Another day of calm water greets us we pack up the kayaks. Today the plan is to head up the Escanlante River Arm. There are many side canyons which we can explore. There is a recommended hike at the end of one of them. Paddling has been easy compared to the maneuvering that we have to do to get out of our kayaks. The water is quite murky by the time we reach our hiking destination. We use our paddles as poles to determine the depth. Unfortunately the bottom has the type of mud that will suck your foot right in. We are not overly concerned with quicksand, but we are careful not to stay in one position very long. It is well worth the effort to beach the boats and start hiking. There is a fresh water stream that we follow up the canyon. The vegetation is quite verdant in color. A good change of pace from all the rocks we have been paddling by. Getting back into the boats was just as much a challenge as getting out of them. We all chose different paths and some needless to say were better than others. We took another break at a beach that had huge fish swimming in the shallows, Art thinks they might be stripers. A thought is: I wonder if we can catch them? Actually none of us has a fishing license so it is a moot thought. With the water level being low we are having a hard time finding a campsite. We continue paddling, north and finally there is a site that has been obviously used before. Then as we check it out, we also notice that we are not going to be paddling any further. Where there used to be water, now it is mud flats. We go to Plan B for tomorrow. We will be heading South, retracing our paths and checking out a different canyon.
