Hazen decided to take his daughter’s boyfriend, Charlie, on his very first paddle and kayak camping trip; kill two birds with one paddle… He put out an open invitation to all on the paddling newsgroup, but only Julie, Clyde, and I took him up on the offer.
On Friday afternoon Hazen, Charlie, and Julie drove down to Colinet and the group of three had a leisurely paddle through Pinchgut Tickle where they set up their camp.
Myself and Clyde couldn’t get away from work early so we made plans to leave town about 5:30 pm, drive out to Colinet and then paddle down to join them for the night and then we would enjoy the next day’s paddle back with them. I told Hazen to expect us there between 8 and 8:30 pm. He said they would cook supper for us and have all the wood collected and ready for the campfire. Sounded like a good plan.
It was 7:30 pm by the time Clyde and I had our kayaks loaded and pulled away from the beach.
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| Clyde does the dance of joy while getting ready at put-in |
Normally it would be a relaxed paddle through the tickle, but we wanted to get to the camp-site and get our tents up and gear straightened away to enjoy as much of the evening as possible. So we just paddled into the bit of headwind that was blowing up through the tickle, only stopping at the entrance to The Passage for a few mouthfuls of water, no dallying or hand-railing this evening, just paddle business.
Ten or fifteen minutes before hitting the campsite we could smell the wood smoke. A few minutes later we could see someone standing on the grassy hill. A couple more minutes and we could hear bagpipes playing. Here was this young fellow, Charlie, standing on the hill, sort of calling us into port with a tune on the bagpipes!! We hit the beach and I checked the GPS – 7.07 km in 60 minutes… not bad considering we were paddling into the breeze.
We started unpacking our tents and essential gear for the night. Hazen carried up a bunch of my gear for me, and Julie helped set up my tent while Hazen and Charlie were busy getting supper on the go…. I’m not sure if Clyde had any help or not as I was too busy getting myself in order. I thought I was on some sort of all-inclusive, paid for kayak camping trip complete with music, porters, and chefs…
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| A fine blaze - Tony would be proud! |
When we got up in the morning the water was flat calm and the sun was out.
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| Looking up Pinchgut Tickle in the early morning |
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| Rise and shine , Hazen... |
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| ... you too, Charlie. |
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| Julie said it was too early for me to be taking pictures of her... but you know... have camera, will click... |
We took our time having breakfast and taking down camp.
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| Me and Clyde had to make our own breakfast... the chefs were done with us... |
About 9:30 or so we were on the water. Before getting underway Charlie made some comment about my Greenland paddle (he had used a Euro the previous day). I asked if he wanted to try it, was pleased he agreed, and passed him the one in my hands. We put his Euro paddle under his foredeck bungee where it stayed for the rest of the day as his spare. I grabbed up my spare Greenland paddle and we got underway …
I am GP biased, so you decide which looks better....
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| This picture.... |
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| or this picture... |
We headed out of the tickle and made our way around Pinchgut Point, playing in some waves on the way. Then we paddled the 2 km crossing over to John’s Pond where we had a short break on the beach before heading up the shore to Half Island Pond where we stopped and had lunch.
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| Julie cranks out a mid-morning roll in her loaded boat... |
After lunch we continued up the shore and into Rocky River. Hazen seen a salmon jump before we got into the river and so we were hopeful to see salmon jumping when we got to the salmon ladder. We were not disappointed.
The water would be still and then a one salmon would jump...
sometimes two at a time...
I even seen three come out of the water once but did not get a picture. It was spectacular to be sitting on the water in our kayaks with the salmon jumping near us like they were. We were all trying to get pictures of the salmon in mid-air… it was great fun.
A few more acrobatic salmon...
Here's a few shots of my paddling companions at Rocky River Falls...
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| Hazen |
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| Clyde |
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| Julie |
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| Charlie |
After a while we paddled back down the river and then to where the cars were parked. We hit the beach; sorry for the trip to be over, but hoping there would be more kayak camping trips in the future…
The end to a really enjoyable one-night camping trip....
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Thanks for the invite Hazen. I'd have been sorry to have passed up on this one. Good job using the Greenland paddle, Charlie - you were looking like a pro by the time it was over. And thanks to Julie and Clyde too, always great to paddle with you guys...
