July 2020 Chilko Lake, British Columbia, Canada

It was one of those mornings that if you didn’t have a canoe you wish you did. It’s my third time on a canoe with the first two being an hour outings in little lakes.

the lake was a mirror for most of the day and we stopped at the first hints of wind. There were many mountains dominating the landscape, each taller and more mysterious than the other.

Then 4 women paddled from the far end of the lake, they have been going for 6 days and went to the very end. They know a thing or two about canoeing and have done the inside passage.

It was a good day to watch the mountains and there were plenty

Keeping a close eye on the garmin weather forecast we decided to head back the following day. As the winds picked up around noon we stopped at an old hunting camp. I have been in rough water but always in a raft, controlling the canoe was different and in many ways it felt a lot more vulnerable to waves. Just as we finished lunch and started picking camp spots, just from the far end of the fence, a giant teddy bear head popped out. We quickly scared it away and decided that we won’t be camping here. He tried to circle around but we started yelling again (we both had bear sprays). Before leaving we tried to write a note that there is a bear to the women whose camp we passed early in the morning.

We went down for a bit and found a good spot to camp. There were fresh bear signs and we nervously set up camp only to find the sea calm down around 8pm. So we decided to try and camp further away from the bear.

it was an eerie time to be out paddling but we made great time and were on track to reach the campground with daylight to spare

then the wind picked up and we simply couldn’t make it around the last point before the campground. We packed up and left the canoe here, it’s only few kilometers to the camp.

Next day we went on a bike ride (not with gear) toward the big trees (where I’ll ride next) and had the last of the great food Darren brought, fruits, veggies, bananas and ice cream. It has been 24 days since last town.