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adventure
If you take the resort route, you’ll likely encounter more
traffic in the first quarter-mile than you will the rest of the
day: kids swimming, people fishing off the docks or from
small watercraft, and paddlers of all varieties. You’ll pass
the resort restaurant perched above the slough and the lush
lawns and private docks of the cottages lining the western
shore. But soon enough, the channel narrows and the crowd
thins. Then it’s just you, your boat and the expansive sky,
doubled in reflection—a lovely, simplified landscape that
constantly changes as clouds shift and wind ruffles the water.
The trail is part of the Upper Klamath Lake Wildlife
Refuge, which comprises nearly 5,000 acres of freshwater
marsh and open water. Fed by cold springs that channel
through pockets of pumice, it’s a haven for avian residents
and the thousands of birds passing through along the
Pacific Flyway.
Dragonflies dip. A song sparrow repeats its distinctive
trilling song. A kaleidoscope of blues, greens and golds
swirls in the wake of the boat ahead. In the Wocus Cut,
the channel narrows and the boat glides through mats of
wocus, a pond lily with heart-shaped leaves and large, waxy
yellow blooms.
There’s a world under the water, too. Young
fish thrive in the tangle of wocus stems. Beavers
shuttle from their lodges, impressive mounds that
“Soon enough, the
channel narrows
and the crowd thins.
Then it’s just you,
your boat and the
expansive sky, doubled
in reflection—a lovely,
simplified landscape
that constantly
changes as clouds
shift and wind ruffles
the water.”
White pelicans are a common sight,
especially near Pelican Bay.
108 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2017