Brannan Island Canoe Tour
The Intrepid explorers
No time to go out for breakfast this morning but we made do with coffee, tea and oatmeal from a packet. The canoe tour starts at 9 but the instructions said to get there a good 15 minutes before the start. At 8.30 we walked from the cottage, past Russell’s wood shop and along the path to the levee. In less than five minutes we were at the boat ramp. Then we waited, and waited and waited. A couple of fishermen arrived but they knew nothing about any canoe tour. We consulted the instructions, map and leaflet again and both agreed we were in the right place but where was everybody else. Was this going to be a repeat of the walking tour yesterday? There was no sign of any canoes anywhere which was a worrying thing.
Eventually, just before 9, three cars turned up and when people got out they were wearing life jackets and carrying paddles. A very good sign we thought. We went up to speak to them and found out that they had been met a quarter of a mile back up the road where they had to sign in and choose their life jacket and paddle. Of course we had just walked from Locke and had bypassed all of this. I guess not many people actually walked to the boat ramp.
Tom and I walked quickly the quarter of mile back along the road. I was worried that the person who signed the others in would have given up and left but we were in luck. The signer in was also the guide so she was still waiting for us to arrive. We signed the form and picked up our equipment and walked back to the boat ramp. Soon after we had rejoined the group, the jeep arrived with the canoes and we helped unload them.
There were 12 people altogether including the guide – who was called Robin. This is a novice tour so Robin went over a few basic rules. She told us
Margaret as we're heading back to dry land.
that the strongest person sits in the back and steers. She also explained how to get in and out of the canoes; the important thing to remember is not to stand up and to put all the weight on one foot at a time.
Off we set. None of us had no trouble getting into the canoes, though it felt a little unstable to me. Tom sat in the back and I was in the front. Tom has kayaked before but has not been in a canoe for a long time and never in a two man canoe. It took some time to get used to working as a team. Of course I could not see what Tom was doing at all but at least I had a good view of what was going on in front.
We were canoeing on the Railroad Slough which dead ends in about a mile. Robin explained that the slough was formed when workers dug out the soil by hand to build the railroad levee. Most of those workers lived in Locke I’m sure. We managed to get to the end of the slough without too much difficulty.
At the end there is a huge marshy area and we were going to see how far we could get into the marsh. At first it was quite wide and two or three canoes could be abreast but the further we went the narrower it became and we had to go single file.
We passed a huge heron rookery which has been in use by the birds for a couple of decades. Today we only saw a couple of herons flying and we spotted a few nests built high up in the oak trees, In the springtime there are hundreds of herons nesting in the trees so that would be a good time to make this trip.
When the slough got narrower it also began to twist and turn more. On several occasion Tom and I got too close to the vegetation. The first time it happened I began to panic a little but we managed to get clear. What was really bothering me was the fact that there was no dry land at all nearby so what would I do if the canoe overturned?
I think this guy is lost
The water began to get shallower as well and we could put our paddles down and touch the muddy bottom. Mud was being displaced when we paddled. Soon we could go no further so we stopped for a break. We couldn’t get out but we snacked, drank water and chatted. There was a bit of current around so we drifted around a bit though some clever people had managed to wedge themselves into the reeds so they did not move. It was good to have a rest from the paddling for a few minutes.
We then went on to explore another spur of the marsh but that came to a dead end when there was no clearance between the canoes and the slough bottom. At one point, another couple grounded themselves on a submerged log but we managed to get them clear.
It was time to head back. Now we were going not only with the current but with the wind behind us. Everything seemed much easier somehow and we could take our time to look and study the wildlife all around us. We spotted some turtles sunbathing on tree stumps sticking out of the water. As we glided past they slipped into the water with barely a plop. Our most memorable sight though was seeing three deer jump into the slough ahead of us and swim across to the other side. I noticed the three splashes and could see something in the water but had no idea what they were. As we got closer we could see by the ears that they were deer.
In no time at all it seemed we were back at the boat ramp. The first couple to attempt the landing had a mishap. The lady in the front obviously forgot the instructions Robin gave in the beginning about keeping the weight on one foot. As she got out of the canoe it drifted away from the edge and she landed in the water. Fortunately she did not hurt herself. Everybody else of course made sure they did not make the same mistake.
It took ten minutes to get all the canoes out of the water and back onto the trailer. Then we said our farewells to the the group and walked back into Locke. As we passed the Wood Shop, Deborah came out so we walked back together to her house. Russell was inside and good to his word he had the cutting board ready for us. We had an interesting chat with them about Locke and the history of their particular house. Russell bought it for $50 from a guy in Al the Wops Bar in 1976. It used to be a boarding house for aged Chinese men. At that time though it was very dilapidated and half buried in the dirt. Russell literally rebuilt it from the foundations to the roof, diving it into two, with their residence in the front and the vacation rental in the back. The rest is history. He went on to say that the place is reputed to be haunted. It didn’t feel haunted to me but I’m no expert.
We have had a very restful, interesting and enjoyable weekend in a unique part of the world and would thoroughly recommend it to anybody.
It was time to head home before the afternoon exodus back to the Bay Area begins with just one stop along the way at Mel’s Mocha and Ice Cream. We just could not come all this way and not have one of their not to be missed extra thick vanilla malts. Absolutely scrummy.
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