Questions about retracing Lewis & Clark's route in the mouth of the Columbia

I have been following internet posts by a guy who is retracing Lewis and Clark's route from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.  He has portaged his kayak past the John Day Dam and is within sight of Mt. Hood.  He is unsure about the hazards of kayaking the mouth of the Columbia, and is wondering if he should take out at some point and hike the end of the route.  Do those of you who regularly do kayak fishing in the mouth of the Columbia have any suggestions, words of wisdom, warnings, or cautionary tales for him about kayaking the mouth of the Columbia?  If you post them here, I'll let him know about this topic.

His web page is http://bucktrack.com/Lewis_and_Clark_Trail.html . His daily posts are interesting and include some nice pictures, and it has been fun to follow his progress.  This web page doesn't have an index with place descriptions which allows you to easily start at the beginning of the trip or at whatever point is of interest to you, but if you go to the very bottom of any of the daily entries, there is a calendar, and you can click on an earlier date, and then page forward through the entries.  There are entries for dates highlighted in turquoise on the calendar.

He started in St. Louis this spring.  Due to the many wing dams in the section of the Missouri above St. Louis, he hiked the first 600 miles to Yankton, South Dakota.  Then he kayaked upstream to Three Forks, Montana.  There are a number of large reservoirs in the Dakotas, and Fort Peck Reservoir in Montana.  Above Fort Peck Reservoir the speed of the river increased, and he spent a lot of time hauling his kayak upstream.  Like Lewis and Clark, he did a 15 mile portage around Great Falls.  From Three Forks he hiked through Dillon, Lemhi pass, Salmon Idaho, and Lolo Montana, followed the Lolo Motorway to Weippe, Idaho, and continued hiking to Orofino, where he resumed paddling down the Clearwater River and the Columbia River.  He recently passed the 3,000 mile point, and as I said earlier, is now below the John Day Dam.

When providing advice, keep in mind that he is in a sit-inside sea kayak, he's by himself, he doesn't have a roll, he doesn't have a dry suit, and he appears to have been doing a lot of kayaking without wearing his spray skirt.

I hope someone will speak up on this - I know there is some good advice and knowledge out there.

This is a really inspiring task he's undertaken. Thanks for the link - going to read it as I have time.

He's going to have strong tides and potentially wind to deal with in the estuary.  The mouth itself (i.e. the Columbia River Bar) is a very serious concern and he will want to contact the Coast Guard for the bar status before attempting.  On a calm ocean day with the right tides it won't be a problem.   

A 1/4 mile portage over Clatsop split would be an easier/safer why to reach the Pacific.

He's going to have strong tides and potentially wind to deal with in the estuary.  The mouth itself (i.e. the Columbia River Bar) is a very serious concern and he will want to contact the Coast Guard for the bar status before attempting.  On a calm ocean day with the right tides it won't be a problem.

Can you suggest any internet resources for information about tides in the section of the Columbia which is affected by tides, and can you provide contact information for the Coast Guard?

Coast guard is on VHF channel 22A and for emergency 16 and in 22A they periodically call out the bar conditions.

Coast guard is on VHF channel 22A and for emergency 16 and in 22A they periodically call out the bar conditions.

He doesn't have a VHF radio.

Coast guard is on VHF channel 22A and for emergency 16 and in 22A they periodically call out the bar conditions.

He doesn't have a VHF radio.

Wow that far with no VHF

If he crosses the bar, should do so on North side at slack to incoming tide. The mouth of the Columbia is not what it was when L&C made the trip. If personally land on the South side at handicap beach and portage to the beach on the ocean side.

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https://goo.gl/maps/qLJMvrBHBe72

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Here is the link, didn't see the actual link on the coast guard picture.  You can get web cam live, but it could change before he could fold up and get there!

https://www.uscg.mil/d13/sectcolrvr/

I checked with a retired coast guard officer.  Its very unlikely CG will give any advice due to liability issues.  Many here might quickly say he's not ready for it even if he makes it.  Given all of the caveats already mentioned, he could be in for a dangerous ride, and might not realize it looks good until he realizes he was looking just before the tide swing.  Again, based only on what's posted, he's paddling WAY outside the box many would, and I take as many chances as anyone sometimes, but in known situations.  Off course, Lewis and Clark didn't have any of this stuff and they did make it (right?)  Good luck, heck of a journey.

Hopefully he doesn't get pinned down in some "Dismal little nitch" by a gnarly 6-day November storm.   

Buck has been making some impressive daily mileages when not pinned down by wind, so weather permitting, he should be past Portland and arriving in the estuary pretty quickly.  During this trip he has been doing a lot of paddling on big reservoirs where high winds and big waves are a frequent problem.  It seems to me that it would be helpful to provide him with information about specific hazards which may exist in the estuary which are different from just paddling down the Columbia and across its reservoirs, and suggestions about where it might be a good idea to stop paddling.  Is going past the Clatsop Spit and crossing the bar into the ocean the primary risk, or are there other hazards in the estuary which he should know about?

Buck has been making some impressive daily mileages when not pinned down by wind, so weather permitting, he should be past Portland and arriving in the estuary pretty quickly.  During this trip he has been doing a lot of paddling on big reservoirs where high winds and big waves are a frequent problem.  It seems to me that it would be helpful to provide him with information about specific hazards which may exist in the estuary which are different from just paddling down the Columbia and across its reservoirs, and suggestions about where it might be a good idea to stop paddling.  Is going past the Clatsop Spit and crossing the bar into the ocean the primary risk, or are there other hazards in the estuary which he should know about?

Pete, one link from the Coasties web page that he might find useful:  https://www.uscg.mil/d13/sectcolrvr/docs/columbiariverdangerareas.pdf

Jim

RoxnDox, thanks for the link to the hazards map - that's real useful.  Are there navigation maps for further up the estuary and the Columbia which are available on the internet?

bsteves, Lee, and others who regularly fish this area - If the weather is good, do you think that Buck could sneak along the south side of the estuary to the Clatsop Spit without excessive risk from currents and waves, and then portage across the spit for some triumphant pictures of him and his kayak on the beach, looking out at the Pacific Ocean?  Or do you recommend that he take out further upstream, and not try to cross the estuary?

The estuary is fine, the bar is not. Every navigation map I've seen shows the breakers just west of the point I provided earlier. I recommend he doesn't go past that and portage there. Realistically, that's where the coast would have been back in the day anyway.

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