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Curious about Wooden Canoes
Bowron Lakes Circuit, September 2013
I wanted to canoe the Bowron Lakes Circuit for a long time and last September, when my brother came for a six week vacation, it was the perfect time to finally do it.
We headed west from Alberta just after the September long weekend, I read somewhere that after the September long weekend, the circuit was practically empty.
After a two day trip we arrived at the Bowron Lakes Provincial Park late in the afternoon. The weather was cold, rainy and very windy, not the weather we hoped to have for the trip, our mandatory briefing was scheduled for the next morning.
The next morning the weather was quite different, sunny and no wind. We were the only party to attend the briefing and leave for the circuit that day, which suited us just fine. After we learned about the do's and don'ts of the course and paid our dues, we had to weigh the part of our gear that we would leave in the canoe over the portages. There is a 60lb. limit if you're using a cart for the canoe (which I really recommend).
We headed out on a beautiful day and that's how the weather stayed for the whole trip, it was warm and sunny every day, the first two days we had some wind, especially, on Isaac Lake but since were in a pretty relaxed schedule, this didn't bother us much.
The plan was to spend about seven day for the approximately 120 kilometre trip, so we didn't hurry and could enjoy the scenery.
In the week we spent on the circuit we saw two canoes and on kayak, that's all. We had all the campsites to ourselves, never had problems to find any wood for cooking or a camp fire. \even the nights didn't get cold, we had one morning where it was around freezing, but it warmed up quite nicely, and the days were just balmy.
In short, this trip came pretty close to being perfect, the timing, weather and everything else was just right. I love the fact that this is a circuit, where you end up where you start, and the scenery is just awesome.
I would go again in a heartbeat, but only either early or late in the season, I don't want to image how this would be in the summer. The 'campgrounds' usually only have about 3 - 5 sites and I can see that there could be a run on campsites every day and ending up paddling farther than planned just to get a spot for the night.Bowron Lakes Circuit, September 2013
I wanted to canoe the Bowron Lakes Circuit for a long time and last September, when my brother came for a six week vacation, it was the perfect time to finally do it.
We headed west from Alberta just after the September long weekend, I read somewhere that after the September long weekend, the circuit was practically empty.
After a two day trip we arrived at the Bowron Lakes Provincial Park late in the afternoon. The weather was cold, rainy and very windy, not the weather we hoped to have for the trip, our mandatory briefing was scheduled for the next morning.
The next morning the weather was quite different, sunny and no wind. We were the only party to attend the briefing and leave for the circuit that day, which suited us just fine. After we learned about the do's and don'ts of the course and paid our dues, we had to weigh the part of our gear that we would leave in the canoe over the portages. There is a 60lb. limit if you're using a cart for the canoe (which I really recommend).
We headed out on a beautiful day and that's how the weather stayed for the whole trip, it was warm and sunny every day, the first two days we had some wind, especially, on Isaac Lake but since were in a pretty relaxed schedule, this didn't bother us much.
The plan was to spend about seven day for the approximately 120 kilometre trip, so we didn't hurry and could enjoy the scenery.
In the week we spent on the circuit we saw two canoes and on kayak, that's all. We had all the campsites to ourselves, never had problems to find any wood for cooking or a camp fire. \even the nights didn't get cold, we had one morning where it was around freezing, but it warmed up quite nicely, and the days were just balmy.
In short, this trip came pretty close to being perfect, the timing, weather and everything else was just right. I love the fact that this is a circuit, where you end up where you start, and the scenery is just awesome.
I would go again in a heartbeat, but only either early or late in the season, I don't want to image how this would be in the summer. The 'campgrounds' usually only have about 3 - 5 sites and I can see that there could be a run on campsites every day and ending up paddling farther than planned just to get a spot for the night.
I wanted to canoe the Bowron Lakes Circuit for a long time and last September, when my brother came for a six week vacation, it was the perfect time to finally do it.
We headed west from Alberta just after the September long weekend, I read somewhere that after the September long weekend, the circuit was practically empty.
After a two day trip we arrived at the Bowron Lakes Provincial Park late in the afternoon. The weather was cold, rainy and very windy, not the weather we hoped to have for the trip, our mandatory briefing was scheduled for the next morning.
The next morning the weather was quite different, sunny and no wind. We were the only party to attend the briefing and leave for the circuit that day, which suited us just fine. After we learned about the do's and don'ts of the course and paid our dues, we had to weigh the part of our gear that we would leave in the canoe over the portages. There is a 60lb. limit if you're using a cart for the canoe (which I really recommend).
We headed out on a beautiful day and that's how the weather stayed for the whole trip, it was warm and sunny every day, the first two days we had some wind, especially, on Isaac Lake but since were in a pretty relaxed schedule, this didn't bother us much.
The plan was to spend about seven day for the approximately 120 kilometre trip, so we didn't hurry and could enjoy the scenery.
In the week we spent on the circuit we saw two canoes and on kayak, that's all. We had all the campsites to ourselves, never had problems to find any wood for cooking or a camp fire. \even the nights didn't get cold, we had one morning where it was around freezing, but it warmed up quite nicely, and the days were just balmy.
In short, this trip came pretty close to being perfect, the timing, weather and everything else was just right. I love the fact that this is a circuit, where you end up where you start, and the scenery is just awesome.
I would go again in a heartbeat, but only either early or late in the season, I don't want to image how this would be in the summer. The 'campgrounds' usually only have about 3 - 5 sites and I can see that there could be a run on campsites every day and ending up paddling farther than planned just to get a spot for the night.Bowron Lakes Circuit, September 2013
I wanted to canoe the Bowron Lakes Circuit for a long time and last September, when my brother came for a six week vacation, it was the perfect time to finally do it.
We headed west from Alberta just after the September long weekend, I read somewhere that after the September long weekend, the circuit was practically empty.
After a two day trip we arrived at the Bowron Lakes Provincial Park late in the afternoon. The weather was cold, rainy and very windy, not the weather we hoped to have for the trip, our mandatory briefing was scheduled for the next morning.
The next morning the weather was quite different, sunny and no wind. We were the only party to attend the briefing and leave for the circuit that day, which suited us just fine. After we learned about the do's and don'ts of the course and paid our dues, we had to weigh the part of our gear that we would leave in the canoe over the portages. There is a 60lb. limit if you're using a cart for the canoe (which I really recommend).
We headed out on a beautiful day and that's how the weather stayed for the whole trip, it was warm and sunny every day, the first two days we had some wind, especially, on Isaac Lake but since were in a pretty relaxed schedule, this didn't bother us much.
The plan was to spend about seven day for the approximately 120 kilometre trip, so we didn't hurry and could enjoy the scenery.
In the week we spent on the circuit we saw two canoes and on kayak, that's all. We had all the campsites to ourselves, never had problems to find any wood for cooking or a camp fire. \even the nights didn't get cold, we had one morning where it was around freezing, but it warmed up quite nicely, and the days were just balmy.
In short, this trip came pretty close to being perfect, the timing, weather and everything else was just right. I love the fact that this is a circuit, where you end up where you start, and the scenery is just awesome.
I would go again in a heartbeat, but only either early or late in the season, I don't want to image how this would be in the summer. The 'campgrounds' usually only have about 3 - 5 sites and I can see that there could be a run on campsites every day and ending up paddling farther than planned just to get a spot for the night.
