What up my Steemians, welcome to the @D00k13 Digest, we saw many eagles and plowed through some kids in the rapids making for an epic ending for part two of our tubing trip down Somass River. Started back out on the tube after stopping at the swimming hole with a rope swing running into a part of the riverbed covered with mussels only to realize we were being watched by two eagles sitting in a tree. Sorry the footage of the eagles in the tree was not clear with lighting but I did capture some wicked shots of them flying at the spot we stopped for a snack which turned out to be their hunting grounds.
See part one here: Tubing Somass River From The Rifle Range / Don't Go Over Stamp Falls!!! Part One - D00k13 Digest #94
We had to do a fair amount of paddling to avoid obstacles in the half of the adventure, watch out for rocks and logs as either could make your trip come to an abrupt end with the only option floating down to the bottom. We brought along our noodles just in case something happened, you never know right we could have potentially used them to save someone else's life. We had the noodles strapped on the back also as added protection to the tube, can be difficult to keep your feet facing the obstacle in the rapids.
Many times I needed to stop and reapply sunscreen, I am very fair skinned and burn pretty easily. At one stop we had to pick up the tube and walk across a shallow stream to find shade for a snack, looks like this was the eagles idea also. I captured footage of 2 bald eagles flying, their wings are so loud, one directly over our heads the other was taking off from the river. This was obviously their hunting grounds being a shallow area with lots of little crystal clear wading pools, one eagles was right above us in the tree just sitting there the whole time. We didn't even notice him at first blending in completely with his colouring, dark body with a white head making him look like just a part of the tree with his head blending into the sky. These birds are amazing to watch, fast, soaring, patient, gorgeous animals! To think the saying "eyes like and eagle" literally refers to the fact that while soaring 100 feet in the air they can spot their prey underwater just adds to their magnificence. The eagle is also one of the quitest in air as long as not flapping, they can soar in completely silent, line up their catch from 100's of feet in the air, and snag it with just a quick snag from their talons barely even breaking the surface of the water. I love these birds just like my grandfather on my father's side did, he had property backing onto the Somass River just below Papermill Dam and would spend hours watching them from his deck with binoculars. I think Papa, Rest His Soul, would be proud of my eagle flying footage and thinking of his excitement for these incredible birds is a very fond memory!
Lots of chilling and relaxing, sometimes you just have to ask are we even moving? I dosed off for awhile during our ride while holding the camera, LMAO, made for an interesting summer fun picture I posted in my previous blog speaking of the trip and upload of this half of the video. We reached a top speed of the whole trip right at the end in the rapids right at Papermill Dam, best part for last!
Going down the rapids we ended up running into a group of kids, common game they play. Stand in the way on the rocks in the rapids then as the tube approaches jump out of the way and try catch a ride, last person to jump and catch a ride wins. I used to do this with my friends but not on stangers tubes, these kids are a little braver swimming in the rapids then I ever was! The one kids successfully grabbed on, I slowed down the footage for the epic ending. The kid was screaming "I caught a ride, put me in the video, wasup!!". It was epic I caught the whole thing and the kids was super stoked to be on camera and I could do nothing other then just laugh and smile at his excitement. I say this moment is my best vlogging capture to date, I felt for a moment like I was a famous YouTuber or something with fans screaming at me excited to be in my footage.
I finished the day off with one last dip at Papermill Dam doing a action footage roll off the tube sideways, rolling splash into the water with a bit of the underwater spinning with all the bubbles. I am really enjoying being able to apply my creative and analytical minds and come up with some interesting shots with the flexibility of this GoPro Hero 5. I highly recommend this camera for anyone wanting to do a action packed travel vlog knowing your camera is fairly durable and the software Quik makes editing super easy completely from mobile, now if I had an android phone I would have been able to upload from mobile also.... thoughts for my next vacation ;)
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