On Thanksgiving weekend, under clear blue skies and chilly-but-totally-manageable temperatures, the family and I went on a river adventure!

We brought our trusty 15-foot raft (named the "Squeaky Eagle" by Jazzy!) and met our friends (with their own canoe) at the Marblemount Boat Launch. After an hour of rigging and packing thermoses of hot drinks and apple cider, we shoved off!

This stretch of river is surreal in its beauty, the clearness of the water, and the swiftly flowing but generally flat conditions.

Early morning fog wafted through the trees as sunlight penetrated through, conjuring "Ooohs" an "Aaahs" from all of us!

It wasn't long before we began seeing salmon swimming along the gravel bottom, with bald eagles watching closely from the branches overhanging the river.

It's still early season for the full-blown swarm of eagles, but during our trip we saw about 3 dozen or so.

We pulled over for lunch at one of many gorgeous gravel bars, warmed up with hot drinks, skipped stones, and packed a few away to be tumbled back at home.

Roughly 3 hours after we began, we arrived at the take-out at Howard Miller Steelhead Park just several hours east of Concrete, WA.

The boat ramps into and out of the water at put-in and take-out for this run could NOT be easier.

An hour later, we were eating some of the best gluten free baked treats you've ever tasted at the 5 B's Bakery in Concrete... NOT to be missed!!!If you're a boater at all, with a canoe, raft, sea kayaks or whitewater kayaks, and you have basic skills, I can't recommend this trip highly enough.

It's a short drive from Bellingham, has easy logistics, and a very high reward factor for your efforts!

Here are a few more photos from the day! Enjoy!