Waldo Lake Kayak Camp…
Every year we like to camp on the shore of Waldo Lake…weather permitting. This year the weather was beautiful…the smoke was a different story. We had planned to hike on Saturday, but due to the smoke from the Pete’s Lake Fire, we decided to stay on the lake and put some mileage on the kayaks.
Friday, we arrived at the Shadow Bay boat ramp around noon, packed our kayaks and set off to find a camp spot along the west shore of Waldo Lake. After setting up camp we paddled over to our favorite beach and had dinner, then paddled back to camp for the sunset…and to watch the smoke plume rising from the Pete’s Lake fire complex.
Saturday, we got an early start, while the lake was as smooth as glass. We spent most of the day exploring the north end of the lake shore. We were both curious how the Cedar Creek fire impacted the lake shore and surrounding area. Unfortunately, it was burned pretty severely. By the time we were headed back to camp, the afternoon thermals kicked up and made for a choppy paddle back across the lake. Again, after getting back to camp, we paddled over to our beach to have dinner, then back to camp for a nice evening sunset.
Sunday, we slept in and lounged around till around noon, then packed up camp and paddled back to the Shadow Bay boat ramp, and headed for home.
Another nice Waldo kayak camp with my sweet wife, and adventure partner, Deb.
First look at some of the burned forest on the west shore…
The Abandoned Klovdahl Tunnel. A very interesting story…
…read about it here…
Looking north at the smoke plume from the Pete’s Lake wildfire.
From camp…
Next morning from camp…
Early start, while the lake is smooth as glass…
Looking at The Twins, our planned hike, before the smoke drifted in…
Exploring the lake’s outlet, the head of the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River.
See that tall living tree standing in the middle of the severely burned area of the north shore…?
…it still has a large Eagle’s nest near the top.
…while everything below is burned to dirt.
A couple of shots of the North Waldo Campground…
A beautiful sunrise before heading home…
Our weekend’s Track…
