May 2017 Bowron Lakes Solo

[Cariboo Canoe]

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This is one on the Cariboo River just before the portage up Babcock Creek. The 2nd picture is me at the end of the 1.2 km portage. Usually you must walk up the creek for five minutes or so to the take out, but the high water allowed me to paddle right up. I think it was the first time I ever paddled right to the takeout. Sorry yellowcanoe, you'll probably be walking in September. It's only five minutes.

This portage had about a dozen piles of bear poop on it. Great.

J.P. Babcock was one of the people responsible for the creation of the park. Joe Wendle guided him around and he fell in love with the area. J.P., the Wendles, Frank Kibbee, and Chief Justice Hunter. Thank's for the park.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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The next 2 are of the beginning of Babcock Lake and Skoi Lake. The portages into and out of Skoi are very very short.

The bit of Babcock Lake you can see in the picture is almost cut off from the rest of the lake by a long skinny point of land in the distance. The lake is 10 times bigger after this point. Still only about a 45 minute paddle.

Half of Skoi Lake is filled in with a weird floating bog of sorts. There is this little channel you weave through to get into the lake. Like at Kibbee Lake only smaller. The locals tell of when the old timers would come into this channel too fast in their big long freighter canoes, and miss a turn. The bow rides up on the bog and pushes it down into the water. When the bog floats back up ... yup, the canoe rolls over spilling it's cargo into the lake. The legend was that there is enough flour in Skoi to make bannock for eternity. Hey, that's what they say.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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These 3 are on Spectacle Lakes. The 3rd is looking west across the lake just before I reached Pat's Point, which lays between Spectacle Lakes and Swan Lake. This would be my camp for the night. There is a new shelter and an old cabin. Since I had been having luck with the mice and the temp was almost down to freezing, I decide to go with the cabin. This cabin was built by a couple of local families in the 30s. There was a small bedroom at each end and a shared space in the middle. During the summer they would all live here with their kids. The husbands would go out to work for the day around Barkerville and Wells and boat back in at the end of the day. They were using motors, but still.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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I had a nice cozy night in the cabin. Set off around 9 am again because I was only 6 hours from the parking lot.

The 3rd picture is looking back up swan lake towards Pat's point, which you can't see here. This is just before I found ... the moose carcass.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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I wouldn't click on the picture if you're easily grossed out. I have another more close up picture but I'll leave that one in the camera.

Anyways, I read in 3 of the logbooks around the circuit of someone who snowshoed around in February. They reported finding several moose killed by wolves. Also cougar tracks 6 inches across. Then they snowshoed out through the Goat River to the east. Wow. They did the full circuit, then back in to Wolverine Bay, 8 kms in Isaac Lake. Then up through the bush to the Goat River valley. The hike out the Goat is probably as long as the whole circuit again. I wish I had taken photos of the logbook entries. Nice handwriting also.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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I have a soft spot for this little cabin. This is the oldest building on the circuit, and is one of Joe and Betty Wendle's cabins. I believe they had a few on the circuit.

I used to work for the lady that runs the " Wendle House " in Barkerville and know a lot about them. I have great memories of groups of dirty, stinky paddlers fresh off the circuit, sitting around the cookstove in the back kitchen. Oil lamps burning while I made them tea and told them stories about the Wendles and other families on the Lakes. There is a great picture of Joe on the wall with a huge grizzly that he killed. It's a dark and creepy picture. Also a picture of Betty with 2 grizzlies that she shot in self defense ... at the same time! She was a tiny lady with a tiny Savage rifle. But she could aim.

The Wendle House is next door to the blacksmith shop where I work now, so I visit there often during the summer.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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Looking through a hole in the front door, and one through a side window.

I can just picture Joe waking up on that bed, listening to the morning birdsong, getting ready to head out and blast some ducks. This park was all about hunting in the early days. And getting rich people to come here to do the hunting.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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There is a long skinny island in Swan Lake labeled Pavich Island on all the maps. However it is actually Dead Man's Island and Pavich Island is a small island right in the end of Swan Lake bordering the Bowron River. This cabin is on said small island and was built by Mr. Pavich. How hard is this to figure out?

It is said that any first nations people here who had small pox were put on Dead Man's Island to live out their days to prevent the spread. In the early 1860's, small pox wiped out something like 60 percent of the first nations in B.C.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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Heading down a short section of river from Swan Lake to connect to the Bowron River.

Also a picture of Bowron Marsh. This is where part of the river flows into the marsh. I floated through here while 2 large river otters watched me from 10 feet away! I was too awestruck to even think about my camera. I just floated through the gap and stared back. They later submerged and followed me through the marsh for half an hour. The mountains in the background are in the center of the park.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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A couple of pictures on Bowron Lake. Locals say the best time to paddle Bowron Lake is early in the day. It can get pretty windy here.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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I'm really lichen this first one.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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I like to relax under this big fir tree and reflect on the trip for a while. In 5 or 10 minutes you will round a point and be able to see the cabins and homes at the end of the lake. There is a section of the lake that is not technically in the park, hence all the development.

As soon as I took the second picture a hailstorm hit and I paddled back to the tree for another 10 minutes. Hilarious.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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Another hour of paddling and you reach the government dock and one last portage.

Circumnavigation number 8 complete. I know of some people who have paddled it 40, 50, a 100 times. Crazy.

Also, back in the day people went around in both directions. Some still do today, but not many. I would like to soon.

 

[Odyssey]

Good trip Cariboo, and you make me laugh! I enjoy the history too. I'd want it all to myself too, so the shoulder season works wonders for that. Thanks for all the photos as well; helps to get a feel of the place.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Nice trip report Cariboo ! Just what I needed for an early morning wake up !
Thanks !

Jim

 

[Canoedog]

Thanks for the great read and some more of the history of the area, I really enjoyed my trip around the circuit last Sept but it was still quite busy, thinking that I need to do a shoulder season trip So, the park is still open for use even when it's "closed"? No fees I'm assuming.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

You're welcome Odyssey. Sometimes I laugh at myself, then I laugh at the fact that I'm laughing at myself. I try to keep my spirits up by being silly.

Quote of the trip, midstroke - " Man, I totally forgot I was canoeing."

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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Thanks Jim and you're welcome.
You too canoedog. I read your Bowron trip report. The shoulder seasons are great. No park rangers to bother you ( or rescue you ), no crowds or noise. Also no fees. You can bring your dog. I solo paddled the circuit twice with my dog Simon. He loved it.

Here he is having a snooze. Rest in peace Mr. Simon.

 

[yellowcanoe]

O my with that last info I might alter plans a bit.. We do have a dog. She is 11 and never seen a canoe nor water. Tomorrow is the baptism. Cariboo Canoe you must be missing Simon. I miss my last dog so eager to please. The current dog is a bit old and stubborn.
Thanks to yours and Sid's report we wont skimp on soup and raingear.

 

[Cariboo Canoe]

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You could get a week of rain or a week of sun. I always seem to get lucky. Usually only a day or two of rain per trip. The rain can easily turn to snow any time of year. Also keep your dog close. Don't let them roam off into the forest.

I found a picture of Betty on her horse and one of her and Joe on Lanezi Lake, taken by John Pease Babcock. I believe these are from the Barkerville archives.