Backrests and Drink Holders

While we were in the North Bay, we went canoeing on the Russian River. On the last day of our long weekend we headed back into Guerneville, where it seemed most of the canoe rental companies were located. After googling various canoe rental companies (there are a bunch in town), we chose King's Sport and Tackle, in no small part because a Yelp review recommended their canoes for their cushiness--backrests and drink holders!--as well as the company for having good service. Sure, canoeing is outdoorsy, but this was not intended to be one of our more athletic ventures. Relaxing in a boat (maybe or maybe not with a beer) on a sunny summer day on a mostly lazy river was just what John and I wanted.

So we rented a canoe from King's, picked up the canoe at Johnson's Beach in Guerneville and headed off down the Russian River for a four-mile paddle to the next town down the river, Monte Rio.

We left from Johnson's Beach in Guerneville

About an hour into our trip, we encountered a summer dam, and we had to portage the canoe from one side to the other. It was only about 200 feet, but let's just say that canoes are heavy. And also, they tip easy. Trying to get the canoe back in the water almost resulted in John and I going into the water. We were lucky a kind stranger was around to keep us from tipping. This photo of the dam and the canoe (really!) looks like the weather was at 500 percent humidity because it was shot from inside a ziploc bag. They're great for keeping cellphones dry, but don't, it turns out, make a great filter for cameraphones.

Instagram? No. Ziploc

The river was fairly busy with lots of other people in canoes or kayaks, as well as swimmers, so when we wanted to stop for lunch, we had to hunt for a while to find an unpopulated part of shoreline that wasn't also a vacation home's private beach. The whole trip was a beautiful paddle, so this was not much of a hardship.

For lunch, before we hit the river, we picked up sandwiches and drinks at Big Bottom Market in Guerneville--it was as tasty as I thought I would be. We ate lunch on a big sand bar at a bend in the river. Then we paddled the rest of the way to Monte Rio, where a shuttle from the canoe rental company picked us up and brought us back to Guerneville.

And those drink-holders did come in handy.