Bowron Lake Circuit: 10 Lakes, 3 Rivers, 7 Portages...One Day!

GGGRRRAAAAHHH!!!

I grunted loudly as I bent my knees slightly, arched my back in a horrible backwards bend, and heaved our 100-pound of tandem kayak over my head to rest on my other shoulder. The sharp keel line of the bow sunk sickly into the soft flesh of my left shoulder. In two to three minutes, when the pain on my left shoulder culminated in a sadistic rage, I would repeat the ritual.

Brandon and I were on an adventure paddle on the Bowron Lake Circuit in British Columbia. The lake chain is an anomaly of 10 lakes, shaped vaguely in a square, and connected by portages and rivers, resulting in a 116.4 KM, one-way trip, with no shuttle at the end. The trip entails about 105.6 KM of lake and river paddling along with over 10.8 KM of portaging. The portages are on wide, groomed trails, built to support loaded canoes on 30-inch wide trailers.

Most paddlers take a few weeks off work, and spend 10 days gazing at the steep mountain peaks, lounging at their camp enjoying a good book, photographing bear and moose, osprey and eagles and fishing for trout.

Our theory… why do ten days, when you can take it all in, in one?

Brandon and I packed our 26” beam, 22’ long, 65 pound tandem on our van, loaded the camping gear, kayak gear and race food, and headed north.

We were greeted at Bowron Lake Provincial park with drop jawed stares when we announced to the perky young park ranger, that we would be completing the circuit in a day.

“Grandma, did you hear what they are doing?” She hollered to a heavyset, 70-year old woman sitting on a park bench nearby, smoking a cigarette. “I believe ‘em. They look skookum enough” she replied. The calm in her eyes spoke the wisdom of her years. I could tell, not much shocked grandma.

After we checked in and went through the parks orientation, the rest of our days plan called for loading our kayak for our 4:30 AM departure, scouting the first 2.4 KM portage, since we would be leaving in the dark, finding the public boat launch which would be our take-out, and asking the mercantile next to the take-out how late she was open. We were hoping for a home cooked meal after our adventure! Then, a dinner of pasta and chicken, before crawling into bed for the night.

Going through our to-do list brought us to the Bear River Mercantile where the business owner, Sandy Phillips, surprised us by whipping out a list of about a dozen teams who had completed the circuit in a day. The list dated back to 1981. The overall record was noted; a tandem race canoe and two Olympic level triathaletes had done the course in 12 hours and 27 minutes. They had paddled race pace the entire distance and ran all the portages. Sandy took our names and boat description and said she would stay open until 9PM the following night, with dinner waiting.

Our goal was humble, to break 15 hours and be in by dark.

3:00 AM the following morning I crawled out of the tent. I had barely slept all night, for fear of oversleeping. I climbed over Brandon, careful not to wake him. Once I had our breakfast of sliced fruit, yogurt, toasted bagels and hot tea setout, I woke up Brandon. We ate in silence, enjoying the musical calls of the elk and coyotes in the distance.

At 4:26 AM, our kayak was loaded on our trailer and we started our watches. Brandon pushed our trailered kayak while I walked just ahead, lighting the trail. The first portage was 2.4 KM. We should arrive at the first lake, Kibbee Lake, at 5:00 AM. By the time we crossed the 2.4 KM lake, we hoped there would be enough light to guide us to the take-out for the next portage.

After crossing the lake, we found the portage easily and I jumped out of my cockpit, grabbed the bow, and pulled the tandem up on shore. Brandon hopped out, grabbed the trailer, which was affixed on the deck behind his seat, and attached it under the stern of our kayak.

I walked just ahead of the kayak, and as we approached a rut in the trail I reached down to lift the bow, easing the weight on the trailer. I was about to grab the bowline when I heard a bullet-like CRACK and our kayak dropped 8-inches to the dirt. The trailer had exploded under the weight of our tandem. Pieces of PVC pipe had shattered everywhere.

Neither of us reacted. We just cleaned up the trailer pieces, loaded the scraps in the back hatch, heaved the kayak on our shoulders, and kept going. A broken trailer was not going to stop us! The portage from Kibbee Lake to Indianpoint Lake was 2.0 KM. With our arms and legs still fresh, the portage went quickly. Indianpoint Lake greeted us from under a heavy cloud of gray smoke. There were no less than a dozen fires burning within the circuit of lakes. The smoke had settled heavily in the still morning air.

Indianpoint Lake was 6.4 KM, leading into a shallow, slow moving creek. British Columbia had had an incredibly dry and hot summer; we were seeing the results as we attempted to enter the creek. Inches of water were all that stood between us and the lake bottom. The bottom of the lake was a thick, gooey, leg eating sludge. Walking our boat was not an option, as the risk of getting irretrievably sucked into the muck was too great. We backtracked, trying to find another path to the other side. We slogged around in the shallow water, frustrated with our lack of progress. We got out on shore near the creek, looked for a secondary path around the shallow creek, but found nothing but thick forest. We finally revisited the creek and found if we stayed all the way to the left, we could just coast through. I was relieved when we made it through the creek and arrived at the next portage.

After a 1.6 KM portage we arrived at Isaac Lake and a steady 38 KM paddle. It had taken us 3 hours to do the first 10 miles. We were ready to get in a paddling groove!

Our strokes fell into a rhythmic groove as we paddled into a slight headwind on Isaac Lake. Our conversation was limited, as we enjoyed the jagged mountain peaks and listened to the giggles of a nearby loon.

Brandon and I take great pride in the comfort of our kayak seats and pee systems. To spend 12 - 24 hours in our kayak without ever getting out is not unusual for us in a race or long training paddle. So, when after a mere 50 minutes on Lake Isaac my butt screamed in pain and my legs and calves began to cramp miserably, I was ashamed to open my mouth. But, pain overcame pride and I suggested a quick stop on shore. Brandon readily agreed. We pulled onto shore, and literally rolled out of the boat, slowly unfolding our bodies into the standing position. The series of 1 – 2.4 KM portages with our 100 pounds of kayak and gear on our shoulder was taking its toll on our lower bodies.

We made one more stop before Lake Isaac became a crystal, blue class 2 creek. The creek grew to a series of class 6 waterfalls, and thus, more portages. After 7 hours of paddling and portaging, it felt like a moose was riding shotgun as we hefted our boat to our shoulders. But, we had gotten our system down. Every two to three minutes I would call a switch, and we would stop walking, press the tandem over our heads, and drop it onto the shoulder. When the pain of the sharp keel of the kayak grew to great, I would call the next switch.

Once we moved through the waterfalls and rivers, we hit a series of shorter lakes. At Lanezi Lake we encountered one of the sources of smoke. A row of a half dozen fires burned along the ridge, about 100 yards above the lake. The fires were being left alone to burn themselves out, the park ranger had informed us. From Lanezi, we crossed into Sandy Lake, which was aptly named. Our speeds were reduced to about 4 mph in the shallow waters of the 4.8 km lake.

With only 30 KM to go, the water just kept getting shallower and shallower. After crossing Sandy Lake, Babcock Creek petered out on us until we were forced to climb out of the boat and drag our kayak in 4 inches of water for the last 250 yards. After 2KM of portage trails, and a few more unexpected sandbar crossings, we arrived at the final 11.2 KM section of paddling.

It was 6:25 PM. Our goal of 15 hours was in sight, but the low water had made our progress much slower than we expected.

Bowron Slough, a 4.0 KM section of river leading into the circuit’s namesake, Bowron Lake, was no more than 1-foot deep. Our progress was slow as we watched the minutes ticking by. We arrived on Bowron Lake at 6:43 PM. We had 39 minutes to paddle the final 7.2 KM! For the first time on the entire journey, we turned it on! We whooped with glee as a 25 KM tail wind greeted us as we paddled onto the lake. I hollered our speed and our official time from my GPS every few minutes.

A 7.0 mph was always received with a “YEAH” from Brandon.

We arrived at the takeout at 7:22 PM. Our goal of 15 hours, a success.

We climbed out of our kayak for the final time that day, and high fived to our adventure. Brandon unloaded the kayak while I ran the 1.5 miles to our van, which was parked at the campground. Once I returned, a dip in the lake served as a shower and we loaded the boat and went strait to the Bear River Mercantile where Sandy was waiting with hot food and homemade cookies!


Planning Your Paddling Adventure in Bowron Lake Provincial Park

Ten Lakes, three rivers, seven portages, abundant wildlife, beautiful scenery, world class paddling, and no shuttle!

Distance: 72 miles
Trip Time: 6 – 10 days
Best Season: June – September
Permits and reservations: 1-800-HELLO-BC (1-800-435-5622) Toll Free Canada/USA (604) 435-5622 Greater Vancouver area (250) 387-1642 Other North America/Overseas
Park Information and maps: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/bowron.html
Boat and equipment rentals: http://www.bcadventure.com/bowron/
Notes: No dogs are allowed on the canoe circuit. Reservations are required. If you plan to fish, permits are required.

~HN~