Tag Archives: Gualala River is closed to the Pacific Ocean

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On Saturday Rick and I finally kayaked the Gualala River, courtesy of Adventure Rents. They donated this trip to a popular fundraiser for Gualala Arts, called Art off the Wall. Along with art, there are various adventures. I chose this for my prize. Gualala Supermarket donated four delicious box lunches.

I am in the double kayak, awaiting my adventure, excited but just a little nervous.

We went with George and Rozann Grunig; they are in the yellow kayak. We are exploring the lagoon before heading up river, as advised by Wayne Harris of Adventure Rents. In summer months this river is closed to the ocean by a big sandbar, making kayaking very safe.

We found this group of Common Mergansers sunning themselves on a log.

We saw two River Otters. Rozann got a great photo, which I'll share another day. Can you spot the River Otter looking at me on the muddy riverbank?

Any nervousness is now gone and Rick & I are enjoying our first kayak ride.

 Passing under the Gualala River Bridge unveiled over a hundred Swallow nests.

 George and Rozann, more experienced than us, led the way. In two places we did have to get out and walk, as the river is low in spots. We had a dry winter/spring, which accounts for the lower levels. Jan Harris, of Adventure Rents, said, "Embrace your inner child" on the portages. We did and had fun doing it.

 And here Rick and I are, four hours later, happy with our day on the beautiful Gualala River.

Thanks to Rozann for allowing me to share her photos with you here, along with several I took.

To learn more about the river, visit Friends of the Gualala River at: http://gualalariver.org/

To see many beautiful photos of the river and to learn about kayaking, here's the website for Adventure Rents: http://www.adventurerents.com/

Also, I highly recommend the box lunches Surf Super is putting together. You can order your own custom design at http://surfsuper.com/Home.html

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The wild Gualala River did finally close to the Pacific and is now full. You can see from the photo below that the river is particularly beautiful right now. What a nice place to put a bench! When you enter Gualala Point Regional Park you will come to a parking area on the left. Park, cross the road and walk towards the river to find this bench.

Rick and I, with our golden retriever, Huckleberry, on leash walked down to the beach and all the way to the north end to see what it looked like. This is where the river usually is open but you can see the sandbar has built up enough to close the river. It won't open again until there are enough winter rains.

Rick is looking at the river from the sandbar. Once closed the river is extremely safe for kayaking and other water sports.

Here's a photo of the river on the left and the Pacific Ocean on the right - and a glimpse of Huckleberry's back.

It's very windy today but this weekend is suppose to be fantastic weather-wise. It would be a great time to visit and see some of these places for yourself.

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Last week on Thursday Rick and I were surprised to see the Gualala River had reopened. It was drained about as low as we've seen it. The water was crystal clear and Rick saw a Steelhead swim by. This is how it looked from the pull-out at Gualala Point Regional Park last week.

 And this is what it looked like a week later. The river is closed and starting to fill up. It's a wonderful river to kayak or paddle on those new SUPs, stand up paddles.

To rent a kayak, canoe or SUP, Adventure Rents is the place to call - http://www.adventurerents.com/