PNC Days 72-74 – Transition to canoeing

We’re on the Columbia River! We made it to Canal Flats where our canoe had been stored and found it safe and sound and ready for a trip! This segment of the trip went through Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis ancestral lands.

Day 72 – PNC Mile 1484.1 – Last full day of hiking

Our last full day of hiking! We walked almost entirely downhill today on a smooth gravel road. We went swimming in a lake, and then we saw a hot spring coming up on the map that we’d walk directly past… Obviously we went swimming again! It rained pretty hard on us in the evening, and then we ran out of water so we had to keep walking until we found a water source. It was my fault we ran out… Renee noticed the landscape had become dry and suggested filling up as we passed a lake, but I said the lake was far below the road and we should hold out for the next creek. That creek never came! We made it almost all the way into Canal Flats, the town where we’ll pick up our canoe tomorrow, without finding water. Then we saw a sign for camping. We usually camp on public land which is free and remote, but since we had no water and didn’t want to go all the way into town tonight we decided that paying for a private campground was justified.

It was a strange feeling to know the hiking portion of the trip was about to end. On previous trips when we descend from the mountains for the last time it has always meant the end of the trip. This time, we are just over halfway done with the miles and we are about to start an exciting canoeing adventure that will be totally new. I’m looking forward to it. I hope my arms are up for the challenge of paddling 1,200 miles! For dinner we had curry rice. Yum! -T

Day 73 – CR Mile 19.6 – Columbia River Headwaters

Today we had an easy ~5 mile walk into the town of Canal Flats. We picked up our resupply box at the post office, went out for coffee/breakfast at Village Social, and went grocery shopping. Then came the exciting part—we picked up our canoe! Thank you to Lizzie for storing it in her garage all summer!! We then carried the canoe ~2 miles to the start of the Columbia River. When we got close, we ran into a motorcyclist who had just seen a black bear cub on his hike to the headwaters. We took a little break and then continued walking with another family who showed up to hike out to the headwaters. They had air horns, and we yelled a bit. As we got close, we saw the bushes moving and heard something run away from us—probably the bear. Then we made it to the headwaters! 1500 miles of walking from the pacific ocean to get here!

The start of the Columbia River is a small spring-fed stream surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. We could see the springs bubbling up into the stream. It was super cool! We dropped our canoe in at the very start, as far up as possible. Then we set off for the next leg of our adventure! For the first little bit we had to drag the canoe because there wasn’t enough water. But then we hopped in and made it out to the Columbia Lake pretty quickly. The lake was large and didn’t have a current, so we didn’t move super quick. Eventually we made it past the lake and had fun moving quicker with a current. This evening we got a little nervous when it came time to camp because we found ourselves in a wetland. We saw lots of beavers swimming and slapping their tails on the water. We also saw another bush shaking and heard a big animal—probably a bear. Around sunset we found a nice dry bluff to camp on. -R

Day 74 – CR Mile 40.8 – Invermere

We got a late start to the day but we didn’t mind because we now have a river current to speed us along! Unfortunately, the current went away right after we started paddling. We are so far up the Columbia that it isn’t carrying much water, so it has been switching between being a river, a lake, and a wetland. Most of today it was a lake for us — Lake Windermere. That meant we had to work hard to move forward. We were jealous of the speedboats and wake boarders out on Lake Windermere — their boats were doing all the work! Eventually we made it to the town of Invermere where we bought groceries and supplies for the paddling leg of our journey. We picked up dry bags, waterproof phone cases, sunscreen, a spare paddle, a rope, and some other odds and ends. We should have been more organized and ordered these things ahead of time, but getting them all in Invermere seems like it worked out fine.

After we got back on the water the river quickly switched back to being a mix of wetlands and actual river. We had a good current and beautiful scenery. We saw sooo many birds — blue herons, bald eagles, kingfishers, and many many more. Just like yesterday, we saw tons of beavers too. When it was time to make camp we had to search for a while for a spot because there weren’t good trees for hanging out food. The brush is super thick along the river, so it’s very hard to access the few big trees there are in the wetland. But, while looking for camp we turned a bend and right there was a big black bear! It seems like it is definitely a good idea to be bear aware on the river. For dinner we had Ethiopian lentils and rice. Yum! -T