2nd-3rd October
As we live less than 5km from a beautiful area called Deep Cove, we both knew we wanted to get out on the water and explore the Indian Arm.
It was to be Lee's Birthday present, ever looming (24th October), but as I finally wasn't working on the Saturday and the week had been one full of sunshine, where this time of year is known for its heavy rainfall, we made a last minute decision to hire the kayak and go for a paddle. So Lee's birthday weekend came early.
A short bus ride, some paperwork, a few dry bags and we were packed ready to paddle in our double kayak. As I haven't had much experience kayaking, Lee took to the backseat, driving and we paddled out in low cloud.
Initially we had to pass quite a few small fishing boats and personal motor boats to get out past the marina. I quickly spotted a large log with 2 seals basking in the sun, we paddled closer to them and eventually they slid into the water. Wow seals what a great start, smiles all round. Then hugging the shore we marveled at all the million dollar houses lining the shore, still very accessible to Vancouver yet surrounded by such beauty. The further we got, the less houses there were and the sunnier the weather became. Pristine, the sun sparkled off the water as we silently glided our way through. After reading a recommendation on a website we made sure to stop at Silver Falls, a really high fast flowing waterfall, where we could paddle up close to it, quite spectacular. As we sat there bobbing we could clearly see hundreds of jelly fish floating just below the water surface, quite a sight and definetly not a place to fall into the water!
As the weather was so nice, there wasn't any wind and the current was slightly going with us upstream, we continued on. We went past the old Buntzen power station, a beautiful old building now in disrepair, where just around the corner is a new hydro power station with a massive torrent of water dispersing every second into the river.
We decided to pull up on shore for lunch, at a free campsite space, we shared the area with 2 fishermen and their dog, sitting in the sun drying out from the drips of paddling all morning. Just as we decided to head back to paddling, I was sitting in my seat, tucking my spray deck in when a huge wave from the wake of a far away motor boat washed over us, I was covered in freezing water causing a shock of a few half breaths and Lee's area became flooded. Thanks to the pump we soon fixed that and learnt a valuable lesson.
Our last part of the paddle saw us paddle past Croker island and land into Granite Falls with the free campsite literally beside it. This is quite a popular site as it's as almost as far as you can go up the Indian Arm and it's such a large waterfall, a nice tranquil place for the night. We set up our tent and went exploring a bit further in the kayak to the end. It's here it becomes more and more eerie, big logs floating in the water, everything quiet and shaded by the nearby mountains, motorised boats can't quite get this far. On the way back we paddled right past the Royal Vancouver Sailing club, a very prestigious looking sailing club only accessible by boat!!!! So we didn't stop for dinner ;-0 but headed back as light was setting behind the mountains, not yet dry from our previous soaking, we put as much dry warm gear as we could on and cooked our meal. Lee had a little bouldering session around the waterfall area and I just relaxed and soaked everything up, smiling inwardly.
The next day we were up earlyish just because we were. So we ate breakfast, packed up the tent and decided to hit the water. This was the most amazing part of the trip, no motorised boats, in fact no one else on the water as far as we could see most of the time, just us silently gliding through the water, passing by loads of seals curious to see us as much as were to stare silently at them. A magical time. The weather today was overcast, yet the rain held off. We didn't rush back just took it steady perhaps a little more tired than the previous day, slightly against the current with a high wind. We had lunch on the second half of Twin Island, all to ourselves, then headed back to the marina. Just to finish it off we glided past 3 seals happily lying on a long pipe drying off, not the least scared to move off. A great way to end a fabulous weekend. We had paddled 19km each way!
Happy Birthday Lee
I Love you
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