Bald Eagles

WoW, what an awesome day I had yesterday! I went kayaking down the Skagit River and saw tons of bald eagles along the way. We set out at 7:30 in the morning for Marble Mount. Kristen and I were in my truck (aka Bama and Butch Cassidy), communicating with Steve and Dan (aka Old Man Winter and Musk Ox) via walkie-talkies. It was a nice drive, and I think we finally put in around 9 a.m. When we first got in the water, we floated right past an eagle. The water was moving swiftly, but was mostly pretty smooth. We didn't see another eagle for a long while, and we started to get disappointed. However, about an hour into the trip, we started seeing so many that we couldn't count them all! Each tree that would have one would be surrounded by another 6 or 7. Absolutely spectacular. Steve was the only one to flip, and he did so near the beginning of the trip, but he didn't get too uncomfortable. Basically the weather was not so bad that we were freezing. I ended up taking my gloves and beanie off and was still doing fine. We pulled out in Rockport, about 9 miles down river. We made excellent time, and were back in Oak Harbor after eating out around 4:30 p.m. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and I can't wait to go again. WAY more exciting than sea kayaking!! I felt like I was actually going somewhere. It was good for me to get out, too, just to hang out. Dan's alotta fun -- he's the one who, along with a friend of his, took Meg & I hiking in the Olympics. I've never really hung out with Steve before, but he's funny. We all enjoyed it.

When we pulled out at Rockport, there was a board posting the eagle count for the area: 406!! Amazing. They're feasting on the dead carcasses of the salmon. I hope I can go back this month to see some more.