Kayak Touring on the Palouse River

 Last weekend, we had an amazing overnight adventure.  We loaded up 2 tandem sea kayaks.  Headed north to the Palouse River.  We unloaded the boats and packed them full of our gear.  Then with a parent in back and a son in front, we headed upstream.  The Palouse River is part of a "lake" sitting behind a dam.  This allows for easy travel with little to no current in either direction.  The temperatures were very hot, probably 95 degrees.  But the slight breeze, the cool water, and the shade offered by the steep cliffs made for a lovely afternoon of paddling.  We moved at a nice pace moving about 3 1/2 miles upstream in about 3 hours.  We of course stopped for some lunch, chased fish, gathered floating sticks and rescuing drowning dragonflies along the way.  Below you will see some of our favorite images from the weekend with some explanatory captions.  We did not have the camera out until we got to our campsite in the evening of the first day.


Here is Stuart returning from scouting for our camp.  

Dakota and Wren spent the time while Stuart was scouting for camp, finding endless forts, sticks (swords, guns and bows) and enjoying using their imagination for extended camp play.

Stuart and Heidi (really Stuart) were determined to try a tandem role in one of the kayaks.  We were amazingly successful when we had a plan!  So we did that twice... Then we tried pretending that we did not have a plan and Heidi swam after 2 tries.  But that left Stuart in to role the boat by himself.  So success all around because Heidi could easily have just hoisted herself back in.

Here is Heidi drying off after swimming out of the kayak.  It stayed hot until very late in the evening so it was easy to dry off. 

As the sun sets, we made dinner of yummy tortellini and pesto and set up camp under the stars.  This was Dakota's first time to sleep out with no tent.  He really enjoyed seeing the stars as he fell asleep.
It did finally get cold and so in the morning we were happy to have hot chocolate.  Here is Dakota enjoying his morning hot chocolate as the sun rises on the cliffs behind.

  Here the Stuart and Wren are relaxing in the kitchen.  Altogether spectacular.

Here is the morning sun rising on the cliffs behind our wondrous boats.

The boys really wanted some bows and arrows.  So, we made them from some sticks and cord found in camp.  These bows and arrows occupied the boys all morning as we packed up the camp and the boats.  Practicing Leave No Trace (LNT), we did not take them with us but rather broke them down, left the sticks and packed out the "trash" (i.e. the cord).  The boys are learning a ton about being great LNT campers.  If you are really interested, ask us about Blue Poop Bags. 

Wren really enjoyed learning about kayaking and paddling with his dad.

Dakota and Mom really enjoyed exploring and making up so many wonderful stories.  Often the stories were based on our guesses on what was floating in the water up ahead.  (Could be hippo, alligator, stick, fish, dragonfly...who knows?)  Here Wren jumps off a cliff into the water.

Altogether a wonderful trip.  Something that would be fun for ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO VISIT and go overnight camping.  After paddling back to the car, we unloaded, and headed up to see the Palouse Falls, a 180 ft. waterfall just a mile or so upstream of where we paddled but needed to drive around in order to get a chance to see it.  Next time we will try to stay 2 nights and day hike up to the falls on the middle day.   FUN FOR ALL !!!!!