Wallace Island offers quiet kayak camping getaway
(AP) — Standing on top of a sandy white bluff on an island surrounded by glittering blue waters and windsurfers soaring in the distance, it was easy to forget I was camped in the middle of the Columbia River.
Despite the close distance, though, dodging freighters in the river's shipping lanes and coping with the river's powerful tides and currents makes it no beginner's paddle.
To avoid shipping lanes, you could launch from the Beaver Boat Launch and paddle down the Clatskanie River, which empties into the Columbia on the south shore of Wallace Island.
Seeking a longer and more scenic route, Riley and I packed up our camping gear in dry bags with water and food and drove to County Line Park.
Paddling west, the noise of Ocean Beach Highway disappeared almost immediately behind foothills shrouded in evergreen trees.
Behind us, the bluff gave way to fields of tall yellow grass and bunches of green Scotch broom rippling like waves in the wind.
By early evening, the clouds cleared to reveal blue skies, which faded into a peach and pink sunset.
A bald eagle squawked from his perch on a tree limb about a quarter of a mile away as we eat a breakfast of instant oatmeal.