In early May I paddled down the Columbia River from Invermere to Radium, a distance of about 16 km.   The river was low and slow-moving except for 3 spots of faster water.   Adjacent to the river are many wetlands so birds and waterfowl were abundant along the way.    The launch spot was by the Athalmer Bridge at the outlet to Windermere Lake.   the landing was at a backwater channel next to the Forsters Landing Road bridge below Radium.   Although the railroad follows the shoreline of the river I was lucky that there was no train running for the 2.5 hour downriver run.   Along the way there were great blue herons, bald eagles, a golden eagle, ospreys, loons, barrows golden eyes, mallards, kingfishers, and numerous small birds.    The paddle whetted my appetite to continue the run downriver in some future trip to the Kootenays.

Taking photos from a kayak is never easy but when the water was calm and the hand was steady,  a few turned out well.   These were combined into a video:

Watch for a future report for a downriver paddle from Radium to Golden (105 km).