First Wood River Trip for S

S was long overdue for a canoe trip, according to my records. It was also about time that she saw one of my new favorites. 

It is a good day for canoeing, as usual. The air is near calm, the sky mostly sunny, and the temperature in the low 80's. We put in on Alton Pond, and headed upstream into the Wood River. This section is almost all either marsh or swamp. The plant life is quite diverse and without being a botanist, it appears to me to be a healthy environment. A lot of the plants were in bloom - lot's of pinks and purples, some marsh marigolds, and I got to point out the flowering wapato to S. 

We spotted several Great Blue Herons, one hawk that we could not ID. As we got into the river, where the trees and shrubs close in on us, a large bodied dark bird flushes from a tree perch. S misses it, and I don't get a good look, but it flies with absolute silence...the trademark of an Owl.

We do the portage at the Woodville dam and continue up, managing to make a couple of wrong turns. It is a simple matter to enter the wrong channel when paddling upstream on the Wood River, as it is true swamp with flowing water moving through the trees and shrubs. About an hour up from the portage, we turn back.

There is distant thunder as we reach the top of Alton Pond. A hundred yards from taking out, we see the other boat that we've seen all day.