Solo kayaker reflects on Columbia journey

Wednesday it was “a lot of windsurfers — and one kayaker,” he joked.

Richardson, who works for Waggener Edstrom Communications, used his six-week sabbatical to attempt a source-to mouth solo paddle, starting in British Columbia. His girlfriend drove to different points from Issaquah every two weeks to meet Richardson with fresh supplies. His parents, Julie and Mike Richardson, traveled from Alabama for the last week of their son’s journey. Richardson purchased a 17-foot-6 TideRace ScapeX kayak — large enough for comfort given his 6-5 frame — and equipped it with GPS and a set of maps, along with camping gear, food, and plenty of support gear, including a hand pump and a well-worn set of portaging wheels.

“I started planning 18 months ago, researching routes, and had looked at doing the Missouri, but it’s 2,500 miles, and I didn’t get that much time off,” he said. “I looked at the Columbia and thought it would be fun, given the diversity you get going from Canada, heading south to desert and on into marshland, and you get a good mix of everything.”

Most of his time he was on his own, but the river took him through towns as well.

“It’s kind of funny to be going from being in the river and then into a Walmart in the town and all the cash registers ringing, and ‘what’s going on?’ It takes a minute to acclimate.

”It’s been great meeting people along the way and talking about what I was attempting to accomplish and seeing them light up about something they’re interested in,” Richardson said. Hopefully someone will see what I’ve done and be inspired.

“I had six weeks sabbatical, and I could have painted the house and taken care of chores — or use it for an adventure like this that you don’t get to do all the time,” he said.

Biggest surprise? “Unexpected rapids, times when you get kind of turned around in the shallows where the river starts, but in general it was great,” he said, “just finding out-of-the-way spots, especially in the first 100 miles and there wasn’t much out there and you paddle for the day, find a sandy beach to pull over for the night.

“The highlight was the tons of times when I’d just get done with a long day of paddling and look out at the stars, those crystal clear nights and beautiful sunsets and sunrises and kind of get inspired by nature and get words of encouragement from people and the things they’ve done on the river.

There is a lot of knowledge of the river from the locals all along the way.

“I can always come back, hopefully someone else will be inspired to do something they like it,” he said. “That’s the best part of it.”

He headed for Bonneville Dam on Friday to reach the 1,000-mile mark. “I have to get back to work, but I hope to come and finish the last portion another time,” he said.