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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2019)
Appeal Tribune ❚ WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019 ❚ 1B Outdoors SMOOTH SAILING Waldo Lake is a great place to flat water paddle. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRIS HEAPS These are the 5 best flat water paddles in Oregon easily paddled both up and downriver for three or four miles, and you are virtu ally guaranteed to encounter wildlife, from otters to elk. The launch/return area is easily accessible, and offers sha dy picnic tables and bathrooms. At the mouth of the creek is Ona Beach, a love ly stretch of white sand. During the summer, the rangers at Brian Booth State Park offer guided kayak tours here, with all required gear included, for just $20/person. Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK One of the most underrated parts of Oregon’s outdoors is the sheer diversity of places to flat water paddle. From marshland to dunes, high mountain lakes to vast wetlands, Ore gon offers just about every style of flat water paddling. In the summer of 2016, Chris Heaps set out to explore it all to write “The Best Flatwater Paddles in Oregon,” a book that showcases 51 different bodies of water. “I hadn’t realized how many different and unique places Oregon has — it’s some of the best paddling in North America,” the Bend resident said. “The thing I love about flat water is the posi tive mental state created by just gliding around the water. It doesn’t require ma jor skills, it’s probably the best way to see wildlife, and you see places from a prospective you’d never imagined.” Sauvie Island The Willamette River in Portland is a great place to flat water paddle. In flat water, you can use many types of boat — a kayak, canoe or standup paddleboard all work. Heaps said the book’s larger point is about conservation. “When you can show people show wonderful this is, they’re more likely to take seriously preserving it,” he said. Heaps put together five of his favorite flat water paddles below and in his own words. Beaver Creek Beaver Creek is a meandering little waterway surrounded by pristine fresh water wetlands and coastal forest about 10 miles south of Newport. The creek is The Sauvie Island Wildlife Refuge hosts remarkably secluded paddling only about 30 miles from Portland. Gil bert River and Sturgeon Lake, accessi ble from the Island, offer many miles of great paddling. Cunningham Slough, accessible from Scappoose Bay, is an epic paddle that will take you through an isolated bayou virtually inaccessible from land. Rentals are available at the Scappoose Bay Paddle Center. This is one of the best places in the state to see eagles and herons, and I have had close encounters with coyotes, beavers, and deer. Unfortunately, this paddle is only accessible from April to July due to low See FLAT WATER, Page 3B How to mix clamming with some July 4 fireworks Fishing Henry Miller Guest columnist If you don’t mind a serious roadwar rior experience with some of the largest anticipated crowds and resulting traffic of the year, you can stretch your Fourth of July fishing and fireworks from July 3 through 6. And as a bonus, the lowest tide series of the year straddles the official July 4 holiday for beachcombers as well as the spadeandbucket set if you’re planning to go coastal. So ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to bumble. For the early starters, the everquirky town of Waldport about 15 miles south of Newport gets a running start with its annual prequel Wednesday, July 3, fire works display beginning at dusk. It’s what you might call a shovel ready celebration on the bay with a mi nus2.07foot tide at 7:57 a.m. on July 3, a minus2.16 at 8:41 on July 4, and a mi nus2.01 at 9:27 on July 5. There are gapers to be had under the Alsea Bay Bridge and cockles on the north side of the bay. In an attempt to outwhimsy its neighbor eight miles to the north, the coastal town of Yachats is offering all day festivities on July 4 beginning with the traditional la de da peoplepowered boat parade at noon, live entertainment Kids and clamming make for an excellent holiday at the coast, and Siletz Bay offers limits of purple varnish clams. HENRY MILLER/SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL sprinkled throughout the town during the day and a dusk fireworks display. Another early bird special is being of fered on July 3 with an evening boat pa rade followed by a dusk fireworks dis play over Devils Lake in Lincoln City. Those are a prelude to allday activ ities on July 4 starting with an 8 a.m. pancake breakfast ($6 adults, $3 for kids ages 4 to 10, 3andyounger free) followed by a 10 a.m. street parade, both in Gleneden Beach, with the action moving to Taft featuring live music starting at noon with fireworks at dusk over Siletz Bay just south of Lincoln City. Information including directions and details about parking, free shuttles and the musical entertainment are online at https://www.oregoncoast.org/4thof julycelebration/ On a personal bivalveophile note, Siletz Bay offers arguably the best pur ple varnish clamdigging on the coast, with low tides at Taft a minus1.37 footer at 8:12 a.m. on July 3, a minus1.43 tide at 8:56 a.m. on July 4, and minus1.32 at 9:42 a.m. on July 5. Garibaldi on the north end of Till amook Bay is offering a historic “park and ride” opportunity, the annual 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular steam train chugging and clanking from the depot at 8:30 p.m. on July 4 for the 4.6 mile trip to the fireworks at Rockaway Beach. I can say from personal experience that the ride is slow and lumpy but sce nic. The open cars already were sold out as of Monday, but some enclosed coach seats were available. All tickets are $30 a person. The train returns to Garibaldi at 11:30 p.m. For reservations online, go to https:// embed.showclix.com/event/fourthof julytrain Even if the train is sold out, the clam ming at Garibaldi is a real blast for but ter clams, cockles and for the sturdy and persistent, gapers. Tides are minus2.14 feet at 8:02 a.m. on July 3, minus2.19 feet at 8:45 a.m. on July 4, and minus1.95 at 9:29 on July 5. For those who are interested in the full captain’s plate to go along with the sulfur fumes, ocean salmon season is in full swing at the Oregon coast, so a char ter fishing trip followed by the display over Yaquina Bay in Newport is an op tion. You will be back in port well ahead of the rockets’ red (and blue, and yellow, and orange) glare over South Beach. Captain’s Reel Deep Sea Fishing: http:// captainsreel.com/ Newport Marina Store and Charters: http://nmschar ters.com/ Newport Tradewinds: http:// www.newporttradewinds.com/ Yaqui na Bay Charters: http://yaquinabay charters.com/fishingblogs/ Closer to home, the annual displays over the Willamette River at Independ ence and Riverfront Park in Salem on the Fourth make for a good capper to a day of fishing on the Willamette River. Wrapping up the festivities is the an nual Fireworks Over the Lake at Detroit Lake beginning at dusk on Saturday, July 6. There also should be a lot of snap, crackle, pop on the lake as well, Detroit, as well as the Breitenbush River that feeds into the reservoir from the north and the North Santiam River upstream from Detroit, all are sched uled to be stocked with chunky rainbow trout ahead of the arrival of the hordes of visitors. Have a blast. Henry Miller is a retired Statesman Journal outdoor columnist and outdoor writer. He can be reached via email at HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com