Feature
A Kayak, A River, A Perfect Day
"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." – Kenneth Grahame (the Scottish-born writer of "The Wind in the Willows," not the local publisher.)
If you've driven Dayton's Main Street recently, you've likely seen the new Chamber of Commerce billboard next to the Touchet River Bridge. There is a photo of a kayaker drifting along in the shadows on glass-like water. It could be a studio-doctored production for a travel brochure or a kayak manufacturing company. It is not. The photo was taken with a cheap digital camera from another kayak on a typical late spring day. The scene is only 30 minutes from Dayton's Main Street. It's the Palouse estuary, where the Palouse River meets the Snake.
The mouth of the Palouse is a real treasure, and since we began kayaking, our favorite place to paddle. Scenes like the one depicted on the billboard are normal at the mouth of the Palouse. When we are lucky and launch on a calm day with few or no powerboats, it is an experience like no other. Paddling slowly and leisurely along, one can imagine being caught up in another time. Personal cares melt away. The ancient, sheer basalt formations that slice right to the water's edge and the immense hills rising on all sides are little changed for thousands of years. These sights are constantly flooding your senses. Mix in the sounds of myriad river birds and the soft lapping of your paddle, and it can be a transforming experience. For a little while, one can become detached from the whirlwind and feel a part of the natural world.
Sure, much of the Palouse kayaking adventure wouldn't be possible without dams, but as Southern writer Wendell Berry once said, "Men may dam it and say that they have made a lake, but it will still be a river." The Palouse is clearly still a river. A sense of river-ness is felt only a mile or so upstream from the mouth. Here the channel narrows and sediment islands appear, with forests of willows and cattails. These are home to hundreds of red-winged blackbirds, muskrats, otters and beaver. We have seen herons, egrets, osprey, geese, numerous species of ducks, long-beaked shore birds of various kinds, and even the occasional bald eagle on our journeys up the Palouse. Moving slowly and quietly in a kayak affords better opportunities for wildlife viewing. Also, since kayaks draw so little water (maybe 4-5 inches,) one can explore areas in shallows that powerboats cannot disturb. A couple of miles further upstream will leave them all behind in the summer months when the stream flow is down. Then, the Palouse becomes "Kayaks Only."
The mouth of the Palouse is not only close to home, but kayak owners, once settled in the parking area behind Lyon's Ferry, can be paddling in 5 minutes or less. Our boats weigh 45 pounds each, and are easily tied to the roof of a vehicle or to a small lightweight trailer, carried to the water, and launched. After a few awkward seconds getting seated in the kayak (even the most majestic and graceful water birds often look awkward taking flight or landing), we set off and the magic begins. (An added bonus is that our boats always start.)
Recreational kayaking is truly an activity that accentuates the moment. They are so light and versatile that almost any body of water you pass can become your next adventure. Just stop and launch. As Thoreau said,
"...launch yourself on every wave, find your element in each moment." Many of our best moments have been spent kayaking on the Palouse River, a very local treasure.
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