BIOPHILIAC
Asta Kovanen cuts glass with her paddle near the start of the Bowron Lakes chain.
The Perfect Canoe Trip: West vs. East The distinct rewards of paddling in B.C. and Ontario words & photos :: Leslie Anthony The first three portages in B.C.’s Bowron Lakes canoe circuit come quickly. Totalling six kilometres, it’s a heavy first day if you play it through. But then, utilizing portable canoe wheels and carting the allowable amount of gear inside the boat means two pack-laden canoeists need only make a single trip across, rendering these lake links pleasant strolls compared to, say, a two-km double-carry in Ontario canoe country. Indeed, one-pass rolling portages are foreign to those of us who came of paddling age wilting under eastern Canada’s bug-ridden, canoe-humping Voyageur version. Ditto these trails, for which the word “buff” is no stretch; the rocks, roots and muck of even the angriest forest floor here are mere polite intrusions compared to the Tough Mudder gamuts of Algonquin and Quetico parks. Beyond Cadillac portaging, canoeing the Bowron offers something that Ontario—for all its terraqueous splendour—cannot: mountainous horizons, converging contours marching into the distance like a Japanese painting, gaps where glaciers have sagged through passes to carve out valleys, and silver threads of water lacing steep ridges. Thus the scene before me on a +30˚C late-September day, with two portages behind and a notion to leave the third for tomorrow. After all, with Indianpoint Lake mirror-like beneath a cloudless afternoon sky, it’s time to stop and enjoy the heat. A spacious campsite looms on the left and we nose our two canoes in. Tents are erected, hammocks hung, bathing suits donned. After a bracing dip, it’s at least mercifully warm enough to air dry.
Later there’s a curry dinner and a few pulls of scotch beneath a starspackled firmament. No campfire, of course, because by this point in the season, with wildfires everywhere, there’s always a provincewide ban. Bowron Lake Provincial Park hugs the western slopes of B.C.’s Cariboo Mountains seven hours north of Vancouver—a “mediumlength” drive by provincial standards. The park’s world-renowned 116-km circuit of glacier-draining waterways is the definitive B.C. canoe experience, taking six to 10 days to complete. The west side is hemmed by the rounded hilltops of the Quesnel Highland, which differ markedly from the imposing Cariboos framing eastern and southern aspects. Aesthetics aside, the Bowron has a reputation for moodiness, with calm lakes under blue skies one minute that can turn to angry grey water and torrential rain the next. Thus, we’re prepared for anything—including being pleasantly surprised. The next day dawns sunnier, hotter and stiller. The portage into Isaac Lake offers little challenge beyond the heat. Isaac is a behemoth—38 km long and known for kicking up in bad weather. But for us it’s a placid pond and we spend two blissful days working our way down its southern shore, camping atop pebble beaches and luxuriating in the heat—with momentary dips in its frigid waters. The exit portage from Isaac skirts a rapid, then it’s a short hop across McLeary Lake, where moose graze the shallows, one of the few water-level wildlife encounters to be had at this latitude. There’s some bird action, of course, but with predominantly coniferous forests and icy water there are no frogs on lily pads, no turtles 71