5 minute read
Oregon Coast Kayak Excursions
Float and Find Freedom
Take a kayak tour on the Oregon Coast for a peaceful escape into nature’s calm
written by Cathy Carroll
The lapping water is punctuated by the pterodactyl-like call of a blue heron. A bald eagle lands on driftwood nearby. A gray harbor seal, nearly 300 pounds, pokes its rounded head above the surface, its curious eyes and whiskered snout studying you. It’s just another day of kayaking on the coast.
If life feels heavy, a kayak can fix that. Becoming buoyant, the weight of the world is literally lifted. A shift occurs—as if you’ve transformed into another species. No longer a two-legged creature on land, other animals such as river otters and elk observe you close up.
“You’re just part of the ecosystem,” said Tony Gile, owner of Safari Town Surf Shop in Lincoln City, which leads kayaking tours in the area. “You don’t have a motor, so you’re not being super invasive.”
That allows wildlife to approach you. Add the Salmon River Estuary and Nehalem Bay to your must-paddle list.
Spring is ideal for fewer crowds. Outfitters provide more than gear (including cozy wet suits) and safety tips; they offer an immersion in coastal ecology and history, from a resort swallowed by the sea to an amusement park reclaimed by nature. Steeped in knowledge, guides can easily navigate novices as well as experts to the most rewarding spots.
Gile, who opened his surf shop in 1987, considers the Salmon River one of the West Coast’s premier spots. In less than an hour, you can paddle to where the river empties into the Pacific. There you can resume your two-footedness on the beach at the base of Cascade Head, a towering volcanic headland and protected haven for rare wildflowers, native grassland prairies and wildlife.
“You’re surrounded by all that beauty—it’s just incredible,” said Gile. Mercurial coastal conditions enhance rather than impede it. “Sometimes it’s crystal clear, sometimes it’s drizzly, and sometimes the sun will come out and we’ll see rainbows going right over Cascade Head,” said Gile. “I’ve had people hesitate because it’s drizzling, but then they get out there and they’re so excited that they went.”
You’re surrounded by all that beauty—it’s just incredible. … Sometimes it’s crystal clear, sometimes it’s drizzly, and sometimes the sun will come out and we’ll see rainbows going right over Cascade Head. I’ve had people hesitate because it’s drizzling, but then they get out there and they’re so excited that they went.
Marine biologist guides lead you from the river’s main channel into secluded passageways deep in the estuary, abundant with wildlife and sheltered from weather. Native Americans, including the Nechesne, once built dugout canoes, fished and thrived here.
Along “Kingfisher Alley,” chattering kingfishers hover before diving with their dagger-like bills, snapping up 4-inch trout. In spring, bright white egrets perch in trees, about a dozen in each, like Christmas ornaments.
Returning to the river’s main stretch, the lush environment appears unchanged since the beginning of time, but it wasn’t always that way. The U.S. Forest Service worked for about a decade since 2007, restoring about 57 acres of wetlands where the defunct Pixieland amusement park once stood. In a reversal of Joni Mitchell’s lyric, they unpaved paradise—removing not just parking lots, but a log flume ride, a narrow-gauge train and an RV park—freeing the marsh once choked by asphalt and concrete. Today, steelhead trout and coho and Chinook salmon swim in the healthy habitat.
Farther north in Tillamook County, Cape Meares Lake offers easy paddling amid active beaver lodges, resident elk, bald eagles, a heron refuge and the occasional muskrat. Guides with Kayak Tillamook bring you to areas less traveled, and they’re careful to give wildlife their space, but it’s not unusual to round a corner and suddenly see massive elk, weighing up to 1,200 pounds, antlered and staring back at you.
What’s vanished is fascinating, too. Resort community Bayocean bustled on a stretch of land that separated Tillamook Bay from the Pacific in 1906, with a dance hall, hotel, 1,000-seat movie theater, shooting range, bowling alley, tennis courts and 4 miles of paved streets. A jetty built to aid navigation into Tillamook Bay caused the spit to erode and the town to be slowly swallowed by the sea.
The power of water here today is overwhelmingly positive, though, especially when kayaking.
“You forget about the news, you forget about things that are happening, and it’s one of the most mindful, most present experiences you can have,” said Sydney Elliott, owner of Kayak Tillamook. “If I can change somebody’s life for just two and a half hours, I’m going to do it. Nobody leaves with a frown on their face, especially a kid who sees their first harbor seal. They lose their minds. It’s the best.”
The outfitter focuses on accessibility with kayaks for all sizes and abilities. “Water is the greatest equalizer,” said Elliott. “Once people get out on the water, it changes them, and they see their world just kind of melt away.”
Ready to get out on the water? Learn more or book a kayak tour at www.safaritownsurf.com or www.kayaktillamook.com
