The Bowron Lakes: Beautiful British Columbia

The Bowron Lakes truly is the #GreatCanadianAdventure, that all outdoor lovers must complete at one point in there lives. There is no lacking of #wilderness, and #tranquility. Its the perfect #canoecircuit! The circuit makes a perfect loop, making it easy to use one vehicle. No need to have a vehicle parked at the beginning and another at the end. You pretty well finish where you start!

Jesse and I left for our latest adventure on the canoe circuit on Monday September 3rd, 2018. We had no idea just what we were in store for! Outdoor Magazine has voted the Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit as one of the top 10 Canoe trips in the World, and after experiencing the trip myself, I would have to whole heartedley agree! With the perfect natural loop, and astounding scenery it is no doubt. Pictured above is the first lake to paddle, Kibbee Lake. Kibbee Lake is only 2.4 km of paddling, its one of the smaller lakes on the trip. You arrive at Kibbee Lake after one of the longest portages of 2.4 km. Kibbee lake as you can see takes you through a beautiful marshy area, before arriving at your next portage of 2km. On our first day we completed 2 portages and paddled one full lake. We ended our day at campsite #5 in Indianpoint Lake. We didn't see any wildlife on our first day, but really enjoyed the mountain scenery, fall colors, and the beautiful fall weather!

Day Two: September 4th, 2018:

We woke up with the sun every morning, with 8 am being our latest morning. We were blessed with another day of beautiful sunny weather, which made paddling so enjoyable. We finished paddling Indianpoint Lake, and completed the 1.6 km portage from Indianpoint Lake, to Issac Lake. You can follow along with the map below, it may help make sense of the distances I'm writing about. I also forgot to mention, the registration office rents out carts, with wheels for your canoe. This allows you to push your canoe through the portages instead of having to carry them. I definitely recommend renting them, as it made our lives SO much easier! Issac Lake took us a couple of days to paddle, it's a HUGE lake, and SO beautiful. It was my favorite Lake of the trip, especially since it was perfect paddling weather, and the water was like glass! Mountains surround the lake in every direction, and all along the lake are beautiful streams where you can fill your water jugs, and gorgeous waterfalls, falling from the mountain tops down to the lake. Today's wildlife finds were a family of loons! We enjoyed a nice backpackers pantry meal for dinner ;) on one of the many beautiful beaches scattered along Issac Lake. We continued the paddle down to campsite #17 where we set up camp for the night. The campsites vary in terms of how many tent pads they have, this one had 4, but we were the only ones set up! The campsites too are just beautiful! The west arm of Issac Lake is 6.8km, which was close to where we settled for the night.

Day Three: September 5th, 2018:

We woke up on Issac Lake to these stunning mountains views to the right, here! We paddled about half of the main arm of Issac Lake today, on yet another beautiful sunny day! The total distance of the main arm of Issac Lake is 31.2 km. We had a leisurely day paddling today, taking in the sites, and enjoying all the peace and quiet. Its been amazing disconnecting from technology and life for a while. We decided to call it a day at campsite number 23. Again, we lucked out and of the three available tent pads, we were the only ones set up to camp for the night. The campsites are fully loaded with an outhouse, and bear caches. The bear caches must be used, as this is not only black bear country, but also grizzly bear country! These are super wilderness sites.

And the views, you could never get sick of!

Day Four: September 6th, 2018:

We finished paddling Issac Lake, and reached "The Chutes" a small section of white water rapids. Canoeists have the option to either portage around the rapids, or canoe through them. Although we had never done white waters in our canoe, Jesse and I decided to attempt it in the canoe. Although I was terrified, it was such a thrill. And on a positive note, we didn't flip! It was super exciting.

Once your passed the rapids, the current sort of takes you, so you just need to steer, and enjoy the ride. At the end of the river, is a sign, stating "waterfall ahead" there is a portage trail which we got to follow alongside the waterfall. This was a really nice portage, only about a km long or so. The portage ends in McLeary Lake, only a short 1.2 km paddle, followed by another short portage finishing in the Cariboo River.

Just before this portage, as we were preparing to get out of the canoe, we saw a black bear

walking along the rocks by the water, from our canoe. It was a neat sighting! As soon as the bear saw us though, he ran off. The waters in McLeary Lake were super low, with high currents. Making it difficult to maneuver around deadheads, and sand bars. But we made it out in one piece! The Cariboo River lead into Lanezi Lake, a 14.8 km paddle. By the time we reached the beginning of Lanezi Lake, the sun was starting to set which meant we needed to find a campsite, and fast! The sites on this lake were spaced quite far between, and the first campsite we stumbled upon had a bear in the campsite so we had to keep paddling on. The next site, which might I add was not close by, was full! And, so was the site after that. On our final hour of light, and our fourth attempt we finally landed ourselves a campsite. Phew! Close call. By the time we found our site number 36, we were already halfway through Lanezi Lake. We had the most amazing mountain views here.

The photo here was taken from our site the next morning. Pretty Spectacular.

Day Five: Sept. 7th, 2018:

We finished the paddle through Lanezi Lake, which flowed into Sandy Lake. We stopped along the beach to take in the crazy views. This beach is beautiful. While we were walking around, we saw the biggest moose prints ever. Although we didn't get to see any moose, they were there and they were monsters!

The weather started to pick up while we were exploring, light rain and strong winds. So, we agreed to paddle on, staying close to shore. With enough persistence, we made it through Sandy Lake, and into Babcock Creek. Babcock creek wasn't long, so we completed that paddle through the rain, as well as the 1.2 km portage from Babcock creek into Babcock Lake. There were no campsites until Spectacle Lake, so we were forced to continue on until then to settle for the night. Thankfully Babcock Lake was only a 2.8 km paddle, and the portage from Babcock Lake to Skoi Lake was only 0.4 km. Skoi Lake was small as well, only 0.8 km. And the final portage from Skoi Lake to Spectacle lake, was only 0.4 km long. So we were able to get to Spectacle lake in good timing. As you can see, we made a lot of grounds today, but we weren't off the hook so easily once we hit Spectacle Lake. To no surprise, the first couple of sites along Spectacle Lake were completely full. So we had to paddle on, until we were able halfway through the lake before we finally found an available site, site number 46. Even then we had to share the site with another couple, and we arrived with literally just enough day light to cook dinner, and set up our tent. This was our closest call yet!

Day Six: Sept. 8th, 2018

Today's the day we finish the circuit! We picked wild blueberries from our campsite for breakfast! Now, in order to make it back today we had to complete Spectacle Lake, which turned into Swan Lake, then follow Swan Lake into the Bowron River, which then became Bowron Lake. The last and final lake to paddle! Through our paddles we passed by a beaver, and two bald eagles. We really didn't see much in terms of wildlife. Typically Moose are a guarantee, but not for us. In total, we hiked a total of 10.8 km

in 8 portages, and paddled a total of 116.4 km, through 12 lakes, and a set of rapids. We had the time of our lives and would totally recommend this canoe circuit to any and all outdoors lovers. It really is the experience of a lifetime!

Thanks for reading!

Stay Wild,

Jesse & Jessica.