Mountains to the Sea - Day 8

To the Sea!

We awoke on day 8 ready to complete our mission of kayaking 169 miles of the Eel River from the mountains to the sea.  The early days were fun with lots of whitewater and wilderness.  The past couple of days were scenic but primarily flat water with glimpses of the 101 highway and sights and sounds of civilization.

River view of the gas stations and conference center at Riverwalk in Fortuna, CA.

The Eel River Brewery is one of our favorite stops on all of our travels along the 101 corridor in Humboldt County.  We thought it would be fun to hop out of our kayaks and pop in for a beer on the last day of our trip.  We have been enjoying the fast moving current but it rushed us along too early for beer at Eel River.

The river is quite flat now and meanders through the farmlands of Fortuna and Ferndale.

Checking out the historic Fernbridge at Ferndale, California.

When we hit the historic Fernbridge, Jeff dug out his cell phone and makes our extraction call.  Our friend Hawk Martin (owner of Humboats at the time) was going to pick us up at the beach.

After passing Fernbridge, we anticipate landing within the next 1.5 hours.  Jeff makes the extraction call.

We were surprised to still be seeing signs of the dilapidated Eel River Railroad.

We knew we were getting close to the ocean when we started seeing barnacles on the logs and harbor seals swimming.

As we got closer to the ocean, we could see the surfzone and waves breaking.  We also discovered that we were being swept out to sea very quickly.  We were too far in the middle of the river to get to shore before hitting the ocean and surf.  Oh well, we got to end our trip surfing a wave back onto the beach.

Our Eel River mountains to the sea journey was special in many ways.  It was my first multi day kayak camping trip.  It was a special time for Jeff and I - just the 2 of us for 8 days in the wilderness.  This trip was one of the best weeks of my life - whitewater kayaking in the wilderness with my sweetie.  Since this trip, we have done numerous overnight kayak trips on the Pacific Ocean and on different rivers.  Self support kayak river trips continue to be my favorite.  I am already looking forward to the next one.

Mission Accomplished! 169 miles on the Eel River from the mountains to the sea.  We are still smiling.
Photo by Hawk Martin