British Columbia is stunning and we can't seem to get enough of this place. I first began sea kayaking when I worked for four fantastic seasons in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska - a place that is still deeply embedded in my heart and life. But learning to paddle in one of the top kayaking destinations of the world can make paddling elsewhere seem mundane. Enter British Columbia. While I have not been paddling close to the face of tidewater glaciers in B.C., many of the places we have paddled in this Canadian province certainly are capable of rivaling the beauty of the lower part of Glacier Bay (although maybe lacking that wild feel and the wild animals of Glacier Bay). But hey - we can drive here in just a few hours!
Although the Sechelt Peninsula is part of mainland B.C. you still need to take a ferry from a spot just north of Vancouver because of the rugged mountains in the way of road builders (yeah!). From the ferry you drive on a windy road north to Egmont where you can not only launch your boats but also see some of the fastest tidal rapids in the world. Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park was a place I've been drooling over on the map for a longgggg time so Jay and I settled on a two-day paddle (instead of three) in order to devote an entire day to watching both the ebb (whirlpools) and flood (standing waves) tides roll over this narrow inlet. Lucky for us, these happened to be some of the largest tides of the year so the show was on and it was awesome. Plus - who wouldn't want to go to a place named "Skookumchuck"? In case you are curious, the word means "strong" or "fast water" in the local tribe's language. I love it.
This may be one of the cooler couple photos ever... tidal rapids, my shadow, evening light, and my man
You may think this is a crappy photo (it is) but I put it in here for a reason. I am, after all, a marine biologist and I can't resist the coolness of this photograph. Rocky intertidal zones exhibit strong patterns of zonation, which can be seen here because the tide is dropping. For example - look at the lighter black line above the water, the white line, and then a darker black line....those are all diatoms or critters of some sort. The white line, for example, is the barnacle line and the dark black line is a line of mussels. I won't go into the science about how and why these intertidal zones exist (unless you ask me to) because that is not the reason why I stuck this photo in the blog. I put this image here to help you understand why these rapids exist. During a flood tide (the tide is coming up) you have water from a wider and deeper inlet trying to get into a smaller inlet (Sechelt Inlet) and this narrow and shallow spot gets in the way! As a result, the water piles up high and blasts over the shallow section and into the smaller inlet. You can actually see the "water pile" in this crappy photo! See the intertidal zone lines on the left? There are fewer zones visible on the left side than on the right side (the right side is located past the rapids).... in other words the tide was a solid foot higher on the left side than on the right. That is totally cool. Get it? Ask questions if not.
Check out the power of the rapids in this video AND enjoy the clear water. People do dive this area at slack tide and I could see why based on the clarity of the water. Tempting.... but not during tides this huge.
Sexy water
Well hello there gorgeous oyster mushrooms. We found you on our walk back from the rapids. You shall be consumed and loved.
Oyster mushrooms for dinner with our canned IPAs!
View from our campsite near Egmont
The next morning we launched early to catch a northern ride on the tide to Hotham Sound, B.C. We passed through Jervis Inlet and gawked at the massive mountains. If we had about five days we could have paddled up and back this part of the inlet that is so wild it has brown bears. But we didn't have five days, so we headed to Hotham Sound instead.
Hotham Sound did not disappoint - we didn't really know what to expect so we were rightfully blown away by the wild views! Note Jay's tiny kayak in the distance and the double waterfall on the mountainside (if you click on the image you can see a larger version).
Happy Julie
Before we pushed off into the water we talked to a great local guy about paddling conditions, crossing conditions, and where to camp in Hotham Sound. We have a kayaking guidebook to this section of the B.C. coast, but the recommended spots to camp only sounded O.K. for this area. We scored because the local guy told us about a small island to camp on that turned out to be a GEM! Here is Jay staring off into the wilds of B.C. and wishing he had looking into PSP levels in B.C. oysters. Why you ask? Well - see all the white stuff on those rocks? All oysters... I think this was tempting to him, but not tempting enough to eat something that could kill you if the PSP levels were high. Smart man decided to stare instead.
Why we paddle
If you blow this photo up you can find Jay sunning himself on the rocks of our island paradise.
Oystercatcher
We got up the next morning at 4am - we needed to hit the morning tide right and avoid the higher winds of the afternoon in order to make sure we got back to Egmont in time for our ferry back to Vancouver. How the weather changed - but isn't it equally gorgeous?
Harmony Falls
Talk about still water.... these conditions made the 4am wake-up call worthwhile - it was like paddling through silk.
Hey - do these photo links work? I've had one person tell me I don't have the setting right for people to view directly from the link. Right now I have Google+ set so anyone with the link can see the images but the photos are not public. Does the link work for you?
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