River Kayaking

Today I set out onto the Tolt River near Carnation, WA in my inflatable kayak. The Tolt River is listed as a class II river, which means that it gets a bit splashy and the water isn't flat. Today, it was a solid class II -- lots of fast-moving water, pushy rapids, and a lot of trees and wood in the river. I was solo kayaking, which meant that I was extra vigilant of water hazards that are known to entrap or snare boaters going down a river. I had to work really hard today not to get entangled with the wood along the river and my muscles are telling me so! I ended up getting thrown into the river today after going over a boulder (somewhat) unexpectedly. After a brief 10 second swim, I was back in the boat but had some precarious river hazards to deal with in a hurry: two large logs overhanging the river and two of the biggest rapids on the river were in my immediate path. I was amazingly able to side-skirt everything and had an uneventful, but mindful, remainder of the trip. Here are a few pics: