Northern Salish Sea- a Solo Crossing by Darcy Wardrop

Rest stop on Mitlenatch Island 11km's from start

( This post is way overdue due for reporting on such a worthy venture. Darcy Wardrop's solo crossing from Salmon Point on the east side of Vancouver Island to Mitlenatch Island-then on to Savary Island and ending in the little village of Lund north of Powell River.

It is a long a committing crossing- and I love his faith in the universe that he simply planned to hitchhike back.  Darcy was not only my persistent mentor at getting me to try stand-up paddling, and sea kayaking before that- but has also been a very good friend for decades. His account below-and all photos are DW too.)

"Its an old adage I like that Time, Tide ( and Setting Resin ) wait for no-one, but the humble paddler knows that time, tide, wind and weather will play its happy games on the best of days. I have been watching the weather all week, and same as last year we had these crisp clear days , a bit of fog in the morning but burning off to flat calm waters, perfect for stand-up-paddle crossing of the Northern end of the Salish Sea.We had talked of this and my idea that if 2 hours took you out to Mittlnatch island 12km off shore , why backtrack when all sorts of possibilities open up from there, Savary, Cortes, Lund , just get out there and be prepared to take the wind where it might be favorable. As usual, I don't like to think about these things to much the night before, just keep a clear head and go. In the morning I packed a single bag with 2 liters of water and a couple of energy bars , a banana, 3 pieces of rye crisp and some peanut butter , dry clothes a tent hammock and my life jacket with wallet , camera and radio and about $20 bucks in spare change for phone booths as I don't own a cell phone. I impromptly dropped in on my good friend Howard to see if he would juggle my truck back from the put-in at Salmon Point.

                                          Darcy W. out on the perfect day for it.

 The water was rippled with a low wind and the odd whitecap, and the mainland some 25km away in fog. Nothing to do but launch and paddle for an hour and see what happens. About 20 minutes in I was feeling pretty comfortable once I got my balance in sync with a loaded board and the wind coming from NW. Savary Island beckoned in a straight SE line rather than a dogleg north up to Mitlenatch and over, but it seemed disappointing not to go to that wonderful place, and soon I found the tide pushing me north despite the wind and I was actually north and making my way SE to Mitlenatch. Two hours later I was greeted by 3 orange beaked Oyster-Catchers as I pulled in on the gorgeous beach on the north end. Last year my camera died after one picture out there so I wandered a bit to stretch my legs and take some pictures ( there is indeed cactus growing out there as well as a nice apple tree). Chatted with the caretakers and then washed down a Cliff bar and some rye crisp with water and ate my banana and took a swim enjoying the cool analgesic effects of the water. It was a sign that there were standing waves about a foot high in the current that creates a back-eddy off Mitlenatch, it would take me all most 3 hour to paddle the next shorter leg of the distance 10km to Savary island. The wind shifted to the south and blew ever so softly against me and kept me at a perfect temperature as I worked the paddle against it ( the Stroke-Hammer, my hand carved paddle-blade attached to a Nimbus whitewater paddle shaft performed wonderfully , with each stroke the shaft loads under compression and gives a little extra drive at the end when it releases the energy,,,,,I know paddle geek stuff). I made my way by Hernando Island and to Savary and was a bit surprised when the sunbathers that greeted me on Indian Point told me it was 245 pm, it hadn't seemed that long but I suppose I was just paddling in the zone and time had released me of its grip. Savary is one of our most beautiful islands, almost tropical with its white beaches. Though populated it has no real infrastructure , dirt roads, a few beater cars, no ferry but close to Lund that water taxis ferry people back and forth to the many luxury cabins and shacks.Washed down another Cliff Bar and taking another swim I noted that the tide was strong enough that I could barely swim against it. The water finally glassed off for the final 8km paddle to Lund and I was making nice time though I though I might not make it on time to the famous bakery there. About half way across I was feeling a bit dry so I sat down on the board for a while and dug out my other liter of water most of which I downed and fiddled with my shoes to get the sand out that was grinding a bit. Feeling very refreshed I made my way the final hour to Lund basked in the afternoon Sun that they are so famous for over there. I arrived in the nick of time just before Nancy's Bakery closed to have a salad and gluten free lasagna and a Glut free date bar washed down with delicious Beachcomber Ale

 ( I don't remember them tasting quite that good last I had one).I wanted to linger in the tropical garden and have another of those fine beer but they were closed now and I needed to get to Powell River. I talked with a few people around the busy little marina and store and put the word out that I was looking for a ride down to Powell River and would be willing to pay for gas. I had only arrived a half hour before and a guy offered me a ride up to the Malaspina cross road, where said you won't have to wait long.

                                          Hitchiking from Lund to the Powell River ferry


 Sure enough 3 cars and about 5 minutes later I had a ride right to the ferry terminal. The ferry staff allowed him to drive my board right down to the loading dock, and he would not take any of my offer for gas money. I was home by 11-oclock after Dar picked me up on the Comox side. Darcy (Salmon Point------Mitlenatch 12km --2hrs Mitlenatch--------Savary 10km --3 hrs hours Savary ---------Lund 8km --2 hrs 2 liters water, 3 pieces of rye crisp with peanut butter, a banana 2 cliff bars Trips like these, 7 hrs of paddling , the physical effort is relatively minor, fun really, but unlike a marathon or triathlon or organized event , there is no support, no hydration stations, no quick out if your injured. You're in it for the duration. Some people ask why? Adventure, fun ,exploration, lots of reasons- or as Mallory said "because its there." Several crossings of the Salish Sea have been made from the south, this might have been the first northern crossing on a SUP, its a fun fact but certainly not a reason for going,,,,,,,, the utility of the Stand-Up-Paddleboards has been remarkable, and I'm looking forward to trips in the future with friends."

Darcy Wardrop

A summer paddle on the Puntledge River



Getting ready for the next section on this perfect late summer day   (Darcy Wardrop photo)

It was good to have had our first stand-up river paddling  experience on the slower moving waters, big pools and easy  riffle rapids of the Salmon River before we tried the Puntledge River in Courtenay- about 40 minutes south of our hometown of Campbell River on Vancouver Island. The Puntledge, while rated easy for kayaks, rafts, canoes and is a popular summer float for inner tubes and air mattresses,  it was a little more challenging while trying to stay standing upright on the equivalent of a long ironing board- especially for us river running novices.

Although a shorter run than the section of the Salmon River that we'd done, the Puntledge was flowing much faster and had more 'technical' paddling than our previous outing.

Darcy Wardrop, running one of the more demanding sections- good balance required.   (pk photo)

The water is much deeper than it appears in the photo above. The water is so exceptionally clear that the boulders appear to be just beneath the surface when in fact they are several feet down.



Darcy W. contemplating the best line for the next section- note the leash ...

We were new enough to paddleboarding rivers in 2012 that that we both wore our leashes and only afterwards found out that this can be a real danger on a river. People have died finding that one out. The danger occurs when the tailing leash loop catches on some under or above water fixed obstruction in the river because of a capsize or simple bad luck. 
 You'd be suddenly stopped with the full force of the river current piling up against you- likely being forced underwater with only the time you can hold your breath to free yourself before it was too late. So, we are a little smarter about that one now. On the other hand, one doesn't want to lose one's board either- so perhaps a quick release leash or one with a weaker link that would break with a good yank.  Knee pads would be a good idea and helmets too, if the water had been faster or we had started further up.

We plunked in at Puntledge Park in Courtenay and then pulled out at the little marina and kayak shop on the right further down towards the ocean. It can be run from further up- just down from the Puntledge salmon hatchery at about the same grade of water, so maybe next time we'll do that.

A beautiful paddle and superb warm-water swimming  on a perfect late summer day. And it was just a short enjoyable mountain bike ride back to get my truck at the park. 

Paul Kendrick

Sayward Forest Canoe Route- 2013 Fast & Light





Mohun Lake-early morning. A perfect beginning to my day.

I set out from the boat launch on Mohun Lake at exactly 7:00 a.m. on August 20th. The challenge of trying to do the Sayward Canoe route on my stand-up board in a single day had been on my mind since I had first done the route in 2012. I had used the same Surf-Tec board then but had carried gear and food enough to stay out for two nights as I really didn't know what to expect or how long different sections would take or what problems I might run into along the way.This time I knew the route,could pack much lighter and do each portage just once.

  

The 48km Sayward Forest Canoe Circuit

The light that morning was just exquisite, that kind of  clear golden light that saturates and enhances all the colours. The water was a vivid deep blue and the sunlit trees such a luminescent green, they seemed lit from within. There was still a faint white mist slowly rising off the surface of the lake - what a place to be paddling on such a morning.


 It took me about 50 minutes to cover the 4.74 km to the start of the first 1.6k portage. I had made an over the shoulder sling with 2 loops in the end to help carry my board- as it is way too tiring on the fingers to carry the full weight of it that kind of distance. I also had a medium sized dry bag with backpack straps on it that my daughter had bought me for Father's day to carry my food and bivi gear. It took about 20 minutes to hike the portage and I was soon back on the water again. Due to the very dry July we'd had, the water level was a little lower than last year so I had to move up closer to the front of my board more often to lift the fin up enough to get through some of the weedy, shallow sections.

The channel leading from the end of the first portage- leads into Twin Lakes

  There was a young couple with a canoe tenting at Twin Lakes and they were just starting to wake up with the warming sun when I landed on the beach. I made short work of the .8 km portage and launched my board into Amor Lake just before 9:00 a.m.
After about a kilometer, I began to hear the sound of loons coming from somewhere up ahead. That classic, iconic call that is so unmistakable, so inseparable from our ideas, our memories of wilderness places. And Amor Lake has that feeling of being a place of wilderness. It's the only major lake on the circuit that does not have any easy road access, so there were no power boats, jet-skis or clusters of campers and RV's along the shoreline like there is near the end of Brewster Lake and along part of the shorelines of Fry and Campbell Lakes.

Amor Lake still has the feel and look of an untouched and unspoiled  place. The water was still calm and the sun was beginning to warm me up. There was no one else in sight and no other sounds other than those made by my paddle moving through the water and the calling of the loons not far ahead.

And there wasn't just one or two, there were over a dozen of them all in some kind of mysterious loon gathering which I'd never seen or heard before. And they were all calling out at once. Both together and with as many different calls as there were birds in this amazing and highly complex acapella collage of wild sound. I needed to stop and hear this. I felt the urging, the pushing of my agenda for the day. But as I began really take in the sounds of this amazing chorus of loons, my paddle hesitated and then stopped and came to rest. I knew I was witnessing something quite remarkable.

For the next few minutes, I just stood still on my board and simply listened. Drifting at rest after the physical efforting to get to that place, I felt very present, very absorbent. I closed my eyes and just surrendered to this exquisite experience. The sound of the loons seemed like it was being somehow woven into the very fabric of this special place. Into the silence, the stillness. Into the waters, into the surrounding evergreen forest. 
Perhaps when I return to that place again, I will still be able to hear the songs of those loons- whether they are actually there or not. 'I will remember this place.'

Turning the corner and reluctantly leaving the loons behind, I began paddling south down the last 2 km of Amor Lake. I was now exposed to the NW wind which had just begun to build. Luckily, it was going with me and I made really good time down to the end of the lake and then again on Surprise, Brewster and Gray Lakes with my body acting as a kind of sail. 

Only needing to do the 2.2 km portage between Surprise and Brewster lakes once was really nice. And this time I carefully avoided the really deep quicksand like mudtrap at the end of Brewster Lake where in 2012 I'd had what I referred to in my post as, "The great mud Battle." I had stepped off my board a little further out than canoeists would- due to the fin on the back of my board, and promptly plunged in up to my waist in deep mud. It had not been easy getting out. If I hadn't grabbed onto my board so quickly, I would have been up to my neck in it. So beware! Land a little to the right of the obvious canoe stop and test the ground before putting your weight on it.

At the end of the 2.2km portage; start of the channel leading to Brewster Lake. Note the carrying sling for my board.

After about 6 1/2 hours of steady going with the only stops being for the loons and later a Snickers bar, I paddled out of the creek leading from Whymper Lake to Fry lake. And there was my good friend Terry Browne in his small inflatable boat with a cold beer in one hand and fishing rod in the other.

Time for a break. Terry had offered to meet me there in case I decided to bail due to strong winds or some other reason- but all was looking good so far. I very regretfully declined the offer of a cold beer knowing that my motivation and momentum would likely fizzle to a halt. I still had a long way to go. Instead I chugged down the Bolthouse chocolate protein drink he'd brought for me. I now believed I was going to make it all the way around before nightfall, so I gave Terry most of my bivi gear but kept my headlamp and extra food just in case. I still had plenty of daylight and energy left and I was past the halfway mark.

Unfortunately, the NW wind which had been such a help up to that point now started blowing directly against me from just past C3 on the Guide Map for the remaining ~4.5 kms to Gosling Bay on Campbell Lake. I took another break there and went for a quick cooling off swim as Terry packed his boat up.

 Lucky for me it wasn't blowing anything like the forecast 20 knots there, but it still made for much harder paddling for most of the remaining trip. Especially on Gosling Lake and most of all, for the final 5km of Mohun Lake back to my starting point.

There was just nothing for it but dig deep and paddle hard at a steady pace. Other than in the stronger gusts, I kept making slow but steady progress and I used every headland and every shoreline indentation I could find to reduce my exposure to the full brunt of the wind. It was hard work but manageable.

The steeper hill portage from Gosling Bay up to Gosling Lake was the last of the longer carries as there was only a few hundred meters each separating each of the the four remaining lakes; Gosling, Higgins, Lawrier and Mohun.

Lawier Lake; last one before the short portage to Mohun

The wind was the strongest on Mohun as it had a good long fetch to build before it reached the south end where I put in for the last stretch. But it was only 5km more to go at that point and I still felt really strong so I just started paddling and except for one quick stretch break on a lovely little whitesand beach about 3/4 of the way, I didn't stop until my board nosed into the same beach I had left from that same morning- and what a great feeling that was!

It had taken me 11 hours and 16 minutes, so faster than the 12-14 hours I had been prepared for.

Finished- and still sunny outside. Pointing to my start and finish point on the map at the boat launch on Mohun Lake.

Whether doing the the whole route or just a shorter section, there are lots of different options with all the logging road access points to most of the lakes. The lightness of the board makes it a lot easier for one person to carry over the portages than a canoe or a kayak- but you do need some kind of sling to go over your shoulder. 

 As far as I know, I'm still the only person to have done the whole route on a SUP board- and this is a surprise to me as it's such a great way to explore this very special area of Vancouver Island.
 So I hope this blog posting will get out there and inspire someone else to pick up their board and paddle this very accessible circuit of lakes. Whether taking a day or a week, it is great paddling country to be out in.

Cheers, Paul Kendrick        

Read Island- a 51km Easter egg hunt

The Ace-Tech Wing; all ready for overnight wilderness touring (pk photo)

After about ten shorter outings in all kinds of weather from flatwater to a couple of big southeasters, I was more than ready to test my new board on it's first overnight trip- a circumnavigation of Read Island. Although I still really liked my 10' 6" Surf-Tech board, I knew that I was going to have to get a longer board with more flotation and more purpose designed for touring longer distances if I wanted to be able to do the kind of multi-day wilderness paddling trips I had been envisioning.
I surfed the net checking out all the SUP sites, articles, videos, forums etc and finally settled on the 12' 6" 'Ace-Tech Wing' made by BIC. 'Great, now I just have to go buy one,' which should be easy- or so I thought. As it turns out, there isn't (yet!) any retail distributor for the BIC stand-up boards here on the west-coast of Canada, and so I couldn't buy one- at least not unless I wanted to get one on E-Bay or drive to REI in Seattle. I couldn't believe it, I wanted to support one of the local businesses by buying one close to home but that just wasn't possible. Well, there had to be a way- so I decided to go to the top with my plight. A long story and many e-mails later, I was off to Nanaimo to catch the ferry over to Vancouver to pick up the board I wanted in Vancouver. Many thanks to Jason Hilton, Steve Hare and Chris Decerbo from BIC who made it happen. And the 'Wing' is everything I hoped it would be- perfect for Vancouver Island based adventure paddle board touring.

I caught the first ferry over to Quadra Island from Campbell River on March 29/13- 'Good Friday'  and set off from Heriot Bay heading north up Hoskyn Channel after having decided to go clockwise around Read Island. I was concerned about the NW wind which was forecast to blow up to to 30 knots- but by going north first early in the morning, I hoped for lighter winds and then have it behind me in the afternoon if it did really get that strong. Fortunately, it didn't.

Heriot Bay starting point at bottom left

I was sheltered from the wind for the first 45 minutes or so which was nice. Still on the east side of Quadra, I saw some eagles on the shore in the distance- obviously feeding on something, and decided to have a closer look.

                     Bald eagles enjoying rack of seal  (pk photo)

I was unpleasantly surprised to find the eagles feeding on the remains of not one but three seals there- so not sure what the story behind that is but obviously not a happy one for the seals. The eagles were sure dining in style though- nothing was going to waste.

As I neared Conville Point, the northwesterly wind really began to make itself felt and paddling became harder work. I was really happy though with the way the pointed bow of the Wing cut through the waves and with how stable the board felt with the added weight of my overnight gear. Stable enough that I felt no concerns about falling in as I crossed the roughest stretch from Conville Point to Sheer Point on the west side of Read Island. This was a narrow spot so the wind was funnelled through there and kicked up the only real whitecaps I encountered on the whole trip.

To get a better plan future trips I was wearing wearing the Garmin 305 GPS watch that I used for running and this was a great little aid to have along. Even with the wind, I was still making about 5.3km an hour and that actually stayed quite constant for the whole trip- including water and snack stops, so I was pleased with that as it meant I should be able to make it all the way around with just one overnight stop.

After 2.5 hours of steady paddling, I decided to take a short water and Snickers bar break in the little cove tucked behind the south end of Surge Point as I knew the next stretch would be more exposed to the wind.

Snickers stop behind Surge Point

Re-energized, I rounded the point and crossed the open stretch on the opposite side of Surge Narrows and enjoyed a brief respite from the wind at the entrance to Whiterock Passage.

                       Entrance to |Whiterock Passage- dividing Read and Maurelle Islands

The tide was getting quite low by the time I was entering the passage and so I was able to just go slowly along through this short windless stretch and  enjoy seeing some of the bottom flora and fauna through the clear water.

Big sunstar- Whiterock Passage

I could really relax and enjoy the day now because I was now turning east and once I was at the end of Whiterock Passage, I would then have the wind behind me. For March on the B.C. coast, it was developing into a really warm day and I was sweating in my farmer john wetsuit. Fortunately, there was still lots of water of water running in all the little seasonal creeks and runnels coming off the rock walls so I was able to keep well hydrated without going into the 2 litres of extra water I was carrying.
I turned the corner at the end of the passage and decided to take full advantage of the NW wind that was now behind me and paddle on to what I knew was a great campsite at the end of Whale Passage across from Frederic Point. It was still early afternoon by the time I got there but after 34.6km in 6 1/2 hours of paddling, I was more than ready to stop- have something to eat, put my gear out to dry and soak up some sun. Amazing it was so warm and I was just in shorts and sunglasses. Just a week earlier I had been wearing a wool toque and full wetsuit paddling out of Kelsey Bay and it was so cold that I could only stay warm as long as I kept moving.

                 Great camp spot. Bivi-sac, 2 lb down bag and the luxury of a full length Therma-rest.

I had a small fire that night and enjoyed 'a wee dram' of single malt- the Bowmore Doublewood, ahh.
I was packed and off by 7:30 the next morning wanting to take advanatge of the still flooding tide and the NW wind for the long run down the east side of Read Island to Viner Point.




East side of Quadra and Vancouver Island mountains - seen from the crossing  just north of Viner Point to the Breton Islands to Heriot Bay

I could now see Heriot Bay in the distance and with it came thoughts of a big breakfast and COFFEE to look forward to. I was fortunate on this stretch also that the NW winds nver got anywhere near what had been forecast the day before. If they had, I would have had to beat my way much further up the west side of Read Island before crossing and that would have taken a great deal more time and energy.

I'd been going just over 3 hours and had done 16.5 km by the time I landed on the beach in front of the Heriot Bay Inn. So total distance was 50.96m km and total paddling time was 9 hours 35 minutes. No, I don't always keep such tabs on times and distances- but it's useful information for planning more ambitious adventures. And yes, Read Island could be done in a day- but I wouldn't find it as enjoyable. It was a great outing and I hope the first of many such trips now that spring has arrived. Hey, who knows- next time,I may even be able to find someone else who wants to do these kind of trips.

No, I didn't find any Easter eggs.

Paul Kendrick

Stand-up on the Salmon River

 

Darcy Wardrop- contemplating a highly technical section of the Salmon River :)     (pk photo)

 This was about about as technical as it got on a great stand-up-paddle trip down the beautiful and aptly named 'Salmon River' in September 2012. It was a cooler day with some occassional drizzle  but really nice conditions for this river- as in no wind. The problem with bright sunny weather in this area is that it often comes with strong northwesterly winds which blow up the river and can make for hard paddling especially as you near the estuary- not to mention the wind driven whitecaps once you get out in the open waters of Kelsey Bay .

The section of the Salmon River that Darcy and I paddled starts just above where the Salmon River and the White River join together in the beautiful Sayward Valley on Vancouver Island. The Sayward Junction is about a 45 minute drive north of Campbell River on Hwy 19. Turn left at the junction, cross over the Salmon River then left again on Hern Road and drive all the way to the end. A short trail leads from here  to the put-in on the Salmon River. It is about a 16km paddle from here to the take-out at the boat launch spit on the left side of the Salmon River estuary. 

 

Junction of the Salmon and White River's- White on the right- and shortly before I 'splooshed' (Darcy Wardrop photo)

The put-in is just out of sight and around the bend to the left in the picture. There is a sandy beach and a really deep pool there- a popular swimming spot for the locals and visitors alike in the summer.
Darcy made this section look so easy that, against my better judgement- I decided to try it too instead of wading across the White River and putting in again on the gravel bar to the right in the picture. This was what I had done when I had soloed the river the day before.
(The problem on that day was while I had remembered my camera, I had forgotten to put the camera card back in it- so no pictures meant I felt compelled to do the river again- and this time Darcy came too.)

Well, I didn't find it so easy and got dumped in just where the water piles up against the rock wall just out of sight on the left. Glad I was wearing my wetsuit or else the rest of the paddle on that particular day would have been a little chilly. Not exactly the way I wanted to start out the day but I managed to keep my camera dry.

After a very dry August, the river levels were very low and the water crystal clear and jade green. There were several thousand pink salmon schooling in the river in the upper sections and we could see where they had been digging out big shallow pits in the gravel river bed called 'rudds' for spawning and depositing their eggs. Further down in the lower sections there were also numerous schools of much bigger salmon- coho I think, holding in the deeper pools.

There were also plenty of spawned out dead salmon on the bottom and along the river banks. The presence of all this food had attracted a lot of bald eagles and turkey vulures which we saw perched in the trees along the river banks as we descended. The day before, I had seen a good sized black bear come out of the bush looking for a salmon brunch about 150 feet from where I was passing by.

The Salmon River was very shallow in the low water conditions that we had, and this had caused me problems with my fin hitting the bottom which mean't I'd had to carry my board down some of the shallow riffle areas instead of just being able to run them as I'd done in my old ocean kayak years before.
Fortunately, Darcy had come up with an ingenious solution to this problem by crafting two wooden fins for our boards which were about a foot long but only drew about 3 inches of water. These shallow draft fins enabled us to run several sections I hadn't been able to do the day before and also allowed us to do much quicker turns when needed. Yet because of their length, these plywood fins still worked well enough for paddling the longer, slower moving sections that make up most of the trip.

A typical section of the scenic and easy paddling on the Salmon River (pk photo)

Darcy meandering down the Salmon River; lower slopes of Mt.Kusam in the background (pk photo) 

As the river winds it's way through the Sayward valley on it's way to the ocean, we did pass some farms and a handful of houses but for the most part, the Salmon River feels much more remote than it actually is. But having said that, this is still a very wild place and home to elk, black bear, deer and eagles. It is also part of what's included in the area known as 'north Vancouver Island' which contains one of the highest concentrations of cougars in the world. As with the bears, everyone around here has a cougar story or two to tell as well.

Herd of elk resting in a field along the Sayward Valley Road (pk photo)

The day before, I had paddled all the way out into the river estuary and then crossed to the end of the long spit where the small boat launch is. I tucked my board and paddle out of sight as best I could and then rode my mountain bike back the ~12 km or so to where I had parked my truck at the end of Hern Road. But on this day I got out on the rocky river bank just beneath the bridge over the river on the Sayward Valley Road. My bike was stashed just above so I left my board there and went back to get the truck while Darcy carried on the rest of the way to the estuary and take-out point. This bridge crossing would make for a good alternative takeout if the westerly wind was really blowing.

If you go to www.sayward.ca and open up the 'Outdoor Recreation' tab then click on 'Location,' this will bring up an excellent Google earth view of the whole valley and the river route  from start to finish.

A great outing in a very beautiful area.

 

Paul Kendrick

SUP'ing the Sayward Forest Canoe Circuit



Goose Lake (Mohun North) July 2012 (looking towards the 1st portage ~3km further)

I bought my board from Island Long Boards 3rd week of July and then was out on it almost every day or evening after that. Learning to paddle, improving my balance and technique and having a whole lot of fun doing so. At the same time, it was becoming obvious to me that I could do and wanted to do a whole lot more on this board than just going for short outings in a small area.  

My first longer paddle was with Darcy and Scott and we went from Storey's Beach around Salmon Point and into Saratoga Beach. It wasn't a long paddle really, maybe 8 km's on a glass calm day. But it was long enough to give me a taste of leaving the harbour, to get out there so to speak. It  was enough to let me know what kind of paddling I really wanted to do.

I began to look for something more challenging. Somehow, the idea of doing a solo paddle of the Sayward Forest Canoe Circuit began to really grow in my mind. I began to seriously look into it. No one I talked to had heard of anyone who had done it on a SUP board before- so that made the idea even more interesting.

(from Michel Gautier's guide book)


The Sayward Canoe Circuit is a chain of lakes in a roughly rectangular shape linked by narrow channels, creeks, swamps and portage trails. The whole loop is 48km long with 41 km of paddling and ~7km of portaging. The longest portage is 2.2 km and some are as short as 100m. Most people take 4-7 days to do the entire circuit and that would be a relaxed pace with plenty of time for exploring. My board was not big enough to carry more than a minimum of overnight gear so I planned to do the circuit in two days with one night camped out- two nights if I had to. 

I didn't take a tent or any cooking gear, no book to read and nothing to sip on in the evening. A minimum of clothes, bivi sac, my 2 lb 'Blue Kazoo' down bag and some ready to eat food. My one luxury was a full length therma-rest.

I was going to have to cover a lot of ground on my first day and hope I wouldn't run into any problems I couldn't solve quickly and also hope I was not delayed by high winds on one of the big lakes on the way. This time around, I wouldn't have time for any side-trips.

And so it was that I came to be standing on the shore of Mohun Lake a little after 7:00 a.m. on August 20/2012 all set to go.

My board set-up for the  2 day trip (Mohun Lake)



             Map showing the first half of the route. I started at The Morton Lake Park boat launch

 It was a still and windless morning when I set off and no one else out there. Perfect. It's a really nice ~4.5 km paddle to the end of Goose Lake and the first portage. This took me almost exactly one hour. Because I had cached my overnight gear at the start of Amor Lake on a recce trip a few days earlier, I only had to do the 1.6km portage to Twin Lakes once carrying my board, paddle and a light day bag.

The portage trails for the whole route are in really excellent shape and most canoeists use some kind of set-up on wheels to pack everything across in one trip.

I plunked my board in at the start of the channel leading to Twin Lakes. It is quite open and clear water at the start but soon narrows down into some pretty thick vegetation soup.

This first shallow and more swampy  part is one of the trickier sections on the whole route for  SUP'ing

This part is made challenging by having a fin on the underside of the board which catches both weed and the shallow bottom, plus there are three beaver dams to cross. You really don't want to get off your board going through here because there is very little to stand on that will support your weight. Even the shallow bottom is really just a layer and not really a bottom at all- as I found out the hard way when doing a recce of this section a few days earlier.

By moving right up near the front of my board, I found that lifted the fin high enough out of the water that I could keep moving and only needed to step off on the beaver dams which are solid.

Nicer part of the channel leading to Twin Lake

Following along the shoreline on my left, it didn't take very long to cross Twin Lake and land at the small Forest Service campsite at the end of the lake. This site is accessible by road and is only 4km off Hwy 19.

The start of the .8 km portage to Amor Lake is about 50m left and on the other side of the logging road. Two hours after leaving the Morton Lake put-in, I dropped my board in the water at the start of Amor Lake. I picked up my cached overnight gear there. From now on, I would need to do the remaining portages twice to get everything moved.

Amor Lake is often touted as the most beautiful lake on the entire route. With it's many white sand beaches and small islets, I can see why. Although I could see some of these tantalizing white sand beaches in the distance on my right, I didn't really have the time to go exploring over there, but I'll be back and spend more time at Amor Lake.

It's a really nice  4 km paddle to a very short 100m portage leading to Surprise Lake. This is where I met the first people I'd seen, a party of four from the southern part of Vancouver Island. They were 'surprised' to see me and my unusual mode of travel. One of them took the picture below.

Start of Surprise Lake

It's only a 1km paddle to the end of Surprise Lake and that marks the start of the longest portage on the circuit, 2.2 km leading to Brewster Lake. Much as I would have liked to socialize more with the canoeists, I couldn't linger if I wanted to be sure reaching my goal of being well past the halfway point in the circuit on the first day.

I had read on one of the on-line forums about the Sayward Canoe Circuit that one could save a few minutes by following the logging road portion that parallels the second half of the portage trail. I decided to take this advice and it worked out well. I reached the end of the portage with my second load 4' 45" into the day.

No sign of the next lake, so I just headed down the bushed in creek and trusted I was going the right way.

Start of creek leading to Brewster Lake

I really enjoyed these creek and channel sections of the circuit. Really interesting paddling and I never knew what would be coming up around the next turn. I just hoped it wouldn't be something like a mother bear and cubs.

Coming out of the confines of the bushed in creek into the openness of Brewster Lake was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. Mirror calm and silent. I just paddled slowly out into the immense stillness of this place.

Start of Brewster Lake- a special place

The first few km's of the  5.5 km paddle to the far end of Brewster is really one of my favourite memories of the whole trip- just gliding along a blue silk surface of complete stillness. After such a beginning, I must admit to a temporary sag in my spirits, a jarring of my perceptions, a feeling of disappointment when I came within sight of a large cluster of boats, campers, trailers and RV's along the beaches near the far end of the lake. The easy road access to such portions of the route is somewhat of a mixed blessing.

The guide said to portage around the log jam at the bridge trestle near the end of the lake. I decided to take a look at it first. I didn't really want to unpack my gear and carry everything over the short portage and re-pack again if I didn't have to. 

I pushed and pried and nosed my way into and through the logjam without much trouble and was feeling quite proud of that accomplishment.

 Alas, that feeling only lasted a short time. It lasted right up to the moment I stepped off my board into the shallows a few feet  from shore at the end of the lake and promptly plunged in up to my waist in really, really deep mud. It was like quicksand in that the more I moved, the deeper I sank. When I tried to use my paddle to push down against something solid, it sank in right up to the handle at the top- almost 80 inches without encountering anything. So it was well over my head and I'd certainly never been in mud that deep before.

I now had moved in a single moment from the sublime at one end of  Brewster Lake  along with the paddle mastery of the logjam to the frankly ridiculous Mr. Bean like situation at the other end. Fortunately, I had a firm grip on my board which provided the only means I had of getting out of this mess on my own in a reasonable amount of time. 

 Otherwise, I could have been stuck there quite awhile. Even with my board, it was quite a struggle to make any progress-especially while trying not to lose my sandals in the process.

It would have been hard on the feet to do the rest of the circuit with no footwear. I had to first get a portion of my upper body onto the board before I could get the leverage to even  try to extricate my lower body. Although solid ground was only 10-12 feet away, it felt like a mile in terms of the effort I had to make. It was exhausting work- and I was really, really glad I didn't have an audience. Although it would have made for a humorous video.

Beware this place!!!  The innocuous looking diabolical, bottomless mud-hole at the far end of Brewster Lake

Aftermath of the great mud battle.

I was thoroughly humbled, somewhat rattled and covered with mud by the time I finally pulled myself out of there. I got myself and board cleaned up as best I could while  trying to reconnect with what little remained of my 'competent outdoorsman' ego. I then started a mixed section of creek paddling, short portages and hauling over beaver dams while making my way to Gray Lake.

 Map showing the second half of the route.

I now felt good about my progress. I was clearly past the halfway point and there was plenty of daylight left.  Thankfully, there were no further challenges of the mud pit kind and I made good time paddling and portaging the next three smaller lakes-  Gray, Whymper and Fry.

Whymper Lake

I had been thinking about spending the night somewhere in this area but when I got to Fry Lake, it was RV and camper land again so after a snack stop at Fry Narrows, I kept paddling out into Campbell Lake.

I had been on the go now for just over 9 hours and was further along the route than I'd hoped to be by the end of my first day. It was time to find a place to stop for the night. All the road accessible campsites along the shoreline had people and vehicles there, so I kept paddling on. There was no one at the one campsite with no road access ( C-1 on the map) so I landed there for the night; 9' 45" since leaving Morton Lake.

Oh yummy, a can of sardines for dinner- which actually tasted very good. Yes, I did have more than that. But there was no hot chocolate, no glass of fine Malbec to sip while watching the light of day's end slowly fade from the water's surface nor any special 'someone' to snuggle up with. Life was good all the same and life was simple. At least I wasn't still stuck in the mud pit. I was quite happy to be where I was. I did make a small fire in the pit there, as much to announce my presence to the herd of man-eating bears that my imagination was trying to create as to enjoy the warm companionship of the fire as the coolness of night came on and stars began to show.

I slept in my bivi-sac on the beach. I woke up at some point during the night and looked up into a vast expanse of  velvet black sky and a billion stars blazing overhead. Think Van Gogh's 'incredible painting, 'Starry Night.'  The great sweep of stars above my little bivi-site at the water's edge that night was simply astounding.  Astounding! I lay on my back snuggled in my down bag,  toque on my head and just gazed up into the infinite depths and distances of the Milky Way. I was filled with an amazement, reverence and wonder. beyond words. There it all was. Just where  it  is all the time. Patiently waiting for me to find a moment in my 'oh-so-busy'  life to gaze up into the great and awesome mystery of it all. Where have I been and what could be so important that I haven't made time for that?

When I woke up early the next morning, there was already a freshening breeze blowing on the lake and it was going in the direction I needed to go. Traveling so light, I was out of my sleeping bag, fed, packed and on my board in less than 15 minutes. Cool still, but warming enough to set out again wearing only sandals, shorts and a tech shirt.

It was a really nice downwind run and took almost exactly one hour for the 5.8 km to Gosling Bay and the start of the next portage. This stretch could be hard work if a strong wind was coming from the other direction, but there were bays and headlands one could work with to still make progress.

The downhill run on Campbell Lake to Gosling Bay

Just after landing at Gosling Bay, I had my only unpleasant human experience of the trip. Carrying my stuff up the dirt road through the campsite, a huge dog suddenly came charging out at me from the porch of an old RV. The dog looked to be a cross between a pit bull and a rottweiler. Big, black and aggressive. I stopped and fortunately for both of us, the dog stopped too. Perhaps it sensed my lack of fear due to the large canister of bear spray I had my hand on- ready for a quick draw if it came down to it. I did not want to get bitten.

After sufficient barking and growling to wake everyone in the whole campsite up, the door of the RV opened and out came the owner. He had obviously just been woken up and looked about as friendly as his dog. 'Morning,' I said- in a tone keeping with the situation. 'Morning', he replied- obviously not a happy camper at that particular moment.

"I'm coming back in about 20 minutes to get my board," I told him.  As in, 'Keep your f'nn dog under control!'  He didn't say another word, just called his dog off and hauled it inside- slamming the door shut. I thought, 'What if instead of me, it was a small child who got up early and wandered down to look at the water?'

It was a steep hill climb up the road for a good portion of the 1.1 km portage leading to Gosling Lake where I dropped my gear. When I returned to get my board, I smiled with wicked delight at hearing the dog the RV go into another bout of frenzied barking- thinking of how nice that must sound to a grouchy man inside. No, I'm not proud of that sentiment- just human.

Start of Gosling Lake

Gosling Lake is a narrow lake and about a 2.5 km paddle to the next portage. There's a small campsite on the left side about a third of the way down- marked Gs2 on the map. No RV access there. A short .2 km portage led to Higgins Lake.

The 'Water-Shield' garden paddling of Higgins Lake

Higgins Lake is small but beautiful- another place I'd like to return to with more time to spend there. Another short portage leads to Lawier Lake.

Lawier Lake

Another short paddle, another short portage and then I launched a final time back on Mohun Lake now for the final ~5km paddle to my starting point of the day before, Morton Lake Park.

There was a stiff wind blowing straight into my face for the first ~3 km of this portion and it was the hardest paddling of the whole trip. I stuck as close to the righthand shoreline as possible, getting what little shelter I could from the wind and whitecaps. No pictures from here and somewhere along the way, my water bottle got washed out of it's bungie cords.

I just kept going- digging hard and repeating like a mantra, "Starbuck's! Starbuck's! Starbuck's!" The morning without a coffee to start with was beginning to catch up to me. The wind kindly relented and quite suddenly dropped right off for the last 2km to the end of my trip.

"What, no media scrum to greet me at the end of this historic journey!?" And I had my speech all prepared too.

The section from my camp at C-1 to the the take-out at Morton Lake Park took only ~5 hours, so really- the circuit just took a day and a half.

A wonderful trip to do on a stand-up-paddleboard, I highly recommend it.

If you would like any further information about SUP'ing the 'Sayward Forest Canoe/SUP Circuit' feel free to contact me at purepk@telus.net 

Paul Kendrick