Elkhorn Slough
Slough Review:
I feel the same about Elkhorn as before. Not much has changed in terms of animals or the landscape, which is a beautiful thing.
What I Learned:
I definitely got better photos last time I was here alone, primarily because I was quieter just listening to my audiobooks. But, I had so much more fun this time.
The gates to Kirby Park were closed due to land erosion that took out half the road going into the park. When I talked to a fisherman at the end of the ride, he said that the park had been closed for a while and he wasn’t sure when they were going to fix it. This meant that we had to carry our crafts by foot. Which wasn’t too bad, since it got me warmed up for the paddle.
The floating boat launch was completely missing, though there was still a boat ramp, so we were able to launch our boats without much issues.
When I was processing the photos and videos, for the first time ever, I actually enjoyed the videos I took more than the pictures. 🤯
Kyle had forgotten a small screwdriver to attach his SUP’s fin and he asked me if I had one. I didn’t think I did, but I did remember that I had a small swiss army knife in my center console. It kind of saved the day as it worked well.
I didn’t know otters squealed. We saw three otters swimming together and saw a young one squealing as they swam across the bow of our water crafts. It was very cute to my ears and brought a huge smile to all of us.
Friends
Kyle and Elinor joined me for this fun ride down Elkhorn Slough. It was awesome having Kyle, as he’s just super knowledgeable about a lot of stuff, but especially things that have to do with water—also, he had an additional kayak that Elinor ended up riding. The hard-sided kayak was way more stable than mine, which ended up being just about perfect for her. Elinor seemed a little tired by the end, but I think she ended up enjoying seeing the various animals in their natural, curious state.
What Happened?
~4.6 miles, ~3 hrs, 3-10 mph SE (wind)
Kyle and I had planned for a sunrise ride down Elkhorn Slough a few times this summer, but various plans just kept getting in our way. Finally, we settled on a new date and invited Elinor along.
We got there at the gate at 5:15am, but found it locked—which was unexpected, since the sign at the gate states that the park is open from 5am to 11pm. Undaunted, we changed into our wetsuits and found Kyle pulling up behind my car. We inflated my kayak and Kyle’s SUP—we decided to carry both kayaks at the same time, while Elinor would carry the SUP. We made it down to the pier, double checked our equipment, and launched ourselves into the slough.
We had worried about the wind forecast, which stated that the wind would be about 5 mph SW to start, with it going up to 10mph SW by the time we were done, with gusts up to the teens. But there was almost no wind to start and we enjoyed the calm and the easy paddling it allowed.
At first, we really didn’t see many animals nor birds. I mean, they were there in the periphery, but it was far away and not much to see. But as the morning progressed, the wildlife seemed to wake up with us being the witnesses. A couple of seals got curious about us and started swimming next to us as we slowly made our way further down the slough. Instead of there being one or two birds out in the distance starting their breakfast, there were dozens of different types of birds searching hard for their brunch. And rather than a single otter who we could barely see, we saw dozens of otters on both sides of the bank of the slough eating, playing with their babies, or just swimming around. On the way back, there was a huge contingent of pelicans that flew over us and for the first time in my life, I heard the wings beating. I mean it makes sense that a bird flying makes noise, but I just had never heard it before. It seems silly, but it was magical to me.
Around 2 miles and change into the slough, the winds started to pick up a bit, which got all of us cold (especially Kyle who had to stand on his SUP). So, we turned around and casually retraced our... paddle back to Kirby Park.
Thanks to Elinor for the eight photos above!