Equipment Coop (very reasonable price!), and took them to a creek just east of the city.
 

The scenery is magnificent, surrounded by steep tree covered mountains.

 

The low cloud cover on the mountains made for some dramatic views!

 

Along the way, we enjoyed some herons feeding in the shallows.  

 

The shallow water made it challenging to find our way through in some places on our way upstream.  The creek is affected by the ocean tides, despite being about 40 km from the ocean!  On the way back, the tide had dropped, and we thought we might have a harder time, but instead, the deep parts were more obvious.  Much more enjoyable when we didn't have to drag our boats along!  The bottom of the creek is all sand, so even when we did have to get out and walk, it was quite easy.

The water is crystal clear, letting us watch the small fish swimming along.  It would be quite amazing to see when the salmon were spawning! 
 
Dramatic moss covered trees reminded us that we're in a rainy area.

 

The creek runs down from the mountains loaded with minerals, making for beautiful clear green water.

 

When we reached the end of the creek (or at least as far as we could take the boats), we hiked another 3 km up the creek to a series of waterfalls.  The path was a little tricky in places!

 
 

 

The power of the water was very obvious, in the way it had carved out the rock over time.  We tried to imagine what this place looks like in spring run-off!  Must be awesome.

 

 

On the hike back, we saw the old stumps from when the area was logged, and the new trees growing on the old.

 

This was another awesome tree, dripping in moss.

 

It was a great day out on the water, and the weather was quite cooperative - a mile away, on the drive home, it started raining hard!  Good timing!