Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 6: Isaac Lake}

Isaac Lake, Bowron Lakes Provincial Park, BC, Canada

Isaac and Bryant chllin' along Isaac Lake

Floating by 7:50AM today, with a bright sunny Isaac Lake before us.  We enjoyed watching a river otter swimming and peeking at us near a creek mouth; paddling close to shore we stopped to visit a waterfall up close.  Bald Eagle flying overhead, miles of silence and solitude... this section of our journey gave us rest and refreshment for upcoming difficult waters and portages.

Peter and Bridget at the foot of a waterfall along the shores of Isaac Lake

Bridget and Joseph ride the rapids at the end of Isaac Lake.

After camp set up was complete, we played in the currents of the river at the end of Isaac Lake.  Floating feet first wearing our PFD's, we rode the 'chute' in the freezing water.   As the day of play drew to an end, our planning and mental preparation for negotiating the river currents in our loaded canoes began in earnest.  In a few boats, new pairings were needed to have each canoe 'anchored' by a stronger, older Scout for better handling of the canoes in the rapids.

Bridget sipping a cuppa on the beach of Isaac Lake.

Joseph, the hopeful fisherman

Sunset on the shores of Isaac Lake

Goodnight Isaac Lake!

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 3: First Portage and Kibbee Lake}

A week's worth of food for a crew of 14; neatly stowed in water-tight secure-able buckets

Already fighting the mosquitoes, Tim applies OFF while visiting with Zac and T at the launch site.

The highlight of our pre-paddle orientation given by the provincial park authorities was the cheesy, outdated video detailing the do's and don't's of paddling and camping on the circuit of lakes.  We did learn that baited or barbed fishing hooks are prohibited, which was quite a surprise.   After the training session, we headed for the official weighing of all our gear, food and supplies.  Each and every item was weighed, and as every canoe maxed out with a 60lb weight limit on portages, the approved gear for portaging inside the canoes received a park department sticker.  Any gear not bearing the OK sticker had to be carried, rather than carted along in the canoes. 

Our first portage was 1.6 miles, which most of us hiked thrice.  On the suggestion of a friendly park ranger, we each took 2 trips on this first portage to ease our way into canoe-on-cart maneuvering without the added weight of cumbersome hand held dry bags, etc.  Our adult leader, Ron, who had completed the canoe circuit as a youth, rigged up old external frame backpacks to which his and his wife's dry bags were neatly secured.  With their hands free to "drive" the canoe along the uneven trail, they saved two 1.6 mile hikes and made the trip in just one push.

Working together, Zac and T lower their canoe toward the launch into Kibbee Lake.

With a little assistance from Tim and Joseph, T and Zac shove off for the first paddle.

Launching brought great joy, especially after the grueling treks.  The first lake on which we paddled, named Kibbee Lake, was short and sweet... except for the torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightening.   As soon as we landed at our first campsite, Peter waded into the lake to fish.  After setting up camp we ate spaghetti with meat sauce, and cookies for dessert.  Singing "Aint gonna rain no more" under the Noah's Tarp wrapped up the night's entertainment, and we were in our tents by 8PM, anticipating the 6AM wake up call.

It's raining anyway, might as well get even wetter!

Peter fishing with high hopes

Joseph and Bridget enjoy hot drinks in the rain at camp.

Cooks Eddie and Isaac work with Ron to carefully strain the spaghetti.

In the wee hours of the morning, we discovered that our tent had sprung a leak; dripping on Tim's sleeping bag every 20 or 30 seconds...and the rain kept pounding down.  Realizing that we had forgotten to bring our headlamps into the tent, we found matches and struck one to catch a glimpse of the puddles needing to be sopped up.  The lake's repeated lapping at the shore in the dead of night only a few feet away gave me nightmares that our tent was in the lake, or rather that the lake was in our tent! 

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 2: Barkerville, BC to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park, BC}

The Barkerville scene along main street

Tim, Joseph and Peter enjoy sweets on the bakery porch at Barkerville, BC.

The historic town of Barkerville, BC, provided our crew with a close-up look at the way life was lived in British Columbia's gold rush years of the 1800's.  Walking down main street, visiting the living history exhibits and shows, we travelled back in time for the afternoon before driving to our real destination: Bowron Lakes Provincial Park. 

Our choppy introduction to Bowron Lake

Our first look at Bowron Lake gave the impression of stormy sea.  Nearly covered with whitecaps, Bowron Lake looked formidable.  Peter raced to be the first to touch the lake, then challenged the older Scouts, "C'mon guys, I'll race you to the water."  Participation on this Boy Scout high adventure trip, led by a dad who had taken this very trip as a youth with his father, was limited to Scouts 13 years and older, First Class Rank required; but each of our 3 boys attended as an exception to the rule:

• Zachary, only 12 years old, but allowed to participate having already earned First Class Rank and showing competence at canoeing, swimming, cooking and camping.
• Peter (7) and Joseph (9) who rode along as passengers in the two adults canoes, were allowed to participate since both Tim and I were volunteer adult leaders for the crew.

Under protective cover, Zachary begins the Harry Potter adventure at our first campsite along the shores of  Bowron Lake, BC.

As we began setting up camp along the shores of Bowron Lake, a sudden surge of tiny swarming insects overtook us.  The insane infestation gave us cause to stop work and make home-make insect protection hats using a sheet of mosquito netting cut into veil-sized pieces to cover our heads.   Dinner at the Barker Lodge could have easily been outdone by a good Dutch oven cook-out, but our efforts to stay mostly packed up before our canoe camping adventure gave us reason to enjoy a dinner out, even if it wasn't very tasty.

Harry Potter tagged along on this adventure, the final book having been released only hours before our departure.  Isaac's copy, devoured by him on the drive up, soon had a wait list of excited readers.

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 1: Bellingham, WA to Quesnel, BC}

Zachary, Tim, Bridget, Joseph and Peter at departure for a 10-day, 90 mile canoe trip on the Bowron Lake Circuit, in BC, Canada, July 2007

At departure, our 2007 Bowron Crew paused for a going away photo:

(back) T, Patrick, Bryant, Eddie, Isaac, Bridget, Eric, Casey

(front) Zachary, Joseph, Tim, Peter, Ron, Linda

 The departure rendezvous for our 10-day international canoe camping trip with the troop was strategically located next to a local Starbucks.  We splurged on one last creamy caffeinated delicacy before packing into two fully loaded vehicles and driving 10 hours to Quesnel, BC.  Our border stop entering Canada proved to be fairly painless, with only one interesting question posed to Tim, "Sir, what do you do for a living?"

T in a hockey tape disguise in the way back of the van en route to Bowron Lake, BC.

In the way back of our van, Zachary and T played their favorite home-made RPG (role playing game) in a marathon session, and Joseph, also in the way back, endured the hours of Quest Through Morzork (QTM) in silence.  Eric's 6" CD stack kept him sedated throughout the journey, with occasional movements to change discs.  Patrick attempted to sleep for most of the drive; which saved him from answering too many questions posed by Peter, seated in the middle and curious about things like, "Can you do the chicken dance?"

Peter, in disguise

Once checked into the hotel in Quesnel, we set to explore the little town and enjoy the local festival "Billy Barker Days" being celebrated in the streets, parks, restaurants and everywhere.  Other than a few of our older Scouts climbing the outside of the hotel to break into their own room after locking their keys inside, the stay at Quesnel was uneventful.

Preparing for Bowron Lakes {High Adventure BSA}

Peter sharpens his pocket knife with a sharpening stone from Grandpa Pete, which had belonged to his Grandpa Peter from Scotland.

As our departure day draws near, preparations for our BSA high adventure canoe camping trip in Canada have switched into high gear.   Grandpa Pete drove up for a visit and left us his truck for our journey, as our gear-hauling needs surpassed our gear-hauling capacity by a long shot!  Grandpa Pete drove Tim's car home after his stay with us; we certainly got the better end of that bargain to say the least.

Zachary, as the elected crew leader, will be the Scout in charge on this high adventure BSA trip.  Of course the adults (Tim, me and Kimberly) will ultimately be 'in charge,' but the Scouts will be running the show, so to speak.  With great mentoring from Dr. M, Zachary planned out the 7-day meal plan, complete with snacks and desserts, measured to meet an anticipated 2,800+ calorie/day/person need.

Ezra's back home after working at Fire Mountain Scout Camp all summer, and jumped right in to help baggie up all the week's snacks for our Bowron trip.

Seven days' meals and snacks for 9 people measures up to quite a boatload of supplies, for which we will need water-tight, lidded, handled buckets, to be tied to our canoes when we're paddling to prevent a lost load if/when we flip.  Tomorrow Zachary and another Scout will make an appeal at our locally owned hardware store for donated or discounted buckets for our trip.  We have budgeted carefully for the various expenses of the trip, but with the price of fuel in Canada, we could probably use the cost savings of 15 buckets to offset the cost of a half tank of gas.

Zachary and Joseph measure out quantities of calories.

Zachary's before photo, having grown his hair out for a few months

One optional Bowron tradition, at least in our troop, involves donning a Mohawk at some point in the Bowron experience.   On our last Bowron Canoe Adventure in 2007, Isaac's dad, Ron, gave him a Mohawk; having had his own Mohawk as a youth on the Bowron Circuit over 30 years earlier.  Ron's fond memories of his childhood trip to Bowron Lakes inspired our 2007 trip; our entire family was fortunate to be on the crew (though Joseph and Peter were too young to paddle, and rode as canoe passengers).

Peter's hair already cut and styled, Tim gives Zac the zany buzz while Tony looks on.

Zachary and Peter, head to head, ready for Bowron

Matching Mohawks, Zachary and Peter faced off in style just days before our 500 mile drive to our 70-90 mile canoe camping expedition.  The weather forecast looks drippy, but we'll be prepared with our rain gear and high spirits.  We had a few days of rain on our last visit to Bowron Lakes, and although the sunny days shine brighter in our memories, the rainy days had their highlights, too.

Peter practices carrying his dry bag; fastened to a stripped external frame backpack. 

During our 2011 Bowron Lakes adventure in a few days, our blog will feature daily flashbacks from our 2007 expedition.  We hope you'll stop by and check out the scenes and stories from our first visit to Bowron as we tackle the circuit of lakes for a second time around.


Warning: once you've seen the rugged beauty of Bowron Lakes, you'll want to go experience it for yourself!