murtle lake day 4-7. in which christine and ryan canoe the west arm

Here it is.  the west arm of murtle lake and days 4-7 of ryan and christine's 2013 canoe adventure explosion supreme.
 

Day 4

We woke up in the sun.  finally.  like a "it's gonna be sunny all day today" kinda sunny.  christine celebrated by going swimming, i read a book and made pancakes.

christine and the morning "bath"

We were on the lake around 10ish and there was no wind.  0% wind.  We made our way back down the final 2 or 3 km of the north arm and then headed west. i put on lots of sunscreen.



I also was messing around with the underwater camera i got for my birthday.  The water was so clear and warm it seemed like a good time to check it out a bit more.

what canoeing looks like from the bottom

We took our sweet time.  i had 2 fish on but got 0 to the boat.  it's ok, they were too big for the boat probably.  We watched kokanees and trout jump for dragonflies along the cliffs, took random photos and just enjoyed the fact that i had forgotten where i packed my rain jacket this morning, and that was ok.

paddling west.

with the line out.

into the west arm

 We got to campsite 12 at a decent enough hour.  still lots of sun out.  we set up camp pretty leasurly and i got into my book pretty hard.  people came to the campsite occasionally, and by the time the dust had settled, 14 people were on the point.

2 were carol and gord from the night before, 6 were a group of guys on a sweet guy only, alcohol and food fueled man-venture, and 2 were a cool couple that were there 1st and must have had a crazy shock when they got back from their day trip to find their cozy campsite had become the center of attention.

pulled up on the beach

one of the coolest things about site 12 was the natural spring.  it was about as big as a sink, 6 feet from the water, and provided us with a cold and clean supply of water.  pretty darn cool.

springy

we lazed around the evening and watched another incredible moonrise.  eric went out paddling and i snapped this sweet picture.  then bed.  on a mattress that no longer holds any air at all.  even with a stick.

moonlight paddle

Day 5

Today was a day paddle kinda day.  The west arm is shorter than the north, and the water was pretty flat, so we decided to leave our tent at #12 and head out with an emptier canoe.

morning

There are a few islands on the west arm, and we headed to leo island 1st.  camping is allowed on this island, and a lot of people were taking advantage of that.  seemed like a cool place to camp, but it was pretty full today.

camping on leo island

pointing the way on leo island

I did some fishing on the way, and caught our supper.  

fishing for supper

At the very end of the lake is a cabin.  that was our destination.  It was a pretty easy but longish paddle, but the cabin was cool, and a good place to eat some snacks before heading back to camp.

pulled up at the cabin

cabin.  pretty clean inside.  you could sleep there.

On the way back, we checked out another camping friendly island, smoker island.  There was nobody at the island, but it didn't look like the awesomest spot.  We headed back to camp, passing on the other side of leo island.  There is a HUGE sandbar off the island.  We were able to walk out over 100 yards and not get our knees yet.  over 1/2 way across the lake.

out on the sandbar

playing with the underwater camera on the sandbar.

The lake on the west arm was a lot shallower and clearer.  we could see fish chasing my hook.  pretty cool.

clearness and shallowness of the west arm

We got back all good, and then it was time to chill out, clean the fish, and finish my 2nd book.

tenty was waiting for us

dinner is cleaned

The evening was spent eating fish and hanging out with our awesome neighbours and reading and eating and generally enjoying where we were.  The sunset was insane.  The pictures don;t do it justice, but trust me, it was.

beach parking

sunset on the lake

one of my favourite pics.  soaking it all in.

told you it was insane.

Sleeping on the beach somehow makes up for a mattress that no longer holds any air.  off to sandy point tomorrow.

Day 6

Today was our last full day of paddling.  we headed east towards the junction of the 2 arms to a campsite called sandy point.  we packed up casually and had breakfast.

the gto made another appearance

us.  i did say it was casual.

leaving site 12.

the said bye to our new frinds ond off we went.  there was some rain kinda following us, so we didn;t slack too much, but we made it before the rain and stayed dry the whole day.

sandy point camp.  looks actiony

beach at sandy point

There were quite a few people at the camp.  2 families with great kids, and 3 men who were on a mission to get really hammered.  they succeeded.  there should be an IQ test to get on the lake to keep guys like this off.

sandy point beach.  too close to civilization, or the uncivilized.

sandy point tenting

We spent the afternoon and evening getting comfy around.  the fire ban was off, so we enjoyed an evening around the fire.  The drunk guys kept it up but everyone there was laughing at their expense, not in a good way.

Day 7

Our last day.  the rental canoe had to be back at 11:00, so it was going to be a short day.

the last confirmed sighting of the '70 gto

our cool neighbours (not the morning puking guy) got a fond farewell abefore we left.  it was cool to connect with them, since they all worked in the education sector, cool for christy and i.

time to go

We headed back towards the dock in calm winds.  we made good time.

almost back

We ran into the 6 guys on their annual trip, they looked like they had a great trip as well

bye again guys

We got to the dock, unpacked and waited for a cart to show up to move our stuff back up the trail.  Met more cool people leaving and shared our experiences with them a bit.

bye bye canoes

We spent another night in the cabins at blue river then headed home sunday morning.  What an epic trip.  we packed well and everything went real smooth.

Not sure where to next year.  maybe powell lake or ocean canoeing at the Broken Group.

Now back to reality.  but next weekend is labour day long, so watch for more adventures then.
The adventures of Ryan could be your adventures too.  just saying.