The Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit

Patrick Guiton, one of my regular clients and a good friend, first told me about the Bowron Lakes Canoe circuit a few years ago. A 116km circular canoe trip! I had never heard of such a thing. Anyway, I filed away the information, it looked to be in a pretty nice part of Canada, so you never know…

When Steve and I decided we’d drive through northern BC en route to the Yukon and Alaska, there it was on the map- the Bowron Lakes. Steve had heard of it too, so we thought we just might do it. On our way north we called into Williams Lake. It was late May and the circuit was not yet open, due to the exceptionally cold winter they’d had. Still lots of slush and water in the wrong places- as there is 10km of portaging involved.

So we continued our travels north, deciding to call in on the way back, though we were told you needed to make a booking. We didn’t, so we took our chances, having heard that they kept 4 places open per day for “drop ins”. By then we were running out of time and so we thought we’d just try for a spot on the western half of the circuit. However, once there we were asked “when would you like to start?” and the ranger talked us into doing the whole circuit.

We’d brought enough camping food for 3 days, but once we were committed to the 7 days it meant more food. Oh well, if Terry Bolland can manage the Kimberley on half rations surely we could manage the Bowron Lakes??   So it was a hurried pack of food, rental of canoe and gear. Then a scary orientation session,from which you emerged convinced that, at the very least,  a bear would threaten  your visits to the drop loos. We decided to hire the bear spray. And bought an extra bottle of mozzie repellant. The mozzie repellant was exceptionally useful, the bear spray exceptionally comforting.

The first thing we had to do was get our gear weighed. You were only allowed to carry 60lb of gear in your canoe along the portage trails. Any excess had to be on your back. We didn’t want gear on our back so I tried to pack prudently. As it turned out the weigh in was pretty rough and all our gear was passed as underweight. So we were the first away at about 8.30 in the morning. The very first part of the circuit is a 2.4km portage.  I should add we had wheels! Yes the canoe came with a cart, very civilized. So off we headed, up the rather rough track, pushing and pulling. We expected to have to move over and let everyone pass us. After all there were 40 people starting each day, and of course we expected them all to be superior athletes.

Much to our surprise we came to the first body of water after only 45mins. And no-one had caught us up. We jumped into the canoe (well ..not quite, we had to unload and reload each time the canoe went on or off its cart), and paddled away.  The worst part about the portages was the mozzies,as the tracks passed through thick vegetation. Our Aussie fly nets came in very useful. Respite came once you were in your canoe and away from the shore.

The first lake was Kibbee Lake and already you could start to see just how beautiful the trip would be. The first paddle was only short, and soon we out pushing and pulling. This second portage was a fraction shorter than the first, but much rougher underfoot. That took us to Indianpoint Lake where we had a lovely paddle. Mountains were appearing all around us. Glaciers and snow capped peaks loomed up from the lake. And the water was so calm. A third and shorter portage took us to Isaac Lake, about 37km in length. We’d paddled its western arm  and were thinking about where we’d camp for the night (there are about 54 campsites on the circuit), when the wind began to come up. Suddenly whitecaps appeared on what had been placid water. The sky was turning dark, so we pulled into a site. We’d only just got the tent up and down came the rain.It was some time before we could emerge from the tent, make some dinner and erect a trap.  We had the site to ourselves and eventually the wind died and the lake calmed once again.

Just after we’d pulled into the site we were visited by a group of 5 guys. How had they passed the weigh in?? You should have seen their 2 canoes and one kayak. No fewer than 3 large eskies, a 2 burner stove, bags and containers everywhere. Their wheels had to balance on the front of their canoe. I can imagine this trip was a result of one too many at the pub one night!

We slept well and got up early and were away by 7.30. We planned to paddle the remainder of Isaac Lake today as  there were no portages! There was no wind and the lake was magnificent first thing. We meandered along, stopping for lunch at one of the other camp sites. After lunch we had a bonus- the wind came up in our favour! So up went the umbrella (Steve’s sail) and we continued with some wind assistance. We chose a campsite  a few km before the end of the lake and began setting up camp. Again the wind and rain arrived- along with another 6 people. We had 3 separate squalls come through that evening- there seemed to be a pattern to this!

The next morning we had to face “the chute” and the “rollercoaster”. They had been given quite a write up in the trip information and we didn’t know what to expect. I certainly didn’t want to paddle anything that had a chance of capsize! There was too much at stake. Anyway it turned out to be an anticlimax. It was all very easy- straight down the middle of the rapid, turn right and then ride the waves. After this we still had a long portage- you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to paddle this section! Soon we were at Mcleary Lake after which we had a very nice paddle down the Caribou River. It was such a treat to be paddling moving water after all the flat lakes. The Caribou emptied into Lanezi Lake and we began to paddle that after our lunch break. However, about 3pm, once again the fan was turned on and in  no time at all we were battling a strong headwind. We moved over to the right bank and almost turned back to an earlier campsite we’d passed, but then we saw a young English couple struggling along too. We’d met them earlier, so of course we thought “if they can do it so can we!”. So on we went, finally landing at the next campsite. We thought we’d have that to ourselves when another couple pulled in. And what a tale of woe they had. They’d capsized at a rapid (not the shute but another  one) and had to spend a day drying out their gear. They were lucky not to have lost anything, but unlucky to have had a digital SLR camera in  dry sac- and yes it wasn’t working anymore.

The funny thing was that the wind used to die after a couple of hours, but this night, before it died it turned 180 degrees! So after this unlucky couple rested a while at our site, they were able to continue with the wind behind them!

Day 4 was a long day but very interesting. We got to Sandy Lake,which really did have a sandy beach (as opposed to all the rock beaches we’d had so far), and then we went onto Unna Lake. From there we took a short walk to Caribou Falls. I have never seen such a powerful waterfall up so close. There was so much spray coming from the base you couldn’t see the water. Accidently paddling it, just did not bear thinking about.

That afternoon, when we were paddling a creek between lakes, a baby moose ran out from the bushes. While we were admiring it, its mother appeared. She didn’t look too happy, so we snapped a photo and moved on. We were to see more moose along that stretch.

The portages at this end of the circuit were made much easier by smooth paths. But the mozzies seemed even worse. Our last night was spent camped on a sand spit only a few metres wide. But what a night. Beautiful sunset, a moose grazing nearby. They forage under the water for the aquatic plants, so they slop around in the shallows, making quite a lot of noise.  There were so many people at the campsite that night (7 of us)  there wasn’t enough room in the bear cache for everyone’s food. As ours was in plastic barrels, we left them out, so then of course we worried that a bear might come. However, soon all the animal noise was overtaken by the roar of thunder and the crack of lightning. The rain pelted down. Nevertheless the Black Diamond single skin tent withstood it all. After an almost sleepless night we were up packing our canoe once more.

The final day was a fairly  easy paddle via Spectacle Lake, Swan Lake and Bowron Lake. We saw more moose, and just missed a grizzly, as we chose an alternative channel. We arrived back at the start at about 3pm, with one final portage up the hill to the canoe hire place. Despite the bugs and the bears I can recommend this canoe circuit. You can make it as leisurely as you want.We took 5 days, while  the fishing afioncados were spending 10days out there, living off the waters. The record is 12 hours!!! If you would like to see more photos click here.