Bowron Lakes Aug 25-Sept 1 2017. No wind. No rain.

[yellowcanoe]

after being diverted from a July trip due to wildfires closing the park we tried at the end of August.. There was just one fire still puttering in the Park on Isaac Lake but they were just monitoring it. It was high up and the snow is the only thing that will put it out. But a massive ( biggest in BC history ) fire that was just west of Quesnel that is about an hour away on some days pushed a lot of smoke into the park.

We dropped the dog off at a kennel outside of Quesnel and had an orientation at 12 noon but were early.. I didn't get any pix of the weigh ins as we were juggling gear to make the 60 lbs cartable limit as close as possible. The normal method of a couple of big packs has some drawbacks for adjusting weight.. We were then issued a tag indicating what packs should be in the boat. Nothing else save safety stuff should be in the boat. We did see some people cheat as soon as they left. The first portage is 2400 m mostly uphill . Its not very wide but nicely laid with gravel.. how deceiving.. It leaves right from the parking lot and goes to Kibbee Lake. An odd way to start a trip.
Soon it becomes apparent that carting isnt all that easy.. to pull or push to have one person on each end requires synchronization so not to throw the other person off the trail.Beckers rents wide tired large diameter tired but heavy carts that might better navigate the deep potholes occasionally found but we just did with our Swedish Cart..

We stopped after one portage. Camp with some other newly found friends fellow old people who were sympathetic to our groaning after one portage! The other folks had a Go Pro mounted to their canoe to record the good bad and ugly of potholes.. Its a very short paddle across Kibbee Lake and off to the next 2.0 km portage again mostly up but this one is laden wit potholes. Two foot deep potholes. Very slow going.. This port is in deep ugly shape. It ends at Indianpoint Lake. The only lake where we had a whiff of wind...
The best is yet to come

 

[yellowcanoe]

I'll be back later after figuring out the workflow.. meanwhile have to get the house running again

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

. . . the 60 lbs cartable limit . . . . a tag indicating what packs should be in the boat. Nothing else save safety stuff should be in the boat.

I don't understand what this means. Could you explain?

 

[yellowcanoe]

You can use a canoe cart and put 60 lbs of gear excluding tarp and safety equipment in the canoe. Anything over that must be carried on your back
This seemingly odd rule is to help avoid trail damage
Yet despite the rule there are plenty of potholes.
The soil seems to be basically clay that holds moisture. In wet seasons must be a morass

 

[BobMills]

Spectacular photos - wow!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

You can use a canoe cart and put 60 lbs of gear excluding tarp and safety equipment in the canoe. Anything over that must be carried on your back
This seemingly odd rule is to help avoid trail damage
Yet despite the rule there are plenty of potholes.
The soil seems to be basically clay that holds moisture. In wet seasons must be a morass

Does it matter for this Big Brother rule how much the canoe weighs? It's possible to have a tandem canoe that weighs 35 pounds and another that weighs 95 pounds. That's a 60 pound difference right there without even considering gear.

 

[Iskweo]

Mehhhh, its a rule thing Glenn. And you know how rule people are. Just be glad they didnt have a rule banning carts instead.

 

[yellowcanoe]

No Title

The scenery starts out good.. but gets better and better each day. The rules are what they are.. I think they were developed to accommodate Beckers ton of fun fiberglass canoes that while a good design ( Clippers) are designed for novice paddlers who might abuse those boats.They weigh about 70 lbs.
Glenn if that big brother thing bothers you just don't go there.. There are bigger things to be annoyed about.

anyway the last portage to Isaac Lake is mostly downhill and thankfully free of too many cart canoe sucking potholes. As it hasn't rained lately mud is not an issue.
We paddle down some 10 km on Isaac to site 17 and break early for the day.. This is where I catch my foot getting out dumping all in eight inches of water. We spend the remainder of the cool day drying out in what sun there is.. We had clothes and fleece out on top of packs and of course those got wet.. We cannot make a fire ( fire ban) to help dry them. So far the days have been mostly smoke free

Isaac is stunning..It is a two day paddle down to the Chute where we will decide to run or no

 

[lowangle al]

Great photos YC. Were you able to single carry using the cart?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Great photos YC. Were you able to single carry using the cart?

Yes. thats part of the allure of carting though I swear at times the cart was a liability .. like when there were twenty potholes in 200 feet I still wore a canoe pack with tent and sleeping bags and pads.

 

[Mason]

No Title

The last two times I paddled Bowron (2012, last summer) the lakes were glass. It's a wonderful place (I first paddled it in 1984).

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Lovely pix, and no wind or rain is a blessing. And its kind of rare for an interconnected water circuit to be situated among high mountain scenery. So many of the parks are in relative flat land with relatively boring land views.

I'm most certainly never going to British Columbia or anywhere else in Canada ever again, and I never tote as much as 60 pounds of gear, but I've just never heard of a place that has a canoe-carted weight limit, much less a rule that seems incomplete. The pressure damage to the ground surface will be a function not only of the weight of contents of the canoe, but also of the weight of the canoe itself plus the size of the rolling patch of the tires. Anyone who has tractored in soft soil or mud, or driven in snow, knows that narrow tires bite deeper and wide tires float better.

Which makes me think of water and its weight. Is the Bowron water silty or easily filterable?

Bugs?

 

[Mason]

No Title

Can't help you with the logic behind the wheel/cart restrictions. Certainly tire size and weight make considerable difference on trail impact. My guess is that they wanted some very basic restrictions, and this is what we got. The first three times I paddled the circuit I portaged with yokes--tandem and solo. (The first time, I single-portaged--tandem boat and 7 day pack--I was younger then.) Last fall, after I got a Kevlar boat, I used wheels--go figure. The water is clear--the Cariboo River, a bit silty from glacial silt, enters the chain, but it dissipates quickly. The third photo (w/ mountains) shows about a murky water as you get--not bad!

All four times I went were in late September, so bugs weren't an issue. Plus, you get fewer people and fall colors--attached photo is the end of September, 1988--in seven days, we saw four people--two rangers, and two separate boats on the other side of lakes. Things are different now.

 

[Mason]

And I'm headed to Quetico for the first time this weekend. It'll be different paddling in the flats!

 

[yellowcanoe]

The Cariboo River drains a glacier so its silty but it dissipates quickly when the silt hits the quiet waters of Lake Lanezi.

Campsites are multiple tent pads with the expectation if one is empty you may use it even if the other sites are occupied. That said out of seven nights we had to share sites only twice. The other five times we were alone.

 

[Gerald]

Thanks for the TR TC. Sure looks like a beautiful and interesting place.
Gerald

 

[Adk Keith]

Beautiful photos!

 

[yellowcanoe]

No Title

We decided at the bottom of Isaac Lake not to run the Chute.. Water was very low with a big rock perhaps hiding in the big standing wave. Unsure.. ( people did run in kayaks and I heard that day that someone had a big upset and yard sale). That was OK as the portage trail down the river and the one by Isaac Falls was very mossy and green.. that rainforest. Very different from what we had seen.
The shelter at the beginning of the portage had a number of carved paddles.. By the time we finished the Falls portage we were tired even though it was early. We got to snoopervise the remodeling of our bathroom. Isaac Falls has a very steep portage.. The three canoes ahead of us all went over the side out of control into the woods.. Yard sale of the land kind.
Cariboo River is silty and cold and it was a damp cool morning.. My feet were cold.. Its got some eddies as it was rising and had some sweeepers and snags but nothing awful.
We just paddled across dead calm Lanezi and into Sandy(37a a lovely site) for the night.. Sandy is about a foot deep even way out..
Our final full day had us going up Babcock Creek and a short paddle up Skol? Lake and then fighting up Spectacle which was so low on water it was actually three lakes separated by mud bars. Our final camp was on Spectacle. We made a paddle and hung it from a tree branch
The final slog was up Bowron River.. low again..some dragging.
We saw an eagle catch a fish.. some osprey and not a gol dang other wildlife save red squirrels.

 

[yellowcanoe]

here is a map of the park http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/ex..._lk_broch_map_print_11x17.pdf?v=1505422249064

We stayed at 1, 4, 17, 24,30 , 37a , 46 , All beach campsites. Never do you get that in Shield country!

 

[Mason]

There are some great campsites throughout the chain! I paddled the chute last September in my solo (Wenonah Encounter)--started making the turn at the bottom and got blinded by the sun--couldn't see what I was avoiding, but avoided it. Rangers were watching, so I guess I had to make it.

The first two times I paddled the chain (1984, 1988) we could line the boats up Babcock Creek the whole way. Now there's a long portage.