We've done so many paddles on the Black River in Thurston County that we have lost count - it is the premier river for canoeing in western Washington.
Carved by massive glacial melt in the Cascades at the end of the last ice age, the river gets its name from the tannins released from decaying vegetation in the water. The river bottom is covered with thick mats of aquatic vegetation, the shoreline with dense vegetation. Duckweed, water lilies, cattails, marsh marigold, and wild mint are edible.
This duckweed can be gathered, washed, cooked and pureed into a soup, like chickweed. Raptors flew above the river, and songbirds, like the Swainson's Thrush, inhabit the trees - this is our favorite birdcall.
We startled a beaver who swam to the cover of dense vegetation, hissing at us for getting close to his den. Several beaver dams required portaging. We had to get out of the canoe, steady ourselves
on top of the branches, and pull the canoe over the obstruction. Once the canoe is over the dam, we proceed upriver, or down.
Parts of the river get very narrow, but a passage is always obvious through the vegetation.
This muddy shoreline looks like a place to get out and walk around. But, push your paddle down to test how hard it is - mine plunged down over three feet deep! Get stuck here, and you'd be in real trouble pulling yourself out.
