Stellako River Trip

Last Sunday, a gaggle of paddlers descended on the beautiful Stellako River. Located about 2 hours west of PG just off highway 16, the Stellako flows from Francois Lake to Fraser Lake.

Considered by many to be a world class fishing river, the Stellako is well known amongst anglers --- particularly for it's sockeye run in the fall. In the high waters of late spring, it's also a fun novice whitewater run. All of the rapids are straight forward grade II, with an optional "waterfall" section (grade III/IV) that can be easily portaged. Check our guidebook for more specific information. My favourite part of this river has to be the scenery - it's in a deep and gorgeous canyon as seen below.From the put-in on our descent, Deanna and Cynthia were practicing their rolls and eddy turns the whole way down, and looked very solid through the rapids. After reaching the "waterfall" section, we all got out for a scout. Here, the river splits into two channels and drops over a number of ledges. The left channel is where the biggest drop is (grade IV), while the right channel is easier (grade III). Here's the boys scouting the bigger one.
Having seen the falls several times before in lower water from a canoe, I was convinced I was going to run it as I recall it looked reasonably straight forward. However my plan changed rather quickly when I got a look --- not so tidy looking in high water. Instead I cheered Ian on while he made it look easy (below).
Watching Ian gave Al enough courage to decide to run it himself. Things were looking great after he punched the first hole, as seen below:
Shortly after, things didn't go so well for Al when he broached the shallow rocks in the middle of the rapid. After being stuck, he flipped and rolled up with a broken paddle blade, and then proceeded to go directly into the pourover where he executed a near perfect backender-flip-hole-pounding-flush roll, as seen in the sequence below (look for the broken paddle):



Startling! But he flushed out and rolled up. Nice work All!! Needless to say I took the chicken line through the river right channel.
After the Stellako, we decided to stop and check out the nearby Nautley River for surf. Levels were very high here as well, and the waves looked great, so we gave er' a whirl.
Unfortunately, their was no eddy service and the challenge was slowing down enough to catch the waves. Once I figured it out, I thought it was pretty fun despite the walk back up.
That's all from Fort Fraser and beyond. Great trip, and thanks again to Deanna and Lyle for driving, Cynthia for keeping us well fed, Ian for the inspiration, and Al for the comic relief. Stay tuned for the next adventure!!

Boon Fest 2008

For the last two years, kayakers from around the north have met up in Smithers for Boon Fest. The festival is named after Finlay Boon John, Sam and Timm's little boy (pictured above with his dad) who celebrates his birthday on the same weekend in May. This year, Deanna, Luke, Kim, Chris and myself from Prince George made the trip.

The spring thaw has been slow in BC, and with an above average snowpack and the recent very warm weather forecast, river levels were expected to be on the way up. We arrived on Friday night to find just that --- Tatlow Falls, one of the great park n' play spots in the north, was raging and the Bulkley River was nearly bank full. That evening we watched the rising water until the early morning.

The next day, the sun was shining and it was super nice. For those that haven't been, Tatlow Falls is a gorgeous spot, with great views of the Babine and Telkwa Mountains, as well as Hudson Bay Mountain. Later in the AM, a few of us got out on Tatlow to surf. Click on the smaller images below for a larger view and check out the mess to the left of the surfers - one of the worst holes in the northwest.


We didn't last long however --- water levels were rising making the eddy increasingly difficult to catch and the wave stickier. More and more wood was coming down the river as well, so we took off to do the Telkwa River --- a fast and fun boulder garden run that was also running very high. Afterwards, some went to surf the infamous Mo-Town wave below Moricetown Canyon. Later back at Tatlow, Sam dished up Boon's birthday cake, while Timm gave out some great prizes courtesy of Aquabatics and WRSI. The evening was spent around the bonfire chatting and watching a few of the latest kayak vids on a big outdoor projection screen - a nice touch.
On Sunday morning the sun was blazing again and the water levels were up higher still. After it was collectively decided not to do the Suskwa River on account of the flood levels and wood, Sean and Dave left to do the Kitseguecla River, while others either hit the Telkwa again or went on a pleasant Bulkley float-a-thon back to Tatlow. The plan was to hit Mo-Town wave again afterwards, but we were foiled as the wave had flushed out -- eegads!! So Luke and I headed-off to do the Telkwa, which by this point was in the trees and almost above the road. Actually some pretty great one-time surfs, and several supringly large wave trains. Check the grafiti on the left and the best new playboater in the northwest on the right.

The next morning after many failed attempts to catch the eddy and get on the wave, Sean officially declared that Tatlow was too high. Not sure what the level was, but entire trees up to 60 feet long were coming down. Anyway, thanks to everyone that chipped in to make this festival work, especially Timm and Sam, Dylan, Sean for garbage duty, Deanna for driving, and everyone who made it out. Good times!

Vancouver Kayak Club Paddlefest 2008

Last weekend, we went down to the Chilliwack River to attend the Vancouver Kayak Club Paddlefest. Although this was their first official paddling festival, the VKC have actually been around for 50 years, so this was also a celebration. After getting in late on Friday, we met up with 40-50 other paddlers and friendly volunteers at Tamihi Creek Campground Saturday morning. Trips were planned on most sections of the Chilliwack River, including Sleese Creek, Alison Pools, Tamihi Rapids, and the Chilliwack Canyon, with well organized shuttle service all day. Here's Gee and Luke, awaiting a ride:

We were lucky to hook up with VKC member Philip Morley to run the Canyon. Nothing beats a local guide on a new run! Especially as none of us had done the run before. Here we are at the put-in:

We heard the level was quite low (0.95 m on the gauge), so we didn't really know what to expect. Despite a few bumps and grinds however, it was all good boating with lots of technical drops and rapids.

Chris going deep above, and here`s a few more of the named drops below, something Mel`s Hole I think, and maybe Carousel.

We finished off the day by unsuccessfully searching for this mysterious play wave near Alison's Pool, then tried to fire-up Chris for his big downriver race by chasing him all the way back to the campground through Tamihi Rapids.

Instead of racing, which incidentally went off like 1-2-3, Luke and I took advantage of what was probably the best thing I've ever seen at a paddling festival: a hot tub! This was run by Don Jamieson out of Sea to Sky Kayaks in North Van. Don's a rad dude for sure, and it was definitely nice to soak in 110 degrees after a cool day on a cold river.

After some dins and a few beers, we met these jokers --- recognize anyone? Original H20 and Clearwater Matt. Hilarious!

Pretty soon it was night-time and we all gathered around the fire. It was great to catch up with old friends like Kaya Downs, and meet some new ones. Awesome prizes were raffled off and then the band took the stage which was quite literally unbelievable. First gig ever for them we think. The highlight had to be when a member of the audience was invited on stage to play along with the cowbell. His solo was mind-blowing! We laughed until the wee hours. Even after enduring an encore of Don McClean's American Pie.

The next morning we awoke to sunny skies! And after a sluggish start, a bunch of us were off to the Chilliwack Canyon again, while those with creek boats and cajones went to Norish Creek. This time our Canyon run was with Pete, who I met last year on the Chilko River trip. The water had come up a little more for this time down the Canyon, but not enough for Pete to make this boof:

On one of the last drops in the Canyon, Luke busted his paddle on a shallow rapid --- very unfortunate. Luckily, another boater offered his, then he proceeded to C-1 with Luke's broken paddle all the way to the take-out. Pretty nice guy! After, Chris and I did another quick run through Tamihi, before we headed off back north. Great weekend! And well done VKC for an awesome paddlefest. Thanks especially to all the volunteers. We'll be back next year, or maybe later this season when the water's higher.

Road Trip to Butze

Last weekend, Kim Ward-Robberts, Chris Gee, Luke Boserio and myself made the trip west for 3 days of playboating on Butze rapid. Located near Prince Rupert, Butze is a reversing tidal rapid created by the differential currents in the ocean passage around Kaien Island on the west coast. Unlike Skookumchuck which has one main wave, Butze has several playwaves, holes, and rapids that come and go as the tide changes. Below is an aerial shot of Butze Tidal Rapid.

Having heard a lot about how great the surf is from local boaters in the northwest, and being pretty tired of winter in the BC interior, we were all pretty stoked to get out of town and get on the ocean. After some minor mechanical delays, we rolled into Rupert pretty late. Big time props to Gee for driving!!
Next morning we finally got on the water. If you time it right and show up when the tide starts to change direction, things start to happen fast. Here's local ripper Jake Palmer on the first surfable wave that forms at Butze.

The next wave is an awesome diagonal in the surfer's right channel that also forms the biggest and gnarliest surf wave at Butze called Hawaii Five-O. For our trip, the tide difference wasn't big enough to set up this monster. Here's Luke on the diagonal wave.

After the 5-0 channel does its thing, the "Cradle of Love" begins on the far left channel. This is definitely where the best surf is and where all of us had our best rides. Several different waves form up at different times here, so once it begins it's non-stop action. Shots below are from the Cradle.

For accomodations, we stayed in the dormitory at the Pioneer Hostel, pictured here. Not a bad spot and pretty comfy even if the kitchen was a little small.














Next time, maybe we'll be crashing at one of these jokers pictured below. Here's Jake and Kirk --- our Rupert welcoming committee.













Everyone knows the great cafe in Rupert down in Cow Bay. We hit this everyday, sometimes twice. They have a fine assortment of baked goods...

Sunday night we were looking to get into some trouble, hitting up a couple local pubs, but only Luke the young gun managed to pull a late-night. Way to represent Luke!

I figure this being my first trip to Butze, I should mention something about the whirlies and eddy lines. As the tide currents develop, the boils and eddies become increasingly fierce --- definitely the most intense I've experienced. Most of us had multiple roll attempts crossing an eddy at least once during our 3 days there. On Monday I was pretty spent, and had an especially good time repeatedly battling the eddy line below the Cradle. At one point I even disappeared, but after five or six rolls I thankfully managed to get up. Luke on the other hand, still had tons of energy, sometimes hollering from the wave during his surf. He even dropped into the hole at the Cradle, just because.... well, it was there. Here he is (look closely):


Once the cradle disappears, there's another hole that shows up in the next channel that Terrace local Jason Cathers showed us on our last day. "Is it sticky?" I ask (long pause) "ummm, well...". And that was how I had my first windowshading experience.

That's all from Butze. There might be some action film footage yet, and more pictures so stay tuned. Otherwise, Easter long weekend anyone??