Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 10: Bowron Lake, The End}

Casey and Peter enjoy one last morning oatmeal before our final paddle.

Not exactly a technique found in the Safe Scouting handbook...

Zac and Tim

Zac and Bridget

Ron, on our final lunch stop along the Bowron Lakes canoe journey

We completed the loop!

Bowron Lakes Canoe Crew 2007

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 9: Caribou Falls, Babcock Lake, Skio Lake, Spectacle Lakes}

Troop 3's 2007 Bowron Crew

5 of us at Caribou Falls

Joseph's reading nook

Da Moose, Da Moose... swimming in the 'watta' on Babcock Lake

Peter strains to see the moose in the distance; 

after a week of being on the look-out, we finally found one!

Same moose

Our last night camping on the Bowron Lake Circuit was a very windy, stormy evening with hail and rain.

Dinner dishes clean-up line at our final campsite

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 8: Unna Lake, Lanezi Lake, Sandy Lake, Rum Lake}

Joseph on still water

Group campsite on Rum Lake

Puddle play, Joseph's way

Couscous supper with vegetables

Eric demonstrates how leeches attach to human skin.

Peter and the frog

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit '07 {Day 7: The Chute, McCleary Lake and Cariboo River }

The day our Bowron trip truly became high adventure:

3 canoe flips in one day!

Packed and ready for action, the Scouts prepare to ride the rapids.

Ready for the rapids, after a warm breakfast of pancakes with PBJ toppings, we made a few canoe personnel swaps to ensure strength and experience in the helms.  Each canoe in turn took on the "chute", the rapids at the end of Isaac Lake leading to Isaac Falls.  Scouts' boats went first, with adult leaders on hand down-stream for any necessary rescue efforts, (and for the photo opportunities, of course).  The first three canoes managed the "chute" without incident, then Patrick and Eric ran aground, having failed to make the turn against the raging current.  That's when I overheard two men on the shore discussing their nickel bet that one of our boats would flip.

Patrick and Eric failed to make the turn, and smacked the shore at full speed. 

Ron, Peter, and Linda paddle through the rapids and prepare to make the turn downriver.

"I hope we don't flip, cuz I'm wearing cotton underwear." ~Peter

One small paddling mistake and FLIP, into the freezing river current.

"Stay calm!" we yelled to Linda and Peter as they bobbed by, having been ejected from their canoe as it flipped in the rapids of the chute.  Ron stayed with the canoe and managed to haul it to shore after swimming alongside it at a 30 degree angle. Tim attempted to grab Linda's outstretched paddle to pull her and Peter to shore, but instead Tim was pulled into the river with them.  He regained his footing and brought them safely to shore.   Then the bailing began.  Peter's canoe seat, Ron's shoes, and a few water bottles were lost to the current, but no one was hurt.  We counted our blessings.

Bailing and bailing, and more bailing; Ron readies the canoe for the rest of the day's journey post-flip.

Just in case we didn't really feel like portaging... the sign says it all!

T lines up the cart under the canoe before starting off on the portage crossing.

Back to back portages followed, and the second was the first portage on which Patrick and Eric's canoe didn't flip off its cart onto the trail.   Paddled along a tiny, delightful McCleary Lake to a sandbar to enjoy our picnic lunch.  Moose tracks dotted the surroundings, but none could be seen in the flesh.  To our delight, there were wild strawberries in season, which were delicious!

Moose print along the sandy shores of McCleary Lake

Next stop: Cariboo River... with a pair of canoe flips to keep things interesting.  Our first mistake was veering right when we should have stayed left at the first fork; then in the current we should have stayed left instead of heading to the right ~ right into a tree protruding off the high bank over the water.

I ducked, Joseph ducked, and Tim tried to duck but was struck by the branch and FLIP, we were upside down in the freezing water.  I screamed, "We're down!" to alert the Scouts who were upstream near a bend, and tried to grap the paddles as they floated by...  Joseph yelled, "Get my sandal!" and I reached it just before the current took it forever.

In an attempt to offer assistance, Ron, Linda, and Peter suffered the same fate in the same place: FLIP.

"Help them!" Tim yelled, as I found a deer trail along the high bank and ran upstream to find Peter perched in a tree (he later told us his monkey skills had come to the rescue).  Ron held fast to the tree with one hand and somehow managed the canoe against the current with the other.  Linda was trapped between the canoe and the tree, in a very swift current.  She managed to climb up onto the bank, and Ron released his grip and floated downstream with their canoe to a gravel bar to begin the bailout.  Tim and Joseph worked together to bail our canoe, and after some time we were finally ready to carry on. 

Zac takes it easy on a day's break from steering duty.

Joseph and Tim, surrounded by gear

We camped, we cooked, we cleaned up.  We thanked God for our safe travels.  We slept.

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.