Just flew back from the East Coast and had several flights that took me over the NW. The flight from Detroit to Seattle got me all excited about paddling the upper Columbia river again. Looking down from a plane is such a great way to see what is out there to paddle! I could visualize each days paddle and see the towns that I could restock at. There is so much barren land that such a big industrial river as the Columbia still offers plenty of solitude. I wanted to parachute right out of that plane and get started.
As we flew over the Washington Cascades I was able to see all the many high altitude glacial lakes. I was reminded of my plan of creating the new sport of "Alpine Canoeing" and why I own a 22lb ultralight solo. How fun would it be to hike along the PCT with a canoe on my back? These little lakes wouldn't offer much of a workout but it would be really neat to get a bunch of "first paddles" even if they are only 500 ft across. I also was able to see how these lakes flow down hill and into all the western running rivers off the cascades. From my lookout in seat 18E I was able to watch them wind through cities and farmland and into the Sound.
Often from our regular perspective of the car or the office window we don't realize that these rivers are the real pathways out here in the west. From the air, the roads just looked like inefficient golf cart paths winding back and forth across the liquid fairways. Everytime I get on a river with someone for the first time we both are in awe with how different the scenery looks despite all the driving we have done right along this or that river over the years. Our perspective on anything depends on where we are looking from. From the air it all seems right at my fingertips. Then we land, the phone rings, the traffic light turns red, and we find ourselves looking at the back of the car infront of us. And all of a sudden, the rivers only run as far as we can see of them from the highway.
