Fall Bikerafting

Yesterday I introduced a new friend to bikerafting. I’ve been looking for a brave local to join me on these adventures and finally found someone to take me up on a trip. We decided to paddle the Hanford Reach from the White Bluffs launch to the launch north of Savage Island. We parked at the Ringold boat launch and loaded the bikes and took off on the 18mi ride around 8:40AM. The gravel was in pretty good shape, although there are some significant stretches of washboards to contend with.

Starting the Journey (Photo Credit: B. Irish)

We arrived at the White Bluffs launch around 10:20AM and started the process of inflating the packrafts and breaking the bikes down and loading them on the rafts. After a short break to fuel up we were paddling on the mighty Columbia River around 11:00AM. The wind was forecasted to come up around 1-2pm so we wanted to try and be off the water before that.

Loaded Packrafts

The 8mi paddle down river took about 2hrs with the low water flow this time of year. There were a few other fishing boats out there, but plenty of solitude as well. We saw some deer along the river banks, a river otter, geese and other waterfowl, and several fish rising out of the river.

Old Hanford Townsite in Background

At the takeout we unloaded our packrafts and took another break to drink water and fuel up. We assembled our bikes, deflated the packrafts and then loaded our gear up on the bikes for the final 8mi gravel ride back to the car. Overall, a fantastic fall day to be outside enjoying the river and the gravel roads less traveled.

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