An Afternoon on the River

We spent Saturday afternoon on the SUP, with my mom and grandma in kayaks. Koira stayed at home, because she is loud and pushy and not super fun to have along for most people (though I love how much she enjoys it).

Flight is finally getting more used to the SUP and getting pretty confident on it. He even jumped off on purpose twice, to go visit my mom in her kayak.

There were a ton of birds on the river. We saw many blue herons, and osprey, as well as king fishers and some other birds. And ducks, of course, which Ptera really wanted to go chase, but she restrained herself.

The day was beautiful, warm enough to be fun, but not hot. There was a bit of smoke, but not nearly as bad as what was here last week, so we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.

The water sports season is fast coming to an end, and, like every year, I am realizing we didn't get out nearly enough.

SUP on the 4th

Every year, I like to hit the water with the dogs on the 4th. I find that tired dogs are less likely to be freaked out by fireworks, and more likely to have medication work well if medication is needed.

This was Flight's third trip on the SUP, and by far his longest. The first trip was just a quick paddle around a local pond, while the second trip was a water parade for the solstice, which happened after dark.

He doesn't seem to totally love it yet, but then, Ptera didn't for a while at first either, and now she is hard to keep off the board.

Koira of course had a blast. She spent most of the hour and a half we were there in the water swimming. She wears a life jacket for exactly that reason- I don't want her getting excessively tired, and she will keep swimming until I make her stop.

Ptera and Flight also did some swimming, but mostly hung out on the paddleboard. Koira just took occasional breaks on the board.

Overall, all the dogs had a lot of fun, even if it wasn't as warm and sunny as years past.

July/August Hiking Goals

I skipped the July update of our hiking goals for the year. We didn't actually go hiking at all in July. I know. Pretty bad, considering we have so few dry months here.

My favorite SUP selfie so far this summer

In July, I did make it out on the paddleboard and kayak a few times. I went to a small, local lake with my mom a few times.

Playing with the GoPro at the local lake

"Docking" the SUP and going for the dismount

I also went camping at the coast for a few days with a friend and her family. We took out the paddleboard and some kayaks to Beaver Creek on the coast. I mostly stuck to the SUP, but did take a spin in the kayak. We camped at South Beach State Park, which was a lot of fun, but I didn't get a single photo of our campsite (we were in yurts) or of the beach. Or of the beach at Pacific City when we went there at the end of the week.

Kayaking a little at Beaver Creek

The first week of August, I slammed my week full of water trips. I started with a trip to Olalla lake with a friend who has never kayaked. I helped her put a big, super fun check mark on her bucket list, and had the opportunity myself to get out and have a great time.

The next day, I headed down to a reservoir near Eugene with a friend, where we spent a very smokey day out on the water. The Willamette Valley has been in smoke almost all summer, it feels like, from wildfires in Oregon, Washington, and even some smoke coming all the way from the big BC wildfires.

In a reservoir near Eugene- it wasn't overcast at all, that haze is all smoke

Then, I headed to the Silverton lake the next day to meet up with another friend and enjoy yet another day on the water. I was exhausted, but it was an amazingly fun week. It wasn't quite planned to be like that, rather, I made plans with three people and kept forgetting that I had plans. But somehow it all worked out, and I had an awesome week.

Still a smoky day, but much clearer in Silverton than in Eugene the day before

I went whitewater rafting with our flyball team boxloader and his friends/family, which was pretty awesome. I got exactly zero photos, and didn't have a dog with me, and didn't know anyone except the one person, but it was an absolute blast. So much fun.

I also had a chance to hit the beach once in August, even though I rarely do the beach in Oregon in the summer.

Posing on the beach

And went back to an old favorite hike, Drift Creek Falls. There was actually a tree down across the road and a few people had parked and hiked in the last mile to the trailhead. But, with teamwork between three carloads of people, we managed to move the tree out of the road with zero tools. That kind of eclipsed the hike, to be honest. It felt awesome to come together with a team of strangers and get something done that would have been impossible alone.

Classic sign photo

Having a tiny dog willing to balance on things is pretty fun sometimes

Trailhead mileage sign

I just love the suspension bridge at Drift Creek Falls. It scares me, but I have been slowly tackling my fear of heights (remember that I went ziplining in the Redwoods in California?). This is a solid bridge in good condition, but narrow enough with open looking sides to be scary, but with chainlink and solid boards, so you can use it to conquer fears.

Drift Creek suspension bridge

What have you been doing in the great outdoors this summer? Any fun plans before summer ends? I'm hoping to get some more hiking in this month, and at least a few more SUP trips as well.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Much as I love her, Koira has some habits that I am not particularly fond of. Probably the biggest one is that she gets over the top excited and obsessive. When we go paddleboarding, Koira spends the entire time leaping off the SUP, swimming after the kayaks (I always go on the river with at least one other person, for both safety and fun), climbing back on the SUP and using it as a launching pad again. And barking the entire time, with a deep booming bell like bark.

Landshark locked, loaded, and launched!

She loves going paddleboarding. But she isn't the most enjoyable dog to take along in some ways. I said from the beginning that I hoped she didn't end up teaching Ptera all of her bad habits. 

Obviously Ptera is very excited by Koira's excitement and movement.

Honestly, I should have known better. I guess if I don't want Ptera to copy Koira, I can't take them out together. Because this little JRT has some serious terrier tenacity and high drive, which is just driven on even more by Koira's over the top excitement. I guess I am destined to have crazy dogs on the paddleboard with me. Or swimming after it.

Monkey see, monkey do. While Ptera doesn't spend as much time jumping off the SUP and swimming, she is confident enough to leap off into the water a few times before she gets cold.

Do your dogs teach each other things? I feel like it can work both ways. A well behaved dog with good habits and routines helps train a new dog to behave the same way. But when that same dog does crazy things like barking her head off and leaping into the water repeatedly (and then turning around to sharkbite the front of the SUP), those habits and behaviors appear to transfer as well.

I see some solo SUP trips in the future for me and Ptera, to try to get some more polite and enjoyable behavior, before the barking and craziness gets too ingrained.

4th on the Water

Much like last year, I decided to spent the 4th on the water with friends.

This was Ptera's first time on the SUP. She is a confident dog, so I wasn't too worried about her.

Koira is a bit on the crazy side when it comes to paddleboarding. She likes to leap off the SUP and swim after the kayaks, bite the front of the various boats, and bite the paddles as they go by. And then she asks to come back up on the board to start all over again.

Ptera actually jumped in after Koira a good number of times. She also fearlessly swam between the SUP and the kayaks, rode in every boat we had, and would jump back and forth between them when we were close enough together.

My fearless little girls had a great time. I just hope Koira doesn't teach Ptera to be totally crazy while on the water- she is already teaching Ptera to bark loudly when she wants something exciting to happen.

With a SUP, my kayak, and a borrowed kayak, we managed to have a great two hours on the water, despite car troubles my friend had that could have totally derailed our plans and ruined the fun, if we had let them.

How did you spend the 4th? Have you kayaked or SUPed with your dog?

Wordless Wednesday: The end of the trip

This is what the end of a SUP/kayak trip looks like

Water Fun and Water Safety

I am loving going paddleboarding with the dogs. Pallo is more mellow, while Koira is obviously having about the BEST TIME EVER every time we go. That girl loves the water an almost absurd amount.

The dogs take over the paddleboard

I went paddleboarding on the 4th of July with a friend. I only took Pallo on that trip as Koira was visiting my mom in the country to avoid the crazy fireworks here in town. My friend brought two of her jack russells along as well, which made us a two human, three dog party.

Me and Pallo hang out in our matching lifejackets on the paddleboard in the middle of the river. The camera lens was a bit wet, and of course this is taken with my waterproof little Nikon point and shoot rather than my good camera.

One of the biggest things for me is making sure that we not only have fun, but stay safe as well. That means we bring plenty of water, wear plenty of sunscreen (and in my case a long sleeved shirt for sun protection), and always, always, always wear lifejackets. The lifejacket rule applies to humans and dogs, and there are no exceptions. We also always double check for blue green algae warnings in the area and avoid areas where algae or scum is present.

Pallo showing some loving during a break

The only other big rule we have is to not take big trips alone. Even just floating the river a little ways can pose danger, and having someone else there with you is your best chance of surviving hazards. The Willamette River, where we went and where we plan to go again, is overall a pretty smooth ride with minor rapids. But people drown there every year. Normally because they are drunk college students without lifejackets, but sometimes because they are experienced and safety conscious people doing everything they can to stay safe who just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and are unable to get themselves out of trouble.

I even brought Pallo's sunglasses along. I don't think he appreciated that very much though,

That said, taking to the river on a hot day with a friend and a crew of dogs is one of the most enjoyable things I can think of to do. Pallo got along well with Roo and Rizzo. The weather was wonderful. Using the paddleboard allowed me to jump into the river to cool off regularly, while my friend was stuck in the kayak and suffered a little more from the heat. Of course, she didn't get tossed in the river in the middle of a rapid like I did either!

Safety and fun as the priorities, and you can have an awesome time on the river.

Wordless Wednesday: Paddleboarding Fun

Paddleboarding on the 4th of July

Fit Friday: SUP

SUP stands for Stand Up Paddleboarding. And that is the new sport that we are getting involved in. Last weekend, I picked up a board, and then on Monday, I headed to the lake with the dogs in tow and board strapped to the top of the car.

On the dock, ready to go

I had never been on a SUP before, and my only previous experiences with surfing ended badly, with lots of falling and getting gashed open by the fins. But really, other than the look of the board, paddleboarding is totally different. For one, you can do it on flatwater.

Jacketed and ready

Ideally I will be comfortable enough with the SUP that I can take it on the river. For my first time, though, I thought the flatwater of a lake would be better. We went up to Foster Lake by Sweet Home and headed down to the boat dock. The SUP I have is 10'6" long and probably 30+ lbs if I took a guess. Large and sort of awkward to move around with, but doable for one person. It may have been insane, but I brought the dogs down with me right away and we all hopped onto the board. I started out kneeling at first, to get the hang of it, and to let the dogs get the idea of what we were doing.

Pallo standing, and Koira in a down while out on the board the first time. 

Honestly, they settled in quickly and seemed to take it in stride. Koira did jump off the board a few times to swim, but it seemed more like she just couldn't stand sitting still and had to do something more so than her not liking being on the board. She figured out that to get back on she just had to swim over to near me and I would help her up with the handle on her life jacket. There was a bit of barking and whining, but again, I think it was from excitement and wanting to do something rather than being scared or not wanting to be there.

Riding the nose

Pallo tried out sitting at the front of the board and at the back of the board. At the front, he got dripped on by the paddle when I switched sides, and at the back, I think he was a little less steady. I know he knocked Koira into the water once by deciding to change positions and actually walking underneath her instead of trying to go around- Koira didn't seem to mind much though. Neither me or Pallo ended up in the water at all!

After a bit of a jaunt out with me paddling on my knees, I took the dogs back to the dock and set them up in the car in the shade while I took the board out by myself to see if I could stand up. At first, it seemed totally insane that I would feel stable doing this, but it was only a few minutes before I started feeling more confident while standing. I then went back and got the dogs for another ride out. With me standing, they actually had some more space on the board. The longer we were out, the more stable I felt. I know I was using a ton of muscles though because I was sore the next day!

She was loving watching the ski boats go by with skiers or people on floats.

Overall, we had a ton of fun. I know I got a workout, and I am sure the dogs got some great core conditioning going on with constantly maintaining balance. I am sure that the more we go, the better we will get too. I do plan on picking up some non-slip pads of some kind for the board, though. The dogs seemed like they were slipping a little bit, and when Koira tried to get back on after taking a swimming break, she had a hard time getting traction with her feet, even with me helping her via the lifejacket. Plus, her claws made some marks on the board while doing that, which I would like to prevent in the future as much as possible.

WW: Our Monday Adventure

Guess what we did on Monday.