Headwaters Lake #3 - June 26, 2010

On Thursday this week I purchased a new kayak from Peach City Runners & Adventure Sports in Penticton. The kayak is the Seaward Kayaks 17 foot Chinook model.


Friday night, Janet and I decided we would do something a little different and head out early Saturday morning for a bit of rustic camping / kayaking day to the Headwaters lakes area. We had never been there before, but a little over 20 km into the bush behind Peachland should be a nice little trip.

For the camping part, we wanted to take along enough gear so we could prepare our meals for the day, hopefully on some secluded little beach or landing site on a lake. We put together 3 bags we could take in the kayaks, one for the single burner propane stove, one for the kitchen items, and a dry bag for the groceries. It surprised me how long this took to think things through and minimize items, arrange and bag up for the trip the next morning. We are having fun and haven't left the house yet !



We left before 8:00 AM and stopped after a few miles to check the kayak tie downs, etc. as this was our inaugural trip with the new kayak on board. I also wanted a picture of the new boat.

On the way up the Princeton road out of Peachland, and I do mean up and up and up, we had a brief stop at a roadside pond, just because it looked interesting.

When we arrived at the headwaters lakes area, we first met up with the local fishing camp resort operator who advised us the best lake ( there are 4 headwaters lakes ) for kayaking would be #3 lake and how to get there. We arrived and found an idyllic camp spot at a BC Forest Service Recreation site.

The lake did not appear to have any accessible beach areas for a picnic site, so we did not end up packing the camp gear into the kayaks. We just had a minimalist camp at the rec. site. Here is Coco and I trying a few fishing casts.

It was quite a bit cooler up here in the mountains and we had to get a light jacket on to be comfortable. I got the stove going, boiled up some water and we had a cup of tea. Wow, that's great tasting tea when you are outdoors and roughing it. Next was the bacon and egg breakfast. Just about a mishap when the eggs were cracked into the pan and put the pan off balance on the single burner stove. That would have been really bad because the eggs tasted oh so good when we ate.

Finally, for the exciting part, the maiden voyage of the new Seaward. The kayak has a bright orange deck, white hull and black seam. I wasn't completely happy with this color, but with the only other colors being yellow or red, it was the lesser of evils, and it is kind of growing on me. I think I like it more and more.

The first float in a new boat is always exciting and I certainly enjoyed my day floating, paddling, fishing and exploring the lake.

Janet and Coco also enjoyed poking around the interesting shoreline. She always looks for the birds and seen one on a log pecking at some moss or something. She later took a while to decide (after looking in her bird books ) that this was a immature spotted sandpiper.

Here's Coco looking for birds.

Here's Janet looking for birds.

 We also came across a pair of loons on the lake and as we approached they starting calling out their very individual song.

Hey, I also caught a rainbow trout not much bigger than the lure. And I also caught two cousins about the same size. Good thing I don't have to rely on my fishing to get a meal !

All in all it was a great day. Arrive, unload gear, eat breakfast, paddle, eat snacks for lunch, lay in the sun, paddle, eat bacon burgers, load up, last look at the lake, drive away.

I like my new kayak, I like it a lot !

Thanks for visiting and keep paddling.

Skaha Lake Club Paddle - June 23, 2010

June 23, 2010 the Hoodoo Adventure Kayaking Club went out for an evening paddle on Skaha Lake. Here is a photo of our leader, Lyndie, and others, as we met up and decided where to paddle.

The weather was a little dicey in the afternoon with several thunderstorms making their way through the area. This probably kept a few paddlers at home. We had a good number show up though and those that did turn up just after a storm had passed ended up with a good evening paddle . It was nice and calm as you can see below.

We went south down the east shoreline for just about an hour. Stopped for a couple of breaks and chat. The storm clouds were in sight but they did not bother us a bit.

The sun was trying hard to shine through and for the most part it was really quite nice out. A lot of the lake is shallow and it was fun just poking around through the tall weeds growing up from the lake bottom.

I was paddling a new Seaward Chinook as a demo and was trying out the handling and speed. I stopped regularly to take some photos and the Chinook allowed me to catch up with the group rather easily.

At about the time we turned around and started heading back, the sun was peaking through and gave us some nice views of the shimmering water and sun rays.

On the way back the wind was in our faces only slightly and it was a relaxing paddle. You can see the slight chop on the water now.

We arrived back at the launch area well before dark and the GPS tells me we paddled about 8.2 km.

Hope you enjoy the photos and keep paddling.

Vaseaux Lake Paddle June 19, 2010

Hello, my name is Al Hays and I am a very recent addition to the sport of kayaking. I have started this blog to document my kayaking adventures and I hope you can enjoy the blog and photos. Thanks for visiting.

Today, June 19, 2010 we had another great day on the water with the Hoodoo Adventure Kayaking Club. We met up about 9 AM just south of the Vaseaux Lake Provincial Park and found a large parking area where all members were able to unload and gear up. The wind was starting to pick up a little and everyone was hoping it wouldn't last long. Actually getting on the water was a little interesting and we managed to launch 19 kayaks from a 10 foot beach access. A great bunch of helpful people these kayakers are.

Today we had with us a very informative lady - Jacqui Likins - from the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance. She will be giving us a couple of talks on the flora, fauna and ecology of the area.

We headed out around 9:30 to the southwest, crossing the lake towards a sheltered bay. The wind was already letting up and it looked promising for a great day.

Once everyone had crossed the lake and met up again, Jacqui gave us a great little talk on some of the history and ecological concerns taking place in the area. A nice little rest from paddling, a sip of cool water, and an entertaining talk while enjoying the sun. What more could you ask for ?

After the talk we got back into the repetitive exercise we so much enjoy and headed north up the west side of the lake. We followed the shoreline pretty much and seen a few birds, ducks, a bald eagle winging right overhead and I heard a turtle was spotted as well as 3 buck deer at the waters edge.

My wife, Janet, even spotted a very interesting bird, which we later found out to be a white headed woodpecker. Apparently very rare in this area. Our Peterson bird book shows this bird located only in a small area in Washington state. Cool find.

We took our time and just enjoyed the paddle and the sun and the now calm winds. Half way back down the lake we stopped again for another little talk from Jacqui and enjoyed the float. 

See the nice calm water - Oh Yeah - I like it, I like it a lot !

More paddling and more talking and before we knew it we had reached the north end of the lake. It was nearly noon and we had stopped for another break and a few kayakers even got out of their boats in the shallow water to stretch their legs and cool off a bit in the water. I had my trusty old fly fishing water thermometer and took the surface water temperature at a fresh 62 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a good rest we paddled a little way up the channel to the north and found a rather large beaver lodge. I had some fresh mud plastered on it, so some busy beaver had been at work patching the roof.

We worked out way back to the vehicles first east then south on the east side of  lake past the lakeside homes and highway cliffs. On the way back I did manage to see 5 big fish I think are carp. A browny, reddish color with big scales. Four of them swimming lazily together were about 16 - 20 inches in length and one big guy later on about 30 inches long. Boy they sure got into high gear quickly when they noticed the kayak closing in ! I also seen a muskrat swimming quite a ways from shore. He dove under as I approached and when he came up he was a lot farther away.  I was paddling but he must have been paddling much faster.

Along the highway edge where the sharp corners are, I seen several schools of small fish, kind of aquarium sized with black tails. I'm guessing these are baby bass fish, swimming peacefully where the big broken rocks were tumbled into the lake from the highway construction.

Anyhow, we got back to the vehicles around 1:30 and my Garmin GPS told me I had travelled 11.1 kilometers in the kayak.

A great day for kayaking and a beautiful day overall.

Please leave a comment if wish.

Thanks and have a great day.