Around the big bend

Paddling north on Lake Revelstoke, we were encouraged by a subtle tail wind on the morning of our first day. As the day progressed the wind grew until the swells were over a meter high. When timed correctly, the boats were surging up to 13km/hr, almost double our normal cruising speed. However, steering the boats while surfing down the waves is taxing and we were very happy to see the wind die down in the early evening. The wind was replaced by heavy rain as we camped at the village of Downie Creek that evening. A low shroud of clouds impeded the view of the mountains that surrounded us as we paddled north to the end of Lake Revelstoke and climbed up around the impressive Mica Dam to Kinbasket Lake. The meltwater falling from the cliffs provided respite from the grueling climb. Rounding the bend to Kinbasket Lake was quite the site: Having been drawn down to maintain water levels in reservoirs downstream through the winter, and in wait for the spring freshet, Kinbasket Lake was well below its summer level. If I was to guess I would say it would be at least 30 m lower. The low water levels made finding campsites difficult as we were more or less confined to what would have otherwise been lake bed. The minor inconvenience of campsite selection was eclipsed by what we encountered on the Mcnaughton Arm near the south end of the lake. The water began to shallow until all we could see was a forest of stumps spanning the width of the valley. Navigating channels that got smaller and smaller, we were soon at a dead end surrounded by nothing but stumps and clay. After some quick scouting we managed to find an old channel that took us further south and within a few hundred meters of difficult portage to the Columbia River. We had not expected to see it for another 25 km but its length was extended by the low water and it was flowing fast. The lake bed made for unforgiving upstream paddling with small or non-existent eddies. After two hours of upstream paddling and lining, we were portaging the boats through the clay again, pushing and pulling the canoes supported by expedition carts we arrived at our campsite past sunset. We treated ourselves to a rest day at the the sunny Kinbasket Resort campground where we chatted with the owner, Rick Chartraw – a five time Stanley Cup champion! <Ross & Nathalie>