Yesterday we visited this excellent wildlife area again. Here’s a plot of our track for the day. You should be able to click on the picture and it will take you to the interactive map.

This time, we put Bote into the water at Kirby Park, a free park/ramp up near the northwestern end of the slough. We were about 4 hours ahead of high tide, so our outbound journey was a struggle against the tidal current. In addition, although the wind was forecast to only 3-4 knots, we found ourselves beating against a 10-knot crosswind almost the entire way south. Lots of good upper-body and core exercise for sure.

Also, in a cross-wind, the rear paddler (that’s me) gets the ‘drool’ from the front paddler’s lifted paddle blade on the up-wind side. The breeze takes the few droplets of water running off the paddle edge, and deposits them nicely across my face, chest, and lap. After about a mile or two of this gentle misting, I’m drenched. Sadly, there seems to be no possible retaliation to the front paddler, much to her delight.

This all-too-reliable wetting is the primary reason I bought my little waterproof camera. And for “insurance” purposes, I also put everything spoilable by salt or moisture into plastic bags, including cell phone, wallet, electronic care key, and so forth. I don’t ever expect to get dumped in our very-stable craft, but (as they say) an ounce of prevention, pound of cure, and all that.

As we paddled southbound in mid-afternoon, we experienced the usual scarcity of wildlife during this inactive part of their day. A lone pelican relaxed on a mud clump, and unexcitedly marked our passage.

Quite a few paddle strokes later, we rounded the corner and headed almost directly west toward the harbor and highway. The wind came directly into our face, which oddly enough made our paddling easier (less area against the wind) and of course allowed me to dry out a bit. Some of the old artifacts in the area still show up in various spots, like this old fence line.

As we got further south, we reached areas more popular with the otters, and a lone roamer swam along with us toward the well-known smokestack landmark.

After what seemed like a LONG paddle, we pulled into a wind-sheltered loop of the slough and drifted up against the shore for a snack and a rest. A great heron watched us for a while, but was generally more interested in fishing than our snack bars.

After our snack, we tried to get some otter pics, but for some reason they were skittish and would not come close to us. Very unlike other days when they’d nearly climb into the boat. Ah well, maybe some other time.

Meanwhile, the wind had slacked off, and we were turning back toward Kirby anyway. So we put up our little sail to see what would happen. Even with only 3-4 knots of wind, we were still making about 1-2 knots on the water. Not bad for zero effort. Some nearby hard-shell kayakers looked over at us occasionally but did not approach us. Uncurious.

Having my hands free of the paddle (except for steering) let me catch a flight of pelicans as they swept by us. I sure do like pelicans a lot.

Late in the day, wildlife activity starts to pick up. The birds need to hunt for dinner before roosting for the night. Some of them, like this pelican, sweep by almost close enough to touch.

The trip back went blissfully easy, and as the day waned and darkened, the shore birds starting rafting up for the night.

We had to paddle only the last quarter-mile to get back to the dock. Although it was after 6PM, we were surprised at the number of people showing up. Some to fish, mostly to walk or watch the gathering birds. The wind was calm, the slough like glass.

Pelicans were everywhere, flying and plunging with startling splashes as they scooped up their evening meals.

With the setting of the sun, we thanked the world for yet another gorgeous day, virtually on our doorstep.