Out to Kidprice
Canoe Trek with Kids Day 1

After a fitful night in the rooftop tent, we wanted to get going to make the most of the cool and calm morning. We collapsed our tent, moved the truck to a more out of the way spot, double checked our packs, and loaded everything in the canoe. Breakfast could wait. Lamprey lake is not very big, nor very scenic, and filled with lily pads. It didn’t take long to get to the far side where the first portage trail starts through an old logging block. We unloaded everything again, signed in at the trail head, and tried to finagle carrying everything but the canoe on our first trip. We tried giving the kids a few things to carry (like their own life jackets) but it didn’t last long. They don’t walk very fast, and the dry bags we carried in our hands made the packs feel heavier. I’ll admit there was a certain amount of whining about mud and roots on the kids part, but they did walk the whole thing in the end. They were quite happy to get to Anzac lake and splash in the shallows. Poor Leroy put down his loads, turned around, and headed back for the canoe while I got the stove out and started making our brunch of Chicken Stew.

This first portage is about one and half kilometers. You can tell where the park begins about half a kilometer in – all the trees are bigger and the under story is infinitely more varied. It climbs up over a ridge and then descends quite steeply to Anzac lake. Once properly in the Nanika watershed, you get more of a taste for the rest of the trip. The big snow capped mountains peek out from behind the closer hills and, while the first part Anzac is still pretty brown and has a lot of lily pads, it is a larger lake and has a more varied shoreline than Lamprey.

Just as the kids were finishing up their bowls of food, Leroy came down the hill with the canoe. He was happy for all the canoe rests built onto the trees – apparently there’s more than enough, and always one right there when you need it. Our old 16 foot Frontiersman is a great canoe and quick on the water, but unfortunately its also a bit on the heavy side. I will admit I was happy I was not ever tasked with carrying the canoe this time round. After Leroy got his lunch and had a break, we put everything back in the canoe and started across Anzac.

The weather was fantastic for canoeing. With almost no wind, we were able to make good time on the water. That said – it was hot. By mid-day it was well into the high twenties, if not over 30 C. We skirted around an island and past what we had thought was the end of the lake before coming to the next portage to Stepp Lake. Thankfully, this one is short, only half a kilometre, and more or less flat. The kids were asked to carry their life jackets (they wore them) and their cups. There is a campsite on Anzac lake accessible from the portage trail, and we had originally thought we might stay here for the night, but it was only just after 1 pm and there was still no wind. The kids got another opportunity to splash in the lake and cool off while Leroy turned back again to get the canoe.

Over 7 km long, Stepp lake is big, clear, and cold. The mountains are closer, and still have a good amount of snow on them, even in August. We still made good time over the mirror like water – I think we covered it in under two hours. The far side of the lake narrows considerably into what I think used to be part of the outlet stream before the beavers dammed it up a long time ago. There is one place right at the end where Leroy and I had to get out and push the loaded canoe through a grassy rivulet that runs over the dam. I had remembered it as a quick flowing stream that had to be run on the way down and was tricky to get back up – but that was in the spring when the water would have been higher. We unloaded all the gear, again, and doled out granola bars while we contemplated our options.

The last portage is the longest, at 2.2 km. It is relatively level, though there are a few humps and bumps along the way. There was the option of camping here, but Leroy really wanted to make it the rest of the way, and it was still early afternoon. Everyone was hot and sticky, but we headed out along the trail, ineffectually waving the bugs that had come out with the heat and took advantage of our loaded hands. At the 1km mark the kids needed a break, and so did I. Leroy decided to leave his load and go back for the canoe, so we stayed with his gear and found a patch of huckleberries to keep us busy. There are a lot of huckleberries along this trail and even a few real high bush blueberries. Once Leroy got the canoe to our halfway point, we picked up our gear again and encouraged the kids to do one last kilometre to reach Kidprice lake. It was a slog, and everyone was tired, but we got there. The kids were excited once they could see the lake – they got to splash in the icy water while I set up the tent and heated water for dinner. Leroy had dumped his gear and gone back for the canoe.

I’m sure it was over 30 C that evening. I would have loved a breeze – both for the heat and the flies. I put our adult-sized bug jackets on the kids after they had finished in the water to give them a break, but they still got a lot of bites. Leroy got in with the canoe and we ate some dinner – Chili for him, Mac and Cheese for the kids, and I had more Chicken Stew. Then we took to the water ourselves. The water is very cold – both Kidprice and Nanika lake are glacier fed and its obvious once you get in. We did get in, though, and felt much better for it afterwards. The soles of my feet, on the other hand, were very sore both from walking the portages in wet sandals and from the sharp rocks in the lake. We were all happy to retire to the bug-free tent for the night. I got out our most recent Laura Ingalls Wilder book and read a few chapters for the girls before it got too dark and we slept.