Thanks go to Peter DeGoey, for this Sunday's paddle down the Sacramento River through the Delta country. He did an excellent job of scouting out places for putting in, taking out, getting food, seeing local color, scouting alternative take-outs, and watching for a pleasant paddle. It was really nice having the BASK'ers come EAST for a change.

The original plan called for a trip from the tiny town of Clarksburg, just south of Sacramento, and ending in the really tiny burg of Ryde - home of one hotel and not much else. The river flow was a little slower than Peter had originally planned for, so he moved the take out upriver to the town of Walnut Grove - home of the twin radio towers that provide public radio waves to those of us living outside of KQED range.

Seventeen boats with 20 boaters took off on this trip just off the very slick banks of the Sacramento river, with a light breeze blowing, and the sun (remember him?) shining. The river was flowing at approx. 1.5 mi./hour, and the fishermen lined the banks waiting for steelhead and sturgeon. This is water usually crammed with power boats, waterskiers, and jetskis, but this early in the season, it was pretty quiet. Most of the fishermen looked a little puzzled that human-powered water travel could be FUN. Some thought we might need to paddle BACK to the put-in and warned us the current might pose a little challenge.

We made good time on the first leg of the trip, stopping in the little town of Courtland, 10 miles down river, at Rosie's Dock-n-Dine, where we were treated to the ultimate in Karaoke - a guy with a synthesizer and a guitar, who knew all the country western and Jimmy Buffet tunes you could ask for. Most of the patrons at this little establishment offered up good tips to our paddlers, like - "gee, ain't it gonna be hard getting back upriver that way?". One of the patrons pointed to a nice photo for the group... a pair of seagulls riding the river on some flotsam, a piece of timber in the river. They were making good speed, too.

By the way, Courtland is the home of the Pear Festival, in late July, if anyone cares to come out here for that. All sorts of pear treats are here for the tasting. Courtland is the home of all those yummy canned pears you buy in supermarkets.

After our feast of fried foods and ribs (hint to those coming here for lunch - put all orders on one check, and keep the variety to a minimum) we bid goodbye to the man with the band and the local color. Again, we made good time down the river towards our take-out spot, and the great radio towers in the sky. Several fisherman passed us in their boats, giving us the opportunity to play in their wakes.

At mile point 19, we took out in the town of Walnut Grove, packed the shuttle drivers in Bob's Big Van - really big - it held 11 passengers!, and got the cars back down from the put-in spot. From there, we went upriver maybe 3000 yards to the town of Locke for dinner. Locke was settled by Chinese folk following the gold rush when the labor was transferred from gold mining and railroad building to building the series of levies that hold the Sacramento River waters back from the cluster of little islands in the Delta. Locke has fallen into some disrepair over the years, but the town is still something to visit. The main draw now is the fine eating establishment called "Al the Whops"(no offense intended). Here, you can have a drink after a long paddle, share fisherman stories, shoot a dollar bill at the ceiling and see if it sticks (the barkeep will show you how), have a bowl of minestrone or a fine glass of wine (from a box!), and even buy a souvenier G-string that proclaims: "Eat at Al the Whop's!".

Peter, you know how to show us a good time! Thanks for all who came out to share the color of the Sacramento Delta region!

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Text copyright © 2000 by Lisa Oulette.

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