Kayaking Coastal Rivers

While we were at Sea Ranch we took a few kayaking trips. We just paddled flat coastal rivers and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife along the way.
Our first stop was the Russian River where it meets the ocean at Jenner by the Sea.  A lovely name but not much town. 

 We had a quick lunch at the Visitor's Center and then pointed the kayak toward the mouth of the river.

 This cabin looked charming from a distance.

 Calvin always looks good

 We paddled under Highway 1 and started seeing lots of wildlife.

We had seen harbor seals near the mouth of river, but I'm not fast enough with a camera to get their pictures.  This guy was perfectly happy to hang out oh his log for a photo.

Then in a trip highlight we saw a squirrel swimming across the river. (He made it safely across)

We also enjoyed a flock of white pelicans and comorants sunning on some logs.

The next day we drove to Mendocino to paddle the Big River estuary. This was more of a paddle through the forest.

I always take a picture of Calvin at the start of the trip so I can see where we've been.

And a couple to see where we're going

There was lush growth all along the river. But not a very good place to stop for a picnic.

We had hoped to paddle the Gualala River, but the water was too low to travel without a couple of portages, so we decided to try Bodega Bay. It turned out to be colder and windier than the rivers, and not particularly interesting to paddle. It is best at high tide, but we were there at low tide. 

We found a big group of harbor seals sunny in the mudflats at the start of the paddle. They we in a little water on the way back but didn't mind if we took pictures.

The pelicans here are brown pelicans

Once we turned around and had the wind at our backs I could enjoy seeing the mist rising from the beach.

Kayaking is a great way to see the world.