Cabin Fever Chronicles – Getting Outdoors with Rod

In late March 2010 I decided to take my injured shoulder on a test paddle with the Oregon Ocean Paddling Society. FYI, my shoulder was dislocated about Thanksgiving 2009 by a wayward snowboarder at Mount Hood Ski Bowl. I’d done extensive physical therapy.

Andrew checking out a Great Blue Heron

The scheduled paddle was a 9-mile trip up and around Bachelor Island near Ridgefield, WA. When paddling in this area I usually put in at Ridgefield or at Paradise Point State Park, which is on the Lewis River. For some reason our trip leader opted to put in just north of the confluence of the Lewis River and Columbia – and that required 30 minutes additional driving.

Nonetheless the day’s weather was appealing and the company amenable. We paddled up the Columbia and into Ridgefield, then up the slough culminating on the south end of the island.

Upon arriving there, it was dead low tide. Not possible to paddle around, we did a quick portage, followed by lunch on a beach facing the Columbia River.

Lunch on Bachelor Island with Oregon Ocean Paddling Society!

Following lunch, we headed back north up the river. It wasn’t long after we launched I looked to my left and Neil Schulman was about 10 feet off to port! “Where did you come from?” I asked. He’d decided to get in a quick paddle after his girlfriend was too busy to come out. We paddled for a couple of miles before his route took him back to Ridgefield.

By now, I was a ways behind our group and pushed to catch up.

On the beach at Bachelor Island

I had to admit, by this time my poor shoulder was pretty peeved. I had over done it on my first paddle of any length since the accident. But I managed to catch up with the group, which was debating paddling up a small river called Gee Creek. Guidebooks say Gee Creek is interesting but can only be negotiated if the water level is just right. On this day, it didn’t matter what the water level was. Trees had come down over the creek, and it wasn’t possible to go more than a few yards beyond the entrance.

Overall, today’s paddle was a success. But I totally realized my limits, and that I needed to do some paddling specific exercises!

Onward and upward I say!