I’m really starting to get into breakfast of scrambled eggs with salami. Quick, easy, and tasty. Eggs last for ages without a fridge, and the pack of salami we bought (I think in California) is still going strong.
Weather looked good for a kayak trip, so today we headed across to the mainland on the ferry to Powell River, picked up some bear spray and a coffee, then found our way up a gravel track to the start of the Powell Canoe Route. It’s normally a 5 to 7 day multi-lake adventure with portages between each lake and awesome mountain views, but as our first time out kayak camping we figured a short paddle down the first lake (Lois Lake), and one night out would do fine.
Saw our first bear of this trip! Driving up the gravel track just off the highway a big black bear was hanging out on the track. He ran right off into the bushes, no hanging around for pictures.
We packed a tent, sleeping bags and some food, put the kayaks in the water and headed off into the wilderness in the baking sun. After an hour we washed up on a deserted beach on a small island in the middle of the lake, and decided to call this camp for the night.
What a stunning place. The lake is surrounded by steep sided, forested mountains, with their tops hidden in the clouds. Down here we’re in the warm sun, with only the sounds of the wilderness and the waves slapping on the sand. The lake is actually a dam, which means that it’s a flooded valley with thousands of dead tree trunks poking up through the water around the shores. The lake level rises and falls depending on how much hydro power they need, which creates these crazy looking tree stumps that are still standing, all the sand and soil having been washed away from underneath them.
We explored the island, I had a swim, Rose did some drawing, we cooked some dinner, had a camp fire – all nice and slow, nobody else around at all. As the sun set, wolves were howling in the distance. Optimistically we’d only put the inner tent up, as the sun was shining late into the evening, it was calm and warm … didn’t smell like rain was coming. It would have been nice to sleep under the stars. Just as I was drifting off to sleep the rain started so I had to rush the fly sheet on – at least we’d brought it!
Road and Ocean 