The photo of this snag near the middle of the Willamette was taken Monday, May 26, 2025.
Now that warm weather is likely to lure more boaters out on the Willamette River, allow me to point out a couple of new hazards in the water off Albany’s Dave Clark Riverfront Path.
Only a couple of weeks after a long-lasting logjam at the Albany railroad bridge was cleared, two new obstructions in the river caught my eye Monday as I was riding my bike along the path on the bank.
Roughly 800 feet downstream from the railroad bridge, what appears to be a tree stump pokes out of the water. It looks as though the tree had grown in the middle of the stream before being cut down.
A few feet downstream from that, a whole tree complete with its root ball lies lengthwise in the current, held here by something on the bottom.
Both of these hazards are easy to avoid — if you see them in time when approaching in a personal watercraft or floating downstream in a kayak or canoe. There’s plenty of river width to go around these obstructions.
I have never before seen potential strainers like these stuck in the current at this place. Maybe this normally placid reach of the Willamette is getting shallower as new gravel bars build up. (hh)
From the bank, this thing looks like a stump that is stuck in the river.
“Only a couple of weeks after a long-lasting logjam at the Albany railroad bridge was cleared, two new obstructions in the river caught my eye Monday as I was riding my bike along the path on the bank.”
Coincidence?