2013: Post 32 – Club Kayak Camping Trip

Four years ago I did my first kayak camping trip at Pinchgut.   It was a club event, led by Peter Armitage, and was called an “Introduction to Kayak Camping.”   (You can see Tony’s blog entry on that trip here). Hazen was on that particular trip as well and I do believe it was also his first time kayak camping trip as well, and I also believe it may have been the first time we had met.  But back then he wasn't known as Old Wobbly.

This introduction kayak camping trip has not been offered the last couple of years as a club event, but Hazen and I have been doing a lot of kayak camping together along with some of our other good paddling buddies who also enjoy combining kayaking and camping.   

Earlier this year Hazen and I decided to try to re-introduce the Pinchgut club camping trip and so we had it put on the calendar of events for this weekend (July 6-7) to see if there would be any interest.  Well, counting Hazen and I, we had fifteen participants; and there were three more people that unfortunately had to cancel before the weekend came.  A third of the group are relative new-comers to kayaking and kayak camping and the rest of the group were a good mix of varying levels of kayaking skill and experience. 

Planning the trip was easy enough; we would just follow the route as set by Peter when he used to do this trip… no sense messing with a good plan!!  So we met at 10 am Saturday morning and packed up the kayaks.  

Waivers were collected and maps were passed out, compliments of Hazen. But someone must have said “Neville, start your truck” because people were on the move before everyone was on the water…

Sue and Brian

Dale giving the thumbs up

Chris and Sharon

Allison, Boyd, and Cecilia

Sue Davis

Ron

Gary

Boyd, Chris, and Sharon

Cecilia and Alex

We hand-railed down the shore and entered Pinchgut Tickle.  We had not paddled far and were not in any particular hurry, so Hazen thought it might be an idea to pull up on a beach just inside the tickle to let people have a little stretch if they wanted to.  But this crowd weren’t having anything to do with it… they wanted to paddle.  A nice leisurely paddle and just a little over eight kilometres from the put-in and we were at the camp-site. 

People had a quick lunch and then got to work selecting locations and putting up their tents...  

Sue Duffet

Alex and Gary

Allison

Chris and Sharon

Old Wobbly (Hazen)

Before you knew it Pinchgut Tent City was back on the map and it was time to take it easy for a while...

Hazen decided to take Jenny for a little spin.  I think he liked her well enough but not enough to put in an order for one of his own...

A few of us decided to do just a little bit more paddling... 

... and then it was time for some supper...

Sue Davis and Boyd

We must have been enjoying ourselves and were not paying attention because before we knew it the tide was upon us...

Ron's stool was very nearly a casualty

Brian was moving out while the tide was moving in

So we moved further along the cove to our wood pile that we had collected earlier...

I think Alex may be telling one of his stories...

It wasn't yet dark but we had plenty of wood and we got the camp-fire going...

Boyd promptly took the position of Fire Marshall

Ron in a contemplative state of mind

Cecilia took her turn as Fire Marshall and got a fine blaze on the go

Roasting of the wieners 

Cecilia brought her mandolin and played for us by firelight

There's just something about campfires

As the night wore on we started losing people to their tents.  Then we lost a few more. Soon there was just Alex, Cecelia, Hazen and myself.  Then Alex and Cecilia said their good-night too.  Old Wobbly and I decided to have one more drink and we kept a slow burn going until about 1 am before we turned in ourselves...

Hazen is in the darkness there somewhere...
but perhaps I snapped this just after he fell over
in his chair and that is why he cannot be seen!!

Per my usual routine when camping I did not sleep well or long; I was awake at about 5 am and on the go shortly after. I was the first one up in the morning (at least I did not see any sign of anyone) and had the calmness of the morning all to myself...

I do so enjoy these quiet early mornings when camping

Before long Ron was up and shared the morning with me...

The others began to rise and breakfast ensued...

Then it was time to break camp and load up the kayaks again... 

We did a short open crossing (a first for some) from Pinchgut point to John's Pond and got out for a little look and a stretch...

... and then carried on up the shore with a bit of wind behind us and therefore a following sea...

When we reached Half Island we stopped for lunch...

...and then continued up the shore until we reached Rocky River where we paddled into the falls to see if there were any salmon jumping...

Gary

Sue Davis (Boyd behind)

Sharon and Chris

Julie

Allison and Sue Davis

There weren't any salmon to be seen and so after a while we paddled back down the river and across the bay to the the parked cars...

Fifteen left the beach on Saturday, fifteen made it back on Sunday.  I call that another good trip!

It was a tiring day for some (about 17 km) and I think some may have reached their paddling limits for the day.  I know I was tired from the lack of sleep and the warmth of the day.  It didn't take long before all the gear was loaded into and onto the cars.  There were 'good-byes' said and 'thanks for the trip' and people got on with the drive home. 

Well, it was a fun weekend.  It was good to see my regular paddling friends again, and it was especially good to meet some new kayakers for the first time.    

Thanks to all those who participated.  Oh yeah, Hazen put a buzz in my ear about the possibility of doing this trip again, perhaps in September.  We will see.  But we should definitely put it on the calender of events again next year...