We woke this morning to a slowly lifting fog. 
We packed up camp, then enjoyed a quiet paddle behind Price Island into Skamokawa Slough. We’re not sure what the outer side of Price Island looked like, but the inner shore offered nothing for camping, making us even happier with our campsite choice of the night before. As the sun came out full force, we arrived at the docks of Skamokawa Kayak Center (www.skamokawakayak.com). 
The friendly folks there went over our maps with us, pointing out potential camping downstream and walking us through the tide tables. We then resupplied at the small store in front of the shop, including oysters and beer for lunch. After a pleasant snack n the warm sun, we crossed over to the campground to fill our water jugs, then headed down the Washington coastline. Impressive cliff walls and trees filled out view. We stopped for lunch at a small side creek, and hiked up to check out a series of waterfalls. 
Dai took the opportunity to freshen up in the stream, and ended up putting on a show for a passing freighter. Meanwhile I sat down on the beach, nursing a beer and soaking up the warm sunshine. Continuing on, we noticed most of the trees’ lower limbs were pruned to a consistent height due to the tides. One large tree had enough room to sit under the lower branches, and peer back upstream. There was a strong power underneath the overhanging limbs, and I sat for a while reflecting back on what we’d experienced over the last several days. Just downstream a spring tumbled off the cliff face, allowing us to paddle underneath and refresh ourselves again. 
The warm sunny weather continued. As the tide began to change, we detoured into Jim Crow Creek. Once again the banks closed in on us, changing our miles-wide vistas into a narrow, twisting channel. In near-complete silence we floated along with the rising tide. Eventually the current of the creek stalled us out, and we headed back downstream to the Columbia. 
As the high clouds moved in, and the wind began to rise, we headed toward camp, just downstream on Jim Crow Beach. It was recommended to us by the guides at Skamokawa, and showed signs of frequent use in the summer, including a couple of semi-permanent wood structures. We checked out the sketchy fishing flophouse, 
but elected to spend another night in the tent, and use the lemonade stand to hang out gear for the evening. I gathered wood for the campfire while Dainella cooked dinner. Listening to the weather report on our VHF radio, we heard of an incoming storm, including the possibility for snow in the Gorge over the weekend! Unbelievable after the mild weather of the previous week, but two weeks prior to our trip, we were knee-deep in snow. As we reminisced on the past week, we realized just how lucky we’d been, not only with the weather, but virtually every part of our trip. 
Every moment had been spectacular, and while we were excited to reach our destination on schedule, anther part of me wanted to head out through the Columbia Bar, turn south, and keep going. Maybe another time.
Next up - Damnation & Salvation: How to hang on until the bitter end.
