The continued extracts from the diary of our guest and friend Simon Osbourne during a Canoe Safari in 2009
08/09/08
Not only did the early sunrise wake us, the whole animal kingdom woke to and the chance of a sleep on has gone. Leaving the warmth of my sleeping bag, I get up and find the mist is, once again delicately covering the lake. Anyway, we all survived our first night in the wild, which was met with some relief. After a stunning morning feast of breakfast burritos, we pack up camp and load up the canoes and set paddling down Lake Turner. This transitory camping is something that we'll get the hang of soon enough. Our paddling is slow at first, mainly because of our ineptitude and subsequent zigzagging but we persevere reaching a small creek at the other end. We slowly paddled up the creek and really got a sense of adventuring with the forest bearing down on either side of the river bank.
It is a lovely warm day and we venture for quick and chilly swim in the river. To be honest, it was much of a swim more a in and out.
Then, quick lunch it is time to portage... Canoeing up all the creeks isn't possible (paddling up stream!) and we have to unpack the canoes and carry all the kit to the next launch pad. Fortunately, our sturdy guides take the canoes, which was handy because they are rather quite heavy and we, the poor minions, are left doing shuttle runs with backpacks. But the portage is short and we are soon back in the canoes for some more fun on the river. The first task is to canoe up a rapid - okay, to me its almost a waterfall but in reality a fast stream of water going over a rock. The first two canoes go up easy enough, then Ben and I try. And that's it, we try. After 10 long minutes we eventually get stuck on the rock, but we are not defeated yet, and on the next attempt we make it. We could have just walked the canoe around but this was much more fun. But soon enough we are back to the task in hand which is making it to the campsite on Lake Junker and pass through Cut Throat and Vista Lakes.
Our canoeing is becoming better and armed with our newly learnt strokes (classic j, gunnel (?) and draw strokes) we start traveling in straight lines. Then after a couple more portages we make it onto Junker. We travel around a headland and see the campsite, a sandy beach at the end over looking the whole lake. On the beach we make camp and relax after a tough day. The view from our tent is just unbelievable and we sit down and watch the sun set over the mountains.
09/09/08
Result! I managed to sleep the whole night and as I lie in my warm sleeping bag, I can hear the forest waking and the sounds of little waves breaking on the beach. Once we are up, we have to pack up the tents and equipment and load the canoes, but now it's almost routine and we kind of know what we're doing.
Out on Lake Junker, we follow the coast in the hope of spotting some early morning wildlife when a small opening in the forest entices us to some exploration. Behind the dense folliage of the shore line we find some wolf and moose tracks. Wow.
We head on, our destination today is Kidney Lake - no prizes for guessing why (it looks like that on the map). Passing through Widgeon Lake and another long portage we arrive at Kidney Lake. The campsite is much more rustic and you begin to realise the volume of human traffic up here really is small. At our campsite we are treated to a natural setting that one couldn't imagine. A hole in the bushes gives a border to a view of the lake and the snow capped mountains.
The forest here is amazing, not only for the shear size of it but, as we paddled up the banks it looks that there is nothing happening. Once inside, stand still and you can hear underground sounds pop out: the chipmonks, whiskey jacks (birds) and loons (another bird). The other thing I can't quite get my head around is the density of trees and the field of view - talk about not seeing the wood for the trees.
10/09/08
Today we hike up to Sunshine Lake and this really epitomised this whole trip. Everyday I keep thinking this is stunning only to have it surpassed the following day and Sunshine Lake is no exception. We follow a track and I realise that we have only been keeping to the edges of the forest. The path is marked by axe marks into the trees and we follow these. On our journey we see a mountain hen in the trees. There is a campsite marked up here but even fewer people venture up here. The views at Sunshine Lake are totally different. The Turner Lakes chain is dominated by views of one set of mountains but Sunshine Lake is something new.
We head back to Lake Widgeon and it's burritos for tea - we are truly living like kings. After tea, we sit on the beach on Widgeon Lake and watch the sunset and - see the video link below - it ended a wonderful day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpxCG6ylV5c
11/09/08
Ben is woken at dawn to something rustling around the tent. I, with ear plugs, sleep through it - perfect. This is the laziest day of the expedition as we head back down to Lake Junker. Out on the lake we raft our canoes together and wait silently to see if any wildlife will come to the shore. However, we lie back and all doze off, bobbing along on the lake - this is a holiday after all.
We get to Lake Junker for lunch and have all voted for the afternoon off. As you'd expect there isn't a whole lot to do and it is brilliant. Total uninterrupted chill out. I even push the boat out and try to have another swim and its still cold water.
We have visitors, of the human kind, at our campsite tonight and they're the only people we've seen since being here.
12/09/08
I wake up just before 6am and get up to see what's happening.
Typically, the early morning views and photos tend to be the classics.
The lake is so still its like a mirror and the mountains offer the perfect refection. This morning was slightly different because there were a lot of clouds in the sky but the sun was shinning from the opposite direction resulting in the most epic view I have ever seen - more like a Turner (famous painting) than a holiday snap! Returning to the tent I see frost on the outside - brrrr!
Heading back to lake turner for one more night in the jungle. Today is cloudy - I think one would refer to them as atmospheric clouds. There are a couple of sucker holes - breaks in the cloud that delude one into thinking the weather is turning. No such luck and by the time we reach Turner Lake it is starting to rain. But it's no hassle, as we can put the tents up super fast.
On our last night in the wilderness, we finally loose the plot and have a left handed stone throwing competition and it is the funniest thing I have ever seen. No TV - it's good for you!
13/09/08
We get up very early (6am) to look for early wildlife. But it is cold and there is a wind whipping up the lake. We don't see anything but certainly haven't gone home empty handed. Back at camp we pack up and wait for our float planes to pick us up. And soon enough we say our goodbyes to the forest and are treated to another aerial view of this vast country. This time, however, it is much different, the human impact on forest is much more visible and now more profound.
Arriving back at Nimpo Lake slowly adjust back to that way of life.
Then we head back on towards Bella Coola where further adventures await us...
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