Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit '11 {Day 7: Lanezi Lake to Rum Lake via Cariboo River & Sandy Lake}

Paddle along colorful cliffs on Lanezi Lake

A lazy start to a long day's paddle, we took our time getting loaded and paddling on day 7.   Having rained in the night, but dry for our morning routine, we enjoyed a bit of lingering.  Canon sweetly taught Peter how to solve a slow water filter situation, while Judah accidentally knocked my coffee off the bench.  Pulled out the (generic) pop tarts as a welcome change of pace with our usual oatmeal breakfast, and some used the flame on the stove to "toast" the sweet treats.

Joseph and Isaac coasting toward the river, taking it easy after lunch

Fearless explorers, Peter and Canon navigate through the reedy channel entering Rum Lake.

Allowing steering instruction time for new anchors, the start of our paddle gave us plenty of time to grow in patience.  Two new captains attempted to steer their canoes, with varying levels of success.  The rest of the fleet dawdled along, (bored?) some offering helpful suggestions on steering styles, and others just hoping it would end soon so we could get up and go.  The level of fatigue at this late stage of the journey probably contributed to lower levels of success than fresh arms and minds may have provided.  After a time of trial and error, we re-arranged the canoes; switching up the partners a bit to allow for increased productivity with paddling.

Surrounded by delicious wild blueberries, our campsite at Rum Lake also had a variety of fungus.

A jewel of a campsite, #42 on Rum Lake was more than a sight for sore eyes (and arms).  We had the entire lake to ourselves, with mountains of firewood, and natural beauty surpassing beauty; we could have easily spent an entire week right here.  Kingfishers and dragonflies in action, bald eagles above, meadows of ripe blueberries, and no precipation~ this place could honestly be called a dream come true.  The guys jumped in the lake for refreshment and sanitization, with the cozy campfire awaiting to warm them.

Tim takes an afternoon hammock break on Rum Lake.

Kimberly collects blueberries for the crew.

Bridget, Zachary, Peter, Joseph, and Tim on the shores of Rum Lake

Crew Leader Zac; Rum Lake

Dusk falls on Rum Lake

"What do you miss the most?" Q & A around the fire netted some interesting responses:

From a perhaps overstated, "I don't miss my family at all," to a sincere, "I miss my little brother..." to showers, beds, pets, the Internet, books, music, jeans... the list of things missed was as diverse as the group of guys in our crew. 

Want to see more from Day 7?

• Visit the online album @ Picasa Aug 24, 2011

Glimpse of Day 7:

8:45AM: coffee consumption begins (Tim & Bridget); Kimberly up since 7:15, the early riser; wet fleece pants visible on the wet ground next to an open "dry" bag outside a tent (oops)

10:09AM: breakfast over; water filtration continues; whistling, singing, cheerful camp

10:39AM: last kybo stops; canoes loaded & floating

Noon-ish: return "found" item from site #29 (part of an extra cook stove) to our bachelor friends~spotted packing up at their campsite as we paddle along Lanezi Lake; also visit their site's pit toilet while we're stopped

1:45PM: back on the water after lunch on a sandbar

3PM: drifting down the Cariboo River; beautiful, still, serene...

5PM: campfire discussions at site #42 on Rum Lake

6:40PM: Peter and Caleb prepare chicken curry & couscous; Tim in hammock

8:45PM: Tim, Bridget & Kimberly trek through the woods (one of the only 'hiking' trails on this circuit) to view the Cariboo River at sunset; final camp clean-up underway

9:30PM: light's out (for me); campfire still the center attraction

Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit '11 {Day 3: Indianpoint Lake to Isaac Lake}

Kimberly and I with my Magnificat; guys hauling cargo to the canoes

Zachary, Peter and Tim paddle into the wind on Indianpoint Lake. (Perhaps Zac prefers I pick up a paddle rather than a camera?)

Like ducks in a row, three canoes navigate the shallow, marshy region at the end of Indianpoint Lake.

Awake hourly through the night in pain, I wished I had taken a preventive dose of vitamin I (ibuprofen).  Sometimes getting used to sleeping on the ground (Thermarest) takes a little time, and after a day of great physical exertion, the comfort doesn't always happen.  As the boys finished the washing and packing up after breakfast, I prayed morning prayer from my Magnificat in the sunlight with a cup of Via coffee + powdered milk.  Time for quiet contemplation after breakfast? I really am on vacation...

Zachary tries gondola style in the shallow end of Indianpoint Lake after hopping out of our canoe to retrieve a suitable stick for the purpose.

Warned about extreme mud at the end of Indianpoint Lake, a few of our canoes were wrangled up the steep, dry bank at the rangers' pier rather than at the quagmire.  The rest of our fleet paddled in and pulled up the canoes right through the thick muck.  So deep and sloppy, sandals were sucked right off; barefoot was the only way to go.  The going was tough, but once the canoes were landed, the boys hopped back into the mud pit for fun.  After all, what boy can resist a giant mud pit?  The fun continued as several Scouts opted to hike the portage barefoot (like AJ, who lives barefoot). 

Tim and Canon pull a canoe onto the shore through an extreme mud hazard at the end of Indianpoint Lake.

One messy portage...

Peter, knee deep in the muck

Tim's shoes: almost lost in the goo

Spectacular view along Isaac Lake

Setting out on a glassy Isaac Lake under broken clouds, the afternoon paddle to campsite 21 invited a casual pace.  Some paddled more casually than others, and soon we had a set of four buddy boats in the lead, and a pair of slow buddy boats as the caboose.  I found myself a hostage of the Lingering Flotilla (two canoes lashed together, getting nowhere fast).  Not that I minded the leisurely pace, in fact we might have missed the deer skeleton in the sandy shallows if we had been seriously paddling.  Plus, the glassy lake photos are impossible to take in a swift moving canoe.  By the time we arrived at camp, Joseph and Judah were already about to head out to the nearest wood lot to collect firewood.

Co-captains of the Lingering Flotilla, Zac and Isaac

Isaac Lake: like glass

View from our room at campsite 14 on the shores of Isaac Lake

With camp set-up accomplished, or mostly so, the canoe play, swimming, whittling, reading, plotting gigantic funeral pyre, and hammock relaxation time began.  A few odd ideas about two tents sharing a tent pad meant for one were squelched along with the whole funeral pyre idea, much to the dismay of the clever and creative Scouts.  Not to be outwitted, they opted to sleep under a tarp like sardines (forget the tents) for the night rather than on separate tent pads.  The more the merrier, and the later the bedtime!

Cooks Joseph and Judah add instant rice to boiling water under Zachary's watchful eye.

A delicious chicken fajitas dinner, pre-cooked and frozen at home, prepared at camp by Joseph and Judah, hit the spot... and then kept hitting the spot well past the point that most of us were full.  The late afternoon snack had taken a bite out of the usually predictably large appetites, and for our Leave No Trace clean-up, we generally need to consume all that we prepare.  In hindsight, we could have tipped some of the left-overs into the garbage bucket; but instead we force fed the Scouts until almost every bit was gone.  Most vowed to never eat chicken fajitas again, and we also decided that afternoon snacks should not be served after about 3PM.

A few Life Scouts tried to convince us that they would sleep just fine inside this tent. 

Want to see more from Day 3?

• Visit our online album @ Picasa Aug 20, 2011.
• Watch a video of the muddy fun.

Glimpse of Day 3:
9AM: oatmeal over; all gear nearly packed, not yet loaded; wash-up begins
9:41AM: paddling into a headwind on Indianpoint Lake
10:30AM: arrive at muddy portage; slip and slide canoes out of the water through mud onto carts
11AM: mud play over; portage begins
11:41AM: portage ends at shores of Isaac Lake
11:59AM: underway on Isaac Lake
1PM: gorgeous glassy lake views; two canoes strapped together making very slow progress, but having fun
1:45PM: final slow canoes reach camp; sandwiches made, lunch by the campfire
2-4PM: set up camp; Scouts' plans to assemble and light a funeral pyre (massive floating fire) squelched by adults; hammock time; swim time; water purification
4:30PM: afternoon snacks distributed (soon to interfere with dinner appetites)
6PMish: chicken fajitas dinner cooked by Joseph and Judah, enjoyed by all
9PM: bedtime for half
1AM: Scouts sleeping out under tarp finally call it a night

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '11 {Day 1: Bellingham, Washington, USA, to Wells, British Columbia, Canada}

"Isaac, Isaac, Isaac!!!" Fellow Scouts try to warn Isaac to keep his distance from the bears.

One of the cubs scurried up a tree when we appeared (not so quietly) to enjoy bear views.

Bowron Crew 2011 at departure

Only one forgotten item (or so we thought at departure), realized while still on our residential street, so we returned home for.... Zachary's sunglasses!  A few minutes past rendezvous time, we met up with our troop's Bowron 2011 crew, bought fancy coffees for the adults, took the group departure photos, and headed for the Sumas/Abbotsford US/Canadian border.  En route to the border, with only our family of 5 in Grandpa Pete's truck, we prayed the Holy Rosary together, reflecting on gospel meditations of the Luminous mysteries: the baptism of the Lord; the wedding of Cana; the proclamation of the kingdom; the transfiguration; and the institution of the Eucharist.

Our border crossing caused no concern, coolers were left in tact and we continued our drive directly to a Tim Hortons for a bathroom and donut stop.  The truck passenger configuration altered slightly, with the addition of Judah and the subtraction of Zachary.  With Judah came a DS game; electronics allowed on long drives to and from our BSA outings, but never on the actual outing.  How much of the view a  passenger enjoyed depended on whether or not it was his turn on the DS.  Sights included acrobatic airplane maneuvers with and without trails of sky-writing, many miles-long freight trains, osprey nests, teenage acrobats performing flips on the shoulder of the Coquihalla highway/mountain pass, the Bucking Ham Hotel and Wolf Cry Inn, and black bears!

Evening crew meeting on the front porch of the Wells Hotel, BC, Canada

Dinner stop at a fish & chips trailer along the road

Caleb and Isaac prepare the following day's lunches on the tailgate of the truck at dusk in downtown Wells, BC.

"Oatmeal EVERY day?" Isaac asked in astonishment over fish & chips picnic dinner on the highway in Wells, BC.  The look on Isaac's face was priceless!  Asking the crew leader, Zachary, to tell him all about the breakfast menu for the 8 day Bowron Lake canoe trip, Isaac must have anticipated breakfast variety.  Zachary, on the other hand, on a calorie-count mission with a desire to keep things simple, chose a standard every day breakfast menu of oatmeal, brown sugar, raisins and something he fondly called "bird seed bars."  Lunches and dinners allowed for quite a bit more culinary variety.  The use of dry ice in a 5-day cooler, in addition to a standard small cooler with ice, meant we weren't really roughing it in regard to the camp meals.

A final pre-departure crew meeting in the Wells Hotel lobby, resulted in a unanimous decision to unload the back of the pick-up truck and lock up all the gear except the 15 food buckets and coolers (replaceable items), as well as setting up a make-shift kitchen on the tailgate to make the Friday lunches.  Room checks at 9PM and hopes for a good night's sleep, we had one last snooze indoors before embarking upon the Bowron Lakes circuit.

Day 2 {Wells BC to Bowron Lake Provincial Park; Kibbee Lake; Indianpoint Lake} follows.