Monday, October 20, 2008

Grand Canyon of the Fraser

 

The Grand Canyon of the Fraser is located about 160km upstream of Prince George, BC. It was here where many of the ill-fated Overlanders met their demise as they attempted to navigate its rapids enroute to the Barkerville Goldfields in late 1862. Fast forward to 2008, and modern sea kayak technology makes the trip through the canyon pleasurable and relatively simple (although you still need basic river skills to handle the waves, boils, and whirlpools - class 2ish at low flows when we did it). Beautiful mountain scenery, a scenic canyon, a sense of history, and a very easy shuttle make this trip a Prince George flatwater classic.

Matt underneath Mt. Baldy above and below is a shot of Rick running through the first canyon:

Rick and Matt in the second canyon:

Nearing the takeout at Sinclair Mills and below an interactive map of the run:

Click here for more pictures

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fall Paddling Updates

Some of our posse got out to the Upper Fraser River recently, with three successfully running Overlander Falls for the first time. Check out Ben's Pittman's burly line below:
The Brigade 2008 Young Gun of the Year award winner, Luke Borserio, also fired up Overlander, as did Kim Ward-Robberts:

Good job gang!! I just got back from an awesome trip to Savary Island and Tofino, and had a few days of good surf in the sunshine --- a rare event for the west coast. Pictures below are from Cox Bay.

Otherwise, local river levels are at the low late season point around Prince George, and it's getting much colder so incentives to get on the water around home have been low. We'll have our Annual General Meeting sometime in Novemeber, so stay posted for more info. That's all for now. Enjoy the fall!!