Trip Report
Sea Kayak - Columbia River: Tenasillahe & Welch Islands
A wonderful trip with varied conditions and lots of wildlife. Swans, otters, seal, ducks, geese, herons, egrets and eagles were viewed. We had flat calm, mirror-like conditions, 10kt winds with 1' waves, sun breaks, rainbows, heavy rain and large ship wakes at times during the day.
Will Greenough
- Sat, Dec 6, 2025
- Sea Kayak - Columbia River: Tenasillahe & Welch Islands
- Columbia River: Puget Island & Cathlemet Area
- Sea Kayaking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Fast moving freighter created some fun wave action! The launch at Elochoman Slough Marina boat ramp is protected and has a good heated restroom. There is a $5 (cash) non-motorized launch fee.
Although the forecast was for relatively strong wind all day, the weather system was delayed and the wind didn't come in until around noon. In the morning it was either flat calm or a very light wind with occasional sunbreaks. During lunch the wind came up to about 10kt from the west, creating 1' waves with a few whitecaps during our crossing back to the Washington side and along the shoreline back toward Skamokawa. Occasional heavy rain came down during the afternoon.
The high tide at 9' was as high as I have ever seen it during our paddle back through the sloughs to Cathlamet.
This route is pretty special as most of the day you feel like you are out in the wild - only short periods where you can see any habitations. We started the day paddling north along the shore of Hunting Island in flat calm conditions with rainbows appearing along with a small flock of swans flying over the river.
We crossed the river to the east shore of Tenasillahe Island and stopped for a break at a small beach just north of the entrance to Red Slough.
We paddled west through Red Slough and along the south shore of Quinns Island before heading north through the sloughs to Grassy Island. We paddled around the west end of Grassy Island and stopped at a very small beach on the north side of the island for lunch.
During lunch, the wind and waves came up making the crossing to Three Tree Point on the Washington shoreline a little bumpy. With the wind and tide at our backs, we did a leisurely exploration along this beautiful coastline to Skamokawa. This coast is wild, with rocky outcrops, overhanging cedars, waterfalls and small protected gravel beaches.
We took another break at the east end of Vista Park in Skamokawa before turning into Steamboat Slough behind Price Island. The rain came in with some vigor as we continued south and into Elochoman Slough and then back to the ramp at the Marina. Fortunately it let up a bit as we were packing our cars for the return home.
Total Distance: 16.6nm
Average moving speed: 3.2kt