Easter Weekend on Alouette Lake, BC

As winters go, this year cold and rainy season stayed with us until the bitter end.  So much so, that until the day before our three day paddle on Alouette lake the rain, cold and the odd snow flake were lingering in the air.
Then, lucky us, suddenly on the clouds disappeared.

Here's my brand new Innova Solar inflatable I purchased just a couple of weeks earlier from the Boatpeople in California.  It's the Czech Republic's manufacturer's new model.  This, compared to the now out of production Sunny, is a true double and a true single.  I will find out.
The Solar has lots of room for all my camping gear and keep a low profile without the need to store bags vertical.  This configuration will help paddling in a headwind and still keep the kayak's CG low for stability.

In the mean time Steven showed up with his trusty Sunny and related gear.

A little while later Chris, Ted and Jamie appeared and got to work assembling their folders.  For Ted it took some tweaking to get everything to fit in place.

A view from above - all set to go on Alouette's frigid waters.

As we head out, Steven and I take a little detour to the lake's opposite shore to take a look at the many tree stumps leftover from when the lake had a lower level.  An hydroelectric dam was built many years ago and these semi-submerged trees are the result.

More stumps. Interesting how well preserved they are in this cold lake water.  They will probably remain like this for at least fifty years of more.

At a little beach for lunch.

Our two kayaks side-by-side.

Nice lake, eh?

We are getting closer to our destination.

Our campground was located at the northwest end of the lake between the narrows and that little creek coming down the valley.  The creek was a good water supply spot.  Instead of using my old lever operated water filter, I bought a gravity filter from MEC - what a difference!  Fresh water was at my fingertips.

Kayakers arriving to their destination for a two-night stay.

Kayaks at rest

Looking back at Alouette Lake.  The promise for a cold night... and it was.

Chopping wood for the campfire.

Another good view of the lake.

Two days later paddler returning to our put-in location.

It doesn't look so in the picture but we had a strong wind at our backs help push our boats.

It was a fun ride.

Almost home.

This was one nice first trip of the season.

Ladner Marshes

In August 2011 my friend Stephen and I took our kayaks to paddle the Ladner marshes. These marshes are part of the Fraser river estuary before emptying into the Straight of Georgia, the body of water separating British Columbia's mainland from Vancouver Island.

Almost ready to go.

Deas Island Regional Park is part of etro Vancouver's park system.  Not to be cofused with the City of Vancouver.
The island isn't really an island, it's connected to land. There's also a rowing club there with a convenient floating dock - that's where we put in.

After making ourselves comfortable we are all set and paddle away from the dock.

West is where we were heading.  The weather really helped with mild temperatures and little wind.  We also lucked out as the tides for that day proved to be minimal.

One of several marinas.

The highway 99 viaduct

Immediatelly after the viaduct we took a sharp left into a slough.

This slough had a pedestrian bridge crossing it. I realized we rode our bikes many times over this bridge on our way to the Rusty Anchor pub. The food isn't bad there, although service can be a real hit and miss - typical for most restaurants.

These  fowers were the only touch of colour around.  Actually the place felt a bit depressing with its grey and stagnant water. Not the kind of place to go for a swim in.

We paddled back out, and found ourselves on one of the river's main channels.  Some interesting river grasses - on the left.

Blue skies and a fishing boat going by.

 

Grasses are really cool.  We were hoping to find an opening through these grasses going into a slough.

At last we found one. Initially this slough was quite wide and easily navigable, then as we got deeper in there, the waterway became a lot nerrower; to the point that I was getting a bit concerned about being able to turn around to get back out, even with my short Safari.  Stephen though, didn't seem too worried.

He was right.  Once in while things open up to give us more room to manuvre.

I like this shot.  There wasn't a single animal to be seen.  I thought there would at be some birds or fish, instead nothing.

Suddenly, we went under this pedestrian bridge.  It must be part of some marsh boardwalk network.  It would be interesting to visit this place on foot as well.

Another little bridge.

A GPS would have been useful; not just to know where we went, but also to help retrace our way back to the river.  These little bodies of water go everywhere and it would have been aggravating if we would have had trouble finding our way.

After getting back to the river our route took us further west towards our lunch destination in Ladner.

These guys are better be left alone.

A little more paddling to the floating dock.

Took the Safari out and secured it to a post. I fortgot to mention the new Sunny seat I installed to replace the kayak's standard pillow type seat.  This is a great improvement in confort - no more sore back or legs going to sleep.  I wish this upgrade was available for the Safari.  I was lucky Innova had one last old style Sunny seat to give me.  The newer Sunny seats aren't compatible any more - different attachment setup.
Lunch was spent at Ladner's well known Sharkey's Seafood Bar & Grill, literally a few steps from the dock.  We were too busy eating to remember to take pictures.

Then we retraced our steps back to Deas Island.  This time we paddled all the way without stopping and made very good time, even considering there was a weak current flowing against us.  It was fine paddling.

Getting closer to our base

This time the grassed were really close. I could have touched them.

Of course the last part of the trip hasn't been recorded at all.  No pictures.
But it was fun; the conditions were perfect, not much current and just a few other boats.  We did manage to see two other inflatable kayaks thought.  People are starting to notice them.
All in all, a good day.

Alouette Lake Revisited

Ted and I decided to take a day trip on Alouette Lake and join our friends who were spending the weekend paddling the lake.  This was my second time paddling Alouette... see a previous posting.
Just like the last time, Ted was very kind to offer me a ride to the put-in site in Golden Ears Provincial Park.  After a bit over an hour of driving we arrived by the edge of the lake.  As usual, setting up the boats and getting everything ready to paddle took a bit over an hour.  Time does fly!

This time I took my bike's GPS unit to track our route.

...a straight forward to-and-from route.

Starting out...

Ted with his Wisper's narrow beam and Greenland paddle was keeping up a good pace.  I managed to keep up with him with my Java.

 A good southerly breeze of 8 to 12 knots kept us going forward without hesitations.  I wonder if my boat speed would have greater with the use of a sail.  ...maybe next year.

Conditions were quite different from last time.  I enjoyed the tail wind.

The return trip will be a different story.

It took us just one and half hours to paddle the 9km to the Moyer Creek campsite; that's an average of about 6km/hr!

Steven, Janice and Michael arrived to the campground earlier in the day.

Shortly after our arrival, Michael came back from an exploration paddle.  He was with his brand new sleek looking folding Pakboat XT-17.

Ted was really excited about the new kayak.

My teal Java in the foreground looked good too though.

After walking around the campsite I found Janice's beast.

The campsite.

We resisted offers of marshmallows for dinner to make us stay overnight.

A frigid looking Moyers Creek in the campground's backyard.

A "cool" underwater shot of the creek.

Michael got really excited trying Ted's seasock on the Pakboat.  A seasock is an excellent safety feature in a folding kayak.  It keeps most of the water out and the kayak's interior much cleaner.

He want one now.  ...while an Helios is resting.

Getting ready for the return trip.

 Returning wasn't quite as hard or long as expected - just two hours.  Most of the time the winds stayed under 12 knots.  We experimented feathering our paddles.  45 degrees works magic in reducing wind resistance on that airborne paddle blade.

Early evening sun coming through the clouds.

We are close to our destination.

Some interesting stats from my GPS.  The first graph's boat speed clearly shows a much faster outgoing passage then the return, due mainly to a southerly wind.  Also interesting is the elevation graph, with three little humps at the start, the end of the paddle and the middle when we stopped.  The difference in elevation I thought would be negligible, but it was still picked up by my GPS.