Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit – Day One
Kibbee to Isaac

Kibbee is one of the smallest lakes on the circuit, no more than a couple kilometres across. The lake was calm, the weather was beautiful, and we took the direct path across the middle. We could see the older couple that had put in before us working their way along the south shore – a longer route, but they had the jump on us. We were hoping to avoid running up behind them (or they us) on the next portage. Of course, completing the Bowron Circuit is not a race. That said, it is 116 km long, and we were facing a questionable forecast on primarily large lakes the Cariboo mountains. It seemed prudent to “make hay while the sun shines” and make as much headway as possible while the weather held. It would also help us to spread out from other paddlers who started out on the same day and hopefully come across fewer full campsites.

If you are travelling the circuit as a group with more than six people, you are given a fixed 8 day/7 night itinerary by the park, and are required to stay at designated group campsites. This keeps groups from filling up smaller sites, and spreads groups out for a better wilderness experience. Individuals parties (six people or less, and up to three canoes) have no such itinerary and can take the trip at their own pace. Individual parties use the Individual campsites (which often have several tent pads) on a first come first served basis – though you are expected to share sites with unoccupied tent pads with other parties. We had picked out some preferred site options from the descriptions in my book before we left and marked them on the GPS. The first one was halfway along Indianpoint lake after the second portage.

As we approached the orange marker on the east shore of Kibbee lake indicating the takeout for the second portage, the older couple pulled in and unloaded their canoe. We did the same – rearranging some of the smaller dry bags to the front to balance the canoe on the cart and Leroy re-shouldering the food bag – and set off up the trail while they took a snack break. This 2km portage starts with a long steady up hill to get out of the Kibbee watershed. The day was starting to warm up and the air was still among the trees, but surprisingly the bugs weren’t really bad. We stopped at the top of the hill to catch our breath and get a bit of a break before we caught sight of the older couple coming up behind us on the trail and got a move on. By 11 am, we had finished rearranging the gear back to boating locations and launched onto the waters of of Indianpoint lake. Two portages down and more than 6 km from the registration centre in less than two hours. We were making very good time.

Indianpoint lake is nearly 7 km long, and gives the first glimpses of the mountains that fill in the middle of the circuit. The weather was still fine, warm but not hot, the sky dotted with fair weather clouds and the water like glass. We had picked out a couple of sites at Kruger bay as possible stopover for our first night, but by the looks of it, that plan would have us camping at lunch time. Evidently, we had greatly over estimated the effort and time that would be required on the portages. Considering it wiser to take advantage of the weather when we had it, we decided to push on to Isaac lake, following a straight track along the northern shore of the lake towards the marsh at the east end.

From the map provided at the registration centre that we had been using for the day, it wasn’t obvious where we were to look for the portage trail. There appeared to be an opening in the weeds, but it didn’t look very promising, and from what we could tell there was supposed to be another little blip of lake to the northeast of campsite 8. Campsite 9, which was supposed to be at the start of the portage, appeared to be further south on our map. We decided to pull out at Campsite 8, stretch our legs, and consult a combination of maps and the GPS. There is an old trapper cabin here that can be used as an emergency shelter in bad weather – a sign on its front door proclaiming (in both English and, oddly, German) that it must be shared at all times. Leroy and I put maps, descriptions, and GPS together while the kids explored. It appeared that the opening in the weeds was indeed the way to go. Once we got started, the way was more obviously marked with the orange or white channel marker posts. I had assumed that this was the outlet for the lake but as we entered the little track through the weeds, it was clear at once that we were fighting a current that was entering the lake. Indianpoint lake actually drains out through Indianpoint creek on the west end of the lake, eventually entering the Bowron river outside of the park. A few twists and turns up the creek later, we came into the small blip marked on the map and made our way down to the end with the portage trail.

The take-out here was very muddy. Parks staff had evidently installed the dock to help protect the shoreline from the many feet of the all the paddlers this route gets. We got out on the dock and considered our options. The shoreline was of that wonderful slimy, pile-up-with-every-step kind of sticky mud and trying to stand in it to pull up or unload the canoe wasn’t going to work. Leroy and I tried to simply pick up the loaded canoe by the stern and bow and hoist it onto the tall plastic dock, but I wasn’t enough help for that to succeed. In the end, we unloaded everything from the canoe – piling it up further on the portage trail where it was drier. Leroy then picked up the canoe from the water while on the dock and carried it up to the gear. We got it carted again, and reloaded the gear, before getting some of our homemade energy bars out of the food sack for lunch. As we did, the older couple from Kibbee lake caught up with us again and pulled up to the dock. Munching as we went, we got out of their way and made our way up the 1.6km trail towards Isaac lake.

Parks staff had mentioned that this portage trail was muddy and was a little rough, and it was true. At the start, the trail was slippery with clay mud and had numerous potholes. Our canoe cart is wider and has larger diameter wheels than those provided by the rental companies, so thankfully we weren’t bouncing through exactly the same holes as everyone else, but it still required attention. It was obvious now why they limit weight carried in the canoes. With 4,500 people doing the circuit every season, it wouldn’t take long before the trails were impassable otherwise. Some of the holes towards the end had been filled with gravel and there were plank bridges over the worst parts. Unfortunately, now our wider axle was too wide, and we had to lift the canoe over a couple of bridges to keep it from tipping off them sideways. The last bridge was wider, but had larger gaps between the boards. While I was watching the wheels of the cart on the bridge, I wasn’t watching my feet, and managed to skin my ankle as my foot went between the boards. We came around another corner to find the trail was so flooded it was simply part of the lake. This was our first inkling of the other factor that we hadn’t really considered about paddling in June – high water. The trail curved to the left and probably continued a little further to the official put in, but we decided to launch early. Loading all the gear (and the kids) in the shallow water, we waded out shin deep before hopping in ourselves. No point in bringing shoes on a canoe trip – a good pair of hiking sandals is much better – your feet are always wet anyway.

Isaac lake is the largest lake on the circuit. Totalling 38km long, about a third of the entire trip, it rounds the north-east corner of the circuit and forms nearly the entire eastern side. There are only three individual campsites on the 6.8km west arm and one more (besides a couple of group sites) in the corner at Wolverine Bay. Most people who get to Isaac lake on the first day stay at one of these three sites, while the one in Wolverine bay, with its big cooking shelter and nine available tent pads, is a common second night. The clouds were starting to accumulate among the peaks to the south, but the lake was still flat calm and dotted with copious amounts of tree pollen. It was barely two o’clock. We were averaging about 5km per hour, including the portages, and were still pretty fresh. We’d forgotten just how well our old Frontiersman paddles.

Back home, the kids had watched me craft our gourmet trail mix. Dried mangoes, apples, cranberries and plums. Almonds, coconut, and salted peanuts. And, of course, the obligatory peanut M&Ms. The bags I made up for the kids also had fish crackers. Both Anna and Alice were looking forward to these. As we came up to Wolverine bay, they were angling to break into the trail mix stash. We decided that we could stop and dig some out while checking out the shelter before moving on to one of the sites we had originally picked out for our second night, closer to Moxley creek. I don’t remember if we actually saw the shelter. We did find the Ranger’s cabin nearby. And we did see the large black bear languidly munching grass right in front of it. We weren’t getting out here. The trail mix stop would have to be postponed. We wanted to put at least a few kilometres between us and the bear.

We pulled out for our first real look at a Bowron Circuit campsite at site 16. The water being as high as it was, there wasn’t much of a beach, and the three tent pads were huddled in a group behind a few trees with a fire pit. There were butterflies everywhere. The view from one side, across the lake, to Mt. Peever and the McCabe ridge was lovely, and the view from the other side down the main arm promised more snow capped mountains tomorrow. The trail mix was delicious. We seriously considered staying here, but it was only 3pm and that bear was only a few kilometres away. If we made it just a few kilometres further, to site 18, we could reasonably expect to get to the end of Isaac lake the next day, and focus on all the river paddling on day three. Back in the canoe, we got the kids to keep their eyes peeled for campsite posts so we wouldn’t miss it.

A southern breeze had come up as we passed site 17. It got some teeth briefly, making the going for the first time. It was obvious how Isaac lake could turn nasty quickly. Everyone was getting a little tired. We rounded a point and came up on site 18, ready to quit for the day, to find it occupied by a couple with a yellow canoe. They were very nice and offered to share, but we weren’t really keen on spending our first night in the wilderness with strangers if we didn’t have to. My maps indicated a significantly longer paddle between sites 18 and 19, but we didn’t really want to backtrack to 17 either. While Leroy consulted the GPS, I made small talk from the front of the canoe.

“So where did you guys come from?” They asked.

“The registration centre.” I replied. They looked confused. I had to repeat myself.

“That’s a long way….” This was their second night on the circuit.

It was a long way. We had already covered over 25 km. I said we weren’t sure about the weather and with the big lakes we wanted to make time while the weather held. They asked if the canoe was a Frontiersman like theirs, and complimented Leroy on his refinishing job. Leroy figured site 19 was only another two or three kilometres, so we pushed off and pushed on.

As the clouds began to come in, we pulled up to site 19 – nearly 30km from where we started. It had more flat ground than site 16, with two tent pads and the standard fire pit and metal bear cache set in a ways from the shore. It was probably going to rain overnight. The trees weren’t close enough to the tent pads to string our tarp over the tent, so we set it up where it was possible in order to have someplace dry to set gear and stand in the morning. Leroy got dinner started – Mac and Cheese for the kids, Butter Chicken for me, Stroganoff for Leroy – and I got on with setting up the tent. The tent pads are surrounded by a square of treated wood. They are not a uniform size throughout the circuit, though I expect that they are mostly designed for one and two person tents. While ours is by no means huge, and we are all very cosy inside, it is a four person tent. As we were going to discover, we had a pretty consistent problem. Our tent just fit within the square, and the vestibules were out of the question. I made do by pegging the fly off of the pad and leaving the footprint to dangle over the edge of the wooden frame. After dinner, everything other than sleeping gear and bear spray was stored in the bear cache, and we crawled into the tent for what has become family camping tradition – evening book reading. This trip it was Farley Mowat’s The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be. As it got too dark to continue reading, it started to rain.