Day 19 - June 1st
Today we meet our guide for the Canoeing, Tim. We stopped at this waterfall called Halementco Falls. The drop was huge and the water was pumping. A bit further along we saw this bear running across the road. We discovered that it was a mother getting back to her cub. As this bear was a little more jumpy, there was no safety rail and the desperation for a bear shot was not as big, we were a little less keen to get out of the van. We did anyway and took a couple of shots until a ranger hurried us along.
We arrived at the lake, grabbed our canoes and stashed out necessities into waterproof bags then into the canoe. We paddled for a bit and as it started to spit we pulled over at this little area for a bite of lunch. We jumped back into the canoes and Bob and I decided that we were going to be pirates (a little childish I know, but a shit load of fun). We raided several boats and generally made a pain of ourselves. It was a ton of fun ,extremely scenic and good to get back to nature. Our camp site was just off the bank of the lake and was very primitive, with our tents overlooking the lake. All it had was a pit toilet and that was it. The water was way too cold to swim in so we were all going to smell together.
After dinner we ran out of beer and the natives got restless. The pirate thing must have stuck in our heads and as one thing lead to another. We made a plan to go and steal the other groups paddles. Bob and Luke were sent on a recon mission using the old "can we have our grill back" line. They returned with a sit rep. All bar one canoe was turned over. Out came a torch, a stick and we drew a mud map in the dirt. This include strategic points such as nipple 1 and nipple 2. Quite zone was beyond nipple 2. Giggling was allowed between 1 and 2. The plan was to steal all the paddles and one of the canoes and tie it up across a small bay from their camp. At precisely 23:30 4 boats left, 3 active 1 passive. The troops hit the beach and maintained silence. In the end we got all but 3 of the oars and took one of the canoes. Everyone from the other group thought it was an animal and were too scared to come and have a look. All that was heard as we pulled away was the other leader yelling out "You Bastards". We later found out how close it was. The other guide was about to hit the beach with an axe and no flashlight. Every one was in high spirits due to the success of the mission.
Back to Canadian Parks West Page or on to Day 20.