On the first day of March I hiked from McArthur Island over to Rabbit Island.    In late winter the ice clears off and a narrow channel separates the beaches of the two islands.    Since I have done this route many times, I knew what to expect.    The route is to hike over from the corner of McArthur Island onto wet beaches.    I had already put on a dry suit and neoprene boots and I had my hiking boots in a dry bag.   The narrowest part of a river channel is about 12 m across.   I waded through the cold moving water.   The deepest water came up to my knees, but since the water is quite cold. something like a dry suit is needed.

The beaches of Rabbit Island are wide and sandy, especially on the north side.    I went over to the island and used a log to change out of the dry suit and water boots.   I left them to dry on a log and put on my boots to hike around the island.

I hiked around the east end of the island and started down the other side, following the island shoreline next to the deeper and faster moving channel of the river.

Much of the south side of the island has a steep bank and grassy meadows.    The center of the island and the north side is populated with cottonwoods, but there are also some evergreens at the highest point of the island.

At the west end of Rabbit Island a beach points out into the river where the two channels meet.

I turned the corner and hiked up the other side of the island, mostly on sand.

After retrieving my dry suit and boots, I put them on and retraced my steps across the beach, across the river channel and back up the bank to McArthur Island, a 4.5 km hike.

I have been doing this hike every year in early spring, but I sometimes return to do it fall once the river channels recede again.    This is an unique and interesting hike.    Recommended, but you need the right gear to cross the river channel.