Kayaking the Snake

We have friends visiting this weekend and yesterday we took them kayaking on the Snake river.

We are lucky to have many bodies of water near our home providing all kinds of aquatic sports opportunities; however at this point we only have paddle boards and kayaks.

We are fair weather, smooth water kayakers unlike my kayak instructor brother-in-law who kayaks in the ocean, wears a helmet and has taken his kayak in rapids and with him on the plane to different destinations.

Yesterday, we were blessed with a perfect fall day, the water was like glass and we only saw a handful of other people, two boats and a few other kayakers and paddle boarders.

We paddled from the launch at Centennial Park. As we approached the Perrine Bridge, which stands 500 feet above the river, two BASE jumpers leaped off the bridge, floated down and landed near us. My friends joked that we had paid them to do this just because they were visiting. 

We passed under the bridge and continued on upstream to Pillar Falls. The water level has dropped enough in the Snake  that we could pull our boats up onto the rocks. We explored where the river has etched and carved away the rocks into interesting shapes and bowls and finally sat in the fall sunshine enjoying a beer together, just relaxing and talking. Finally, we reluctantly had to pack up and head back.

The return trip was just as nice. Golden, fallen leaves were on the surface of the water. A fish would jump occasionally and leave a ripple in the water and a few ducks floated past. It was one of those fortunate days, we felt blessed to have the experience and share it with our friends who had never been to our area or on the river.