BC Kayaking 2005

We pick up the journey on July 4 with newly attained unemployed status. The months before that time are a blur. Glenn swears it involved investment bankers, corporate lawyers and glass towers but it cannot be confirmed. We’d also like to introduce the “Banana Boat” and “Red Dragon”, a pair of folding ocean touring kayaks that we acquired. They were funded by the “Donkey money” account that we have built up recently. “Donkey money” would have allowed us to hire donkeys to carry our bags in the Cordillera Blanca. The “Donkey money” account had been in a deficit for a number of years.

After stopovers in Banff and Prince George, we reached the Bowron Lakes which is in the middle-of-nowhere (North/Central British Colombia). Notions of idyllic lazy days kayaking on the lakes did not materialize. Our primary experience was of rain showers followed by rain, punctuated with bugs, in short, a Canadian Summer. We waited a couple of days for the moon and the weather to line up in unfounded optimism that the weather would improve. At the Bowron Lakes orientation, we were briefed about the circuit, including tips on the effective use of pepper spray in case of a close encounter of the bear kind. This all sounded very exciting but nothing materialized. We did not encounter any bears, not even a stray hippo. We doubled rations of insect repellent and began the 116 kilometre circuit with three portages totaling 6 km on the first day which also featured a plethora of loons and requisite moose.

We continued through spectacular mountain and lake country, accessible by paddle only (we did not bribe the Parks staff to give us a lift in their outboards). Our muscles ached from the first day and we hoped it was because of the portaging and not the paddling. It turns out that the aches were from the paddling; all that desk time did nothing for our preparedness. We also realized that the “trip brochure” (we sometimes imagine that our trips are well organized) did not specify that paddling requires a fair amount of effort that can result in tired and sore muscles. Nor did the “trip brochure” mention the possibility of inclement weather. It could have been described as very atmospheric. The upside is the rain keeps the bugs down; Summer in Canada. The scenery was awesome; the moose were plenty as were the eagles, osprey, loons, hummingbirds, etc.

Our last night facing the onslaught of the attack mosquitoes and the following day when we made our final beaching of the trip in the pouring rain were both memorable moments. The week-long Bowron Lakes circuit is highly recommended even in the rain (honest)!

The Bowron lakes provided a tune-up for our next folly: Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). The islands are serviced by a ferry six times a week in summer. Food supplies arrive weekly on the Sunday ferry and fresh food gets onto the supermarket shelves by Tuesday. There is no McDonalds or any other fast food chain outlet. Even Tim Hortons is absent. The islanders are very easy going, friendly and sometimes quirky.

At our Gwaii Hanaas National Park/Reserve orientation session, we learnt that the island bears are almost friendly, too busy eating seafood (crabs, salmon, mussels, etc) to mess with humans. Keith (Mexico 2000) flew into Sandspit and we all boated to Gwaii Hanaas from Moresby Camp for a two-week paddle (Keith for one week).

The islands are covered in Rainforest (with a capital “R”) and moss grows on everything but does not somehow grow on the people. We were fortunate to enjoy largely sunny skies for most of our three week stay. Gwaii Hanaas is the kind of place where you paddle and a seal or a whale can pop up in front of you and they do.

The coastal environment produces a healthy population of mozzies and black flies, the former seem to relish human ears in particular. In any case, the afternoon winds would normally take care of the bugs. Each day we would put in some honest paddling in and then we would flake out on the beach in the afternoons, recovering from the physical activity that was also somehow omitted from the “trip brochure”.

The scenery and inter-tidal marine life in particular was terrific to see. The paddle included a ‘mandatory’ soak at Hot Spring Island. Major cultural sites are manned by Haida watchmen who are a good source of knowledge and delightful to talk with. Our visit to the totem poles and former settlement at Skedans included a bag full of brownies the watchmen gave us.

Keith was the hero one day with a catch of three good sized Coho salmon that we shared with another group of people at a celebratory dinner on a warm, sunny pebble beach (Kunga) that included fresh crab, wine etc. and a guitar performance.

As we paddled further north, the higher fish density lead to an increase in the bald eagle population. At one campsite (“random camping” throughout) a bald eagle flew overhead clutching a 3lb salmon as we pulled into the rocky beach. Bald eagles are noisy birds and that particular bird made sure that all its neighbours knew it ate well that day.

At our last camp in Haida Gwaii, we watched three kingfishers at work with eagles and seals close at-hand. Later, with an entourage of seals, dolphins trailing behind the Pied Piper (Glenn trolling), his chances of a fish were a long shot, but the wind was with us on a flood tide under sunny skies into Moresby camp to end the kayak trip. The incredible conditions must have been laid out to lure us in for a return visit sometime.

With our shoulders recovering from three weeks of kayaking, we headed north through the Queen Charlotte Islands past ‘mile zero’ of the Yellowhead Highway in Massett to a place with an end-of-the-world feeling on the North-East coast of Graham Island. The sandy north beach permits vehicular travel so our Mazda sedan earned the name “junior” (referring to the “Persian God”) when it set out over the kilometres of hard sandy beach. Although whales are often seen from the beach (we watched 5 orcas attack a grey whale), the real attraction is the crabbing. Glenn was deep in the surf in waders pulling big crabs off the sandy bottom, while Sheila discovered bigger crabs in ankle deep water. One Dungeness crab has as much meat (if not more) as a lobster, and we had crab for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After a while we began to smell like crabs.

We stepped away from the crab buffet table and marched off on the Cape Fife trail to a world of dunes, logs and sands. The skies cleared off from rain and when we left Haida Gwaii, the warmth returned and we were already missing the islands before leaving them. Haida Gwaii is a special place.

We had a memorable evening on our 1500 kilometre drive back to Calgary. It was the night of the flapping salmon, not be confused with the night of the attack mosquitoes, though we had some of those that evening. We were potential Darwin Award nominees. We camped on a small sand bank of the Skeena River with accompanying fresh grizzly tracks. The salmon were coming up river and we were fortunate this was not Mr. Bear’s favorite fishing spot. The bloody fish kept us awake through much of the night with erratic flapping and whacking continuing all night long.

We changed gears with a short hike (defined as less than ten days) in the Southesk area of Jasper National Park. It was not a completely solitary trip; we met two wardens on the trails. We did encounter more bears than people. We watched a grizzly sow give its 2 cubs swimming lessons by crossing back and forth a river.

We spotted a wolf but no Sasquatch. You could say it was fairly wild country. The “trail” matched the rugged terrain and after a couple of days of trail-less hiking, we had made it through “boot camp”. We admit that the overall experience was enhanced by a slightly thicker sleeping pad arrangement than previous trips and we are thankful for the beneficial effects of ibuprofen.

NOTES

▪ The crab shells go flying at our dining table: protect your wine glass!

▪ We put on a show playing “cosmic bowling” at the Massett recreation centre. OK, so what if the kids we played were all under 10? We still looked good.

▪ The highest temperature recorded on our five week road trip through Northern B.C. was 22C. Summer in Canada.

▪ Sheila once told Glenn to stop fishing while kayaking because catching fish was slowing our progress.

▪ What no boules? Some B.C. campsites feature horseshoe throwing pits.

▪ Sheila picked up that kayakers look very sporty.

▪ Our Jasper hike featured a day that held firm at 4C until it peaked at 5C late in the day. Another August morning started at -5C. August is the warmest month of the year.

▪ Brother Steve has noticed that there has been some softening tones in our e-mails. Not tough enough. Cousin Wayne concurs. Wayne joined us on our “Sissi” bike tour of Eastern Europe. He can recall the swimming pools, beers, ice-creams and parkys (Slovak hot dogs) but cannot remember if the trip actually included cycling.