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canoe west home | canoeing instructors | Klamath River guidebook |
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Klamath Basin Canoe Trail
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| May 1998 Last week I mentioned that I was going to check out the Canoe Trail in the Upper Klamath Basin. I did, and it was glorious! We paddled thru the Wocus plants with their beautiful golden blossoms, and we saw eagles, pelicans, and about a thousand different kinds of wildfowl and shorebirds. It was altogether wonderful, if you like that sort of thing, which I do. Not being used to clear weather lately, I got a little too much sun, but it was okay. Being basically a whitewater paddler where the river pretty much determines which way you are going to travel, I was curious how you have a "canoe trail" on a lake. It looked to me like the trail could be wherever you wanted it to go. That was not the case, however. This portion of the lake is made up of dozens of tule islands with open passages thru them. And every so often there would be a sign on a post that was stuck in the shallow marsh water, and the sign would say "Canoe Trail" with an arrow indicating which way you were supposed to go. There were also signs identifying areas that were off limits. This was for the protection of nesting birds. Sometime this next month, if it is possible, I would like to get together a group of local folks to go up and do the trail again. There will be more Wocus plants in bloom then, and there should be baby birds all over the place. There is also a canoe trail on the Tule Lake Refuge which will open in July after all the young birds have been hatched. I certainly will explore that trail when it is open. I expect that it will be every bit as entertaining as the other trail. Neil Rucker, head instructor for Canoe West |
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