Next Adventure ambassadors Corie and Andy from the Mountain Refugees take to the waters of Scappoose Bay to try out a new adventure.
Always up to try something new, especially if that new thing allows us to spend time outside, we decided to leave work early on a Friday and check out the Scappoose Bay Paddling Center. We’re both new to paddle sports so we decided to reserve a few SUPs, an activity we’d only tried on a couple of occasions- once in the Pacific Ocean near Half Moon Bay, CA, and once during a hilarious SUP-surfing-on-a-river excursion that Andy went on in central Washington a few summers ago.
We loaded the car with sunscreen, sunglasses, and good tunes and enjoyed the curving drive along the Columbia River. It was sunny, warm, and traffic was light. The day was perfect for being out on the water!
Two of our friends came out to meet us and they were just as impressed with the center as we were. The staff was super friendly, super knowledgeable, and very attentive to hearing about the sights we wanted to see (basically, as much wildlife as possible). We took out a variety of SUPs with the idea being that we could swap them out and see how each board felt. We cruised out of the bay with a vague plan in mind, a couple of places to explore, and an appreciation for how helpful the Next Adventure team had been in getting us set-up. We were told that the Columbia would be a bear to navigate and were thankful for this piece of information! We meandered around, paddled from shore to shore, being mindful of the low water levels on the right side of the bay, and listened to the birds chirping and the water lapping beneath us.
We brought along a small backpack with some food and water so it was easy to spend a few hours paddling around and exploring. After investigating a couple of potential pull out locations, we spent 20 minutes or so sitting on a small sandy area, munching on snacks and cleaning up the trash left by previous visitors. We found prints in the sand from a couple of local deer and watched a couple herons and egrets hunting in the shallows. It was a marvelous day and we were sad to end it. The NA team helped us bring our gear in, recommended a tasty Mexican restaurant, and closed up shop. Summertime in the Pacific Northwest doesn’t get any better!
To check out more of the Mountain Refugee's adventures, visit their site at
http://www.mountainrefugees.com
