Battle between raptors. Photo by Steve Weileman

Summer has finally arrived here in the Northwest with a vengeance with temperatures soaring into record breaking highs. Thankfully we were able to spend most of the weekend on the water by participating in ANEW Outdoors guide training program. Those of us that make up the core of ANEW are veteran guides but we still enjoy the camaraderie of getting on the water together, sharing past stories, adventures and sometimes misadventures.

John wanted to also use this trip to explore new territories for possible future venues, so the plan called for traveling to Everett and meeting at Langus Riverfront Park. From there we planned to explore the waterways surrounding Spencer Island.

We all arrived at 8 am that morning and it was already getting warm as we packed our boats. Years ago I had led a trip in this area, or I should say tried to lead a trip as lighting and forced us off the water that time. Clear blues skies insured that this would be an issue on this day, although we might have to worry about an equally unusual condition for us; hyperthermia.

Making our way around Spencer Island. Photo by Jason Goldstein

John led us through the maze and it wasn’t long before we came across a graveyard of derelict boats apparently abandoned to their fate. It reminded me of a B movie I watch as a kid where a steamer gets trapped in an ‘evil’ seaweed forest with ships from eras past trapped; crews missing. On a cold, foggy day it would have been eerie to paddle through this abandoned fleet, but with the sun bright overhead it was just intriguing to think of their past.

This area is predominately marsh and the hard part was finding a suitable spot to pull out for lunch. John and Adrienne had volunteered to prepare lunch, and as usual, it didn’t disappoint. John had us back on the water before we could slip into a post lunch siesta.

As we made our loop and started to head back to the put-in, we started to notice a assortment of raptors; Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and a small falcon I couldn’t identify, where all spotted in just a few minutes of each other. I have to assume that there was also a large prey selection to be supporting so a high density of predators. At one point we watched as two raptors battle for tree top advantage.

"I think I can, I think I can..." Photo by Steve Weileman

I’m usually one to head to the coast when I’m looking for a place to paddle, but this area, with it protected waterways, has a lot to offer and it certainly deserves a visit; just be sure to bring an chart of the area, as it would be easy to lose your way in this maze.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Journal Entry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.