Likely to rain

The past weekend saw the 18th annual UnLikely Paddlefest in Likely. I loaded my kayak, tent and a couple of friends into the truck and headed down on the Friday evening. Chatting with Katrina and Melanie made the long drive pass really quickly, and Katrina knew the way which saved me driving around in circles!

Likely is tiny and in the middle of nowhere, but is so pretty that it would be worth visiting just for the sake of it. The Fall colours were starting to make an appearance, salmon were in the lake and the rivers, Bald Eagles and Ospreys were soaring overhead.

Friday night was spent in the local pub listening to a decent set of music, catching up with friends and meeting new people. Oh and drinking a little too much. It dawned on me pretty late that I still had a tent to pitch, in the dark and approaching freezing cold. Fortunately my friend Rebecca lent me a head torch and showed me where to pitch the tent, which didn't take too long because I'd spent a fair bit of time on my Americas trip throwing it up. Oh, and I was wearing a thin shirt in the cold! Anyway once up Melanie and I got in and I found my head torch in the tent inner. My comment to this effect was met with a chuckle from the direction of Rebecca's tent :) I don't really have typical North American camping skills - local people on this continent seem to be born with the inate ability to sleep under a tarp in the bush and light fires with a couple of twigs. Still at least there was no open fire for me to contend with (which cost me some arm hair last time).

The night was pretty frigid and I felt it through my zero degree rated sleeping bag, plus fleece liner and silk liner, plus thermal underwear. Melanie, with a summer-only bag and a blanket, spent the entire night shivering. I don't think either of us slept much.

A couple of bonkers Kiwi paddlers slept under a tarp

On Saturday I was up pretty early and managed to get a nice picture of Quesnel lake steaming (above). People started to emerge and we stood around trying to warm up, wearing as many layers as we could fit on. The town cafe opened at 9am and we piled in for warm breakfast and coffee.


Plan for the day was to start off with a paddle down the Lower Cariboo river, which was normally grade II/III but water levels were low. A good number of experienced paddlers volunteered to take the newer folks, which was awesome and much appreciated since there were much more entertaining runs available for the more skilled. A few people very kindly volunteered to run shuttle, and I spent the short journey to the put in admiring the yellow Fall trees against the bright blue sky.


We stopped at a bridge over the Cariboo and it began to occur to me that challenge number one was going to be getting to the water. Someone set up a rope system using a throwbag and we used it to haul our kayaks and selves down into the river canyon. Fortunately we wouldn't be going back that way! The run started off in a big, wide eddy that allowed beginners and experienced paddlers alike to settle into it, practice rolling, peel outs, ferrying, etc.


After that there was a briefing and we set off - the river immediately setting the tone with a fairly good drop/wave. All the beginners had been told to pair up with an experienced paddler, but for some reason I kind of shuttled between other pairs. I'd spend a little time with one pair, then another, and it occurred to me for the first time on a river that I didn't care if I got flipped, I'd just roll up. It was kind of an odd feeling since although the water was the biggest I'd ever paddled, it wasn't all that daunting.


The most important thing seemed to be finding a decent line, and I hung back and watched the various pairs go through before attempting to select which way to go. Fairly soon we came on a stretch of continuous wave trains, with flat topped rocks sticking out here and there. I was finding it a little tough to distinguish between wave and rock, and often there was a little last minute back ferrying or turning to avoid a collision! Melanie wasn't quite so lucky, and managed to hit a rock and get flipped by the eddyline. She had to swim, and further downriver Katrina had to bail out at the same time.

The group in a large eddy

When we got Mel back in her boat and rounded the next bend, Rick was setting his kayak on top of a huge boulder in the river. He seal-launched off the top of it, prompting Ross (who has only been paddling a year) to do the same thing. While he was lining up, his wife Irene paddled up and told me he was terribly afraid of heights... despite that he pulled it off, to whoops and cheers from everyone else. Top fella.


Further down river there was a pretty big drop and the guys leading the trip made certain we were aware not to go too far right or left, and stressed following the leader down. By the time they were done I was convinced I was about to get swept to oblivion, but in fact after charging through the hole after the drop it was straightforward. We sat in an eddy while the more experienced boaters played on a big wave, and I took some pics. Rick, who was leading, told me that it was my turn to swim since all the other beginners had, and for some reason I was very confident there was no way it was going to happen. I told him I was planning to stay in my boat, thanks :) At that point I realised I hadn't even flipped yet, and I made a note to thank Matt who'd told me to move my seat forward to stop the stern edges catching.

Jim surfing

On the last big rapid I got caught by a small hole and flipped over, but immediately rolled up without any trouble. I was actually quite proud of myself to finish the paddle having only had to combat roll once. Evidently I am not trying hard enough :) The takeout was much easier than the put in, fortunately, but after three or so hours on the river I could barely lift my kayak.


Once back in Likely, Katrina and I decided to head out onto Quesnel Lake since we were already dressed up for paddling and, being Likely, there was nothing much else to do except absorb the ambience :) Katrina was beating herself up about her rolling, so we grabbed a different boat and she promptly managed at least thirty rolls without any failing. We headed down the top part of the Upper Quesnel where there is a small play wave/hole.


Rebecca and her friend Ryan were already there and beckoned us down. Smashing through the hole was a blast... I was convinced it was going to stop me in my little kayak. Once in the eddy, Rebecca showed us how to surf in a hole. I've only ever front surfed on a couple of small waves, so watching her side surf across the hole was pretty daunting. She has only been kayaking a year but has a very smooth, effortless looking style. Rebecca and Ryan had to go as the light would be failing on their river run, leaving Katrina and me to it.


We both looked at each other and I'm pretty sure we were both thinking "stuff that". The hole was super shallow and an upstream flip would result in a very sore head. We settled for practicing some turns in the fast current, and I did a little ferrying.


We hiked the boats back to camp and broke out the beers. There was a big party up at the local dance hall with a band called BlackBerry Wood coming in from Vancouver. Not my scene at all, but I appreciate live music in a big way and the band had so much energy and stage presence. The night passed in a blur of beer, cinnamon whisky and very enjoyable conversation.


Rebecca, Matt and I stood around talking until some crazy time in the morning and I literally had just got into my tent when the rain started. It never stopped.


After about four hours sitting and listening to the rain, it was light so I got up and wandered around in the wet. The conditions dampened everyone's enthusiasm and a few people headed home early. The locals put on a pancake breakfast for us and after a short while I felt warm enough to put on my wet wetsuit and paddle. Katrina and I had decided we would try the local playwave again as there was no time for a river run - we were leaving for home at lunchtime. Melanie took the sensible option and elected to wander around Likely with my camera.



Allison joined us for a play in the hole, she was far more accustomed to surfing despite only having been paddling since spring like Katrina and me. The three of us were doing some peel out practice when a couple of locals turned up. They backed into the hole, which I thought pretty impressive, and surfed a bit. One of them paddled over and introduced himself as Jesse, he told us to watch Jay who was still in the hole. Jay started by doing some cartwheels, then did some big loops which looked amazing. Outside of YouTube I'd never seen anything like it.


Inspired, I tried to get myself into the hole but I kept getting turned and flushed out. Jay showed me how to do a small stroke that kept the bow in line, I guess it was a type of draw stroke, but anyway it worked and resulted in about two seconds of side surfing, my best effort to date lol. After they left, Allison and I tried surfing while Katrina practiced rolling. Every time I would get into the hole, I'd get flushed straight out, and the air would turn blue as I berated myself. Finally I caught an upstream edge and got rolled in a very shallow section. I managed to avoid my head taking a battering only by getting my hands and paddle in the way, so when I rolled up a little way downstream my hands were cut and bruised and I'd managed to bend my thumb the wrong way somehow! But it wasn't too bad and I tried again a few times, until my arm hurt too much to continue. I seem to be suffering from tendonitis again... earlier in the year it was my left arm and now it is my right.


We got back to camp and loaded up for the trip home. Melanie had managed to get some great pictures and had found a load of stuff my camera is capable of that I had no idea about! The trip home was quiet... both ladies fell asleep for a long while and I sat wrapped up in my thoughts and watched the rain soaked miles slide by.


I only hope I get to do that again some time very soon. Typically the most fun weekend of the year is also one of the last before the snow flies :)


Frase.

Panorama of Likely in the rain

Whirlpools

My first trip out to the Isle Pierre rapids (with Chad, Katrina, Rob, Scott, Devin and Mel) was a completely different experience to the Willow - normally rated at class II/III the levels were again very low, but what made things entertaining were the frequent whirlpools. We put in and ferried across to play about in a large eddy on river left, before heading down. The Nechako River at this point is fairly flat between rapids, and the weather was pretty damp and chilly.

Things soon started to improve when we came on the first big rapid, more than 50 metres or so of continuous white water. The volume was much greater than on the Willow, with fairly large wave trains to negotiate. I followed Chad and the others and found myself having a hard time staying forward in the kayak - I'd hit a wave, lean back and the bow would bob up and I'd lose control a bit. Just when I was thinking I'd got the better of the rapids, there was a huge eddyline - like a wall - next to a long rock in the middle of the river and it flipped me straight over. I was a little better prepared than I had been on the Willow trip but my first two attempts to roll up failed miserably, and I knew my roll just wasn't strong enough yet to overcome the current there. As the second roll failed, I caught a glimpse of the rock looming up fast and for some odd reason, stuck my hand out to fend it off. I didn't hit anything, so composed myself and gave the third roll attempt my best hipsnap. I rolled up, and had time to paddle clear of the rock before I hit it.

Looking back I realised I had crossed further into the eddy, making my third roll easier... I was convinced if I had stayed on the eddyline I would have had to swim. We sat for a bit in the eddy behind the big rock and practiced turning out into the current, over the big eddyline. It got easier after a few attempts. But what amazed me was the swirling current, one moment it was sweeping you downstream, the next you were heading to river right and then upstream! At one point, a small but fairly powerful whirlpool sucked the back of the boat into the water which made me jump - it can't have submerged more than a few centimeters, but I was convinced I was going to be pulled under backwards :)

The remaining rapids were equally entertaining, but nowhere near as powerful and whenever I was flipped over I was able to roll up pretty easily. It started to bother me that my brace was more or less nonexistent - I was either right way up or upside down, and not really able to stop myself getting from the one state of affairs to the other. That small annoyance aside, I was pretty pleased that I finished the day without having to swim.

Excellence award has to go to Melanie though, on her second ever river run she was tackling the same rapids as the rest of us and making it look easy. At one point she got capsized and hung in there until she was rescued by Chad without having to swim. Cool.

By the time we got back to the cars it was baking hot and the flask of coffee I'd packed in the cold dawn seemed far less appealing :)

Pic at the top is Dev looking to surf a hole with Katrina, Mel and Scott queued in an eddy.

Frase.