Canoeing the Tualatin River

Sonya and I went canoeing in the Tualatin river yesterday. We rented our canoes from the non-profit group: http://www.tualatinriverkeepers.org/ at Cook Park near Tigard, a town south of Portland, Oregon. We joined as members, and rented a canoe for 4 hours- all for $35.00. The friendly staff supplied us with life-jackets helped us launch our canoe around 11:30AM. One need not be a member to rent a canoe from them- but becoming a member helps you get a discount on future rentals, support this non-profit organization, and find out more about the river from the newsletters we will be receiving.

As is the story of many rivers in the 19th and 20th centuries, this river had become quite polluted due to human activity in the area. However, these days the river is in a much better condition due to the efforts of many organizations like the Tualatin Riverkeepers and The Tualatin River Watershed Council (TRWC), a local watershed stewardship organization. A full history would be a book length study!

The river contains washed off silt from nearby areas, silt which is so fine that if one were to let a jar of water from the river sit on a table, it would take more than 6 months to settle. The river was calm with a gentle current- which meant that paddling upstream was not too tiring. There is a map at the launch site which contains information on sections of the river which are safe and sections which can be dangerous due to dams and possible log jams. We were only planning to canoe 2 or 3 miles upstream and return-and did not have any serious hazards on the way.

"Oooh! Its like glass here"- comment by a fellow kayaker. 

We were lucky to see some new animals and birds today. 

- River Otter?: a dark brown snake like hairy body along the river's edge caught my eye, and its undulating shape slithered beneath the bushes and disappeared from view.

- Spotted Sandpiper?: Grey top- white underneath: this bird (there were two on them on a small grass meadow by the river, one flew away, another landed on a log on the river), dipped its head and tail alternately in a weird dance move.

- Pileated Woodpecker: Its flight made me think it was a northern flicker, but when I trained my binoculars on it, I noticed a red patch on the head, white in between and a black body on a dramatically foreshortened bird that flew directly away from me with cries like "pok a pok a pok wok".

- Green Heron: This is the bird that adorns the logo of the Tualatin Riverkeepers. On the way back, I wanted to have a closer look at some violet flowers growing on a rock, and we saw a bird fly into the bushes as we approached the bank. As we were leaving the area, we noticed a bird land on a log-through the binoculars it looked a miniature version of a great blue heron- a foot tall, with yellow eyes, a long yellow beak and yellow feet-with a "S" shaped neck and striped feathers. Juvenile?

Guide to exploring the Tualatin River: "Exploring the Tualatin River Basin" : A Nature and Recreation Guide by Tualatin Riverkeepers.

- Olive-sided flycatcher?: This bird was on a branch on a tree close to the heron, and had a pale yellow chest, and its angular head in profile looked like a miniature kingfisher.

- "Tree Bass": this is what a guy said pointing to his fishing line caught in the tree as he was standing on a boat launch dock.

Some of the regulars were

- Belted Kingfisher: The placid canoe trip began with a loud belted kingfisher emitting loud cries in the bushes, and then darting back and forth in the river ahead of us. We saw the same bird (or possibly another specimen according to Sonya) a few more times on the river and on our way back.

- Red-Tailed Hawk: we saw a few of them circling overhead scanning the area along the river for food, and heard their "kileree" through the tree canopy without being able to locate the bird at other times.

- Scrub Jays

-Starlings

-Norther Flicker: Many of them criss-crossed the river with their familiar flight pattern, flying up and then diving like a custom input to a power electronic device.

- Dragonflies skirting the surface of the water.


- Mallards: flying by, and mallards extending their necks to eat low hanging berries from an unknown plant

It was fun to watch mallards sitting in the water, extend their necks to reach for the berries shown in the photo above

There were many paddlers on the river; some muscular, some not in the best of shape, families with children, couples, singles, people fishing from private docks along the river, all politely saying hi and waving to each other as we passed each other. A woman kayaker put it perfectly with her comment "It is like glass here!" on a quiet section of the river. For the three hours we spent on the river, we were only passed by one motor-boat- that too someone who courteously slowed their pace to a gentle crawl as they passed us.






Food:
- Onion flavored Thanh Son Tofu
- Gluten-free bread with basil cashew pesto made  by Sonya
- sugar plum tomatoes
-organic baby carrots


Public Transit:
- MAX from Goose-hollow to Beaverton Transit Center
- 76: from Beaverton Transit Center to stop near Cook Park: http://goo.gl/maps/YbIae
- Walk from bus stop to Cook Park: http://goo.gl/maps/zfUvq

 I would highly recommend this trip as a relaxing way to connect with nature in a place that can be easily accessed by Public Transport.