Sauvie Island

It was a gorgeous weekend in the Pacific Northwest, the time of year when the warmth of late summer lingers but the first signs of fall appear: yellowing maple leaves, a sky full of cumulus clouds and a few raindrops. 

The Columbia River, third largest river in the US, is one of the iconic symbols of the Northwest. Yet despite living in Oregon for four years until recently, I’ve really spent little time exploring it. I had a free afternoon on Sunday, and a boat, and was in Portland, so off to explore the Columbia it was.

Seagulls over the Columbia River. Sauvie Island in Oregon is to the left; Washington State is to the right.

The northern end of Sauvie Island with approximate
 locations where jumping fish were observed. USGS Topo.

If the signs are to be believed, Sauvie Island is the largest riverine island in the nation (Oregon seems to have a penchant for pointing out superlative natural landmarks, an example being the ‘D River’ on the central coast, which is apparently the “nation’s shortest river” or something like that). Sauvie Island is located just northwest of where the Willamette River meets the Columbia, and it is large indeed: large expanses of farms and woodland protected by levees, and miles of roads throughout the island connected to the Oregon mainland by a single bridge. The northern part of the island is a state wildlife reserve. It was there that I launched the kayak on the western bank of the river.

The afternoon was calm and virtually all of the chop to contend with in the kayak was generated by the frequent passing of motorboats. I paddled perhaps a few miles north along the river, staying close to the shore, and finally rounded the tip of the island turning south into the Multnomah Channel. The island shoreline alternated between sand and firm mud; the upland was vegetated with deciduous trees, shrubs and some late season wildflowers.

A perched blue heron.

The highlight? Definitely fish jumps. I unexpectedly caught the first, a large salmon perhaps a hundred meters away that flopped a half meter into the air to crash back into the cool river. Over the next couple hours of rowing I saw (or heard) several more splashes, the fish leaping to catch an insect meal or tease the fisherman on the river. Their infrequent leaps and splashes lasted just a second, a real challenge for anyone trying to record the action. 

This is the most luck I had catching a shot of jumping fish. 

Algae and vascular plants at the shore of Sauvie Island. The sedge at right is so cool, but I have not yet tried to identify it.