Paddling trip

[robon]

Thought I would post a two night trip I did in the summer to help counter the winter blahs. I have posted a few of these pics before on the favourite flat water places. My picture taking ability is limited, as is my technical skills for properly including pictures, but hopefully you get the general idea of the area I paddled.

I headed out to the north end of Kootenay Lake to paddle an area I have never been before, and it turned out to be a great trip. The Weather was very cooperative, and I even got a bit of a downwinder to bring me back. I started out in the town of Kaslo which is a beautiful little Kootenay mountain town full of old historical buildings and houses, and it's also a very popular destination for paddlers in the interior.

I had no specific campsite in mind and just started paddling north until I started losing light, and found a small inlet with a little beach and made this home for two nights. The next morning I packed up some gear and headed to Fry Point for the day, which was the highlight of the trip. The lake was at low summer levels and there was probably around a mile or so of beach in total, and I spent most of the day exploring and hiking in Fry Point Canyon. Both Fry Point and the small community of Johnsons landing immediately north of Fry Point were devastated by separate land/mudslides over the last several years. Four people died in the slide at Johnsons Landing in 2012. The video I linked is a second slide following the first in Johnsons landing that was caught on camera. It was a bit surreal paddling to the landslide area after seeing so many videos and news reports of it a few years ago. There used to be an island that was wiped out near the mouth of Fry Creek in a separate event and locals told me the entire area is completely different now.



After hanging out in the Fry Creek area for the day, I made my way back to camp and settled in for the night, and started back to Kaslo in the morning. Shortly after I hit the water, the wind picked up a bit and I got nice little downwind push back to Kaslo. Not nearly as much fun with a loaded board, but I was tired from the day before, and the wind assist was a bonus. Finished up with lunch in Kaslo. Good day.


 

[deepmud]

This the type of paddling I like to read about  .   :-)

[levity]

Beautiful country!  You'll have lots of folks dreaming of summer!

Those long summer days up north must be nice.

[robon]

Beautiful country!  You'll have lots of folks dreaming of summer!

Those long summer days up north must be nice.

Thanks, but it's not all that far north depending on where you live in the States I guess. The south end of Kootenay lake is about a 30 minute drive from the Idaho panhandle (Sandpoint is a great place to paddle), and the West Arm of Kootenay lake in Nelson is about an hour from the nearest border crossing in Washington.

[madmax]

Touring get the short end of th stick with SUP's.  Love seeing someone getting out there.

[supthecreek]

ronbon... that was totally awesome, thanks!

The vista pics you took on the lake really show off the majesty of that area, steep mountain slopes, ending abruptly at lakeside, it is reminiscent of Scandinavian fiords. Pretty sweet!

What a beautiful spot to paddle... if not a little intimidating, that landslide video really shows you haw quickly things can go bad. Those logs chased the 2nd boat way offshore, good thing they weren't paddling

I appreciate the travelogue pictures you added, it really helps understand an area better than paddling pictures alone. I immediately went to google earth and traced your paddle route... such a nice way to learn more about the incredible potential for paddling anywhere you go in the world.

Posts like this really broaden the appeal of the standupzone, since I tend to believe that a lot of paddlers worldwide simply like to get out in nature and enjoy time on the water.

I am a bit frustrated that "last 10 recent" allows posts to get lost pretty quickly, I almost missed this.

[lucabrasi]

Nice robon. I been meaning to get up that way for a while. Coeur d'Alene and Flathead tho where you are seems every bit as nice.
Winter blahs? What's that? A whole different world out there right now. Give me sunshine high in the sky and water anytime. I doing a little better this year I think but will really start stirring in February and March when the days get longer and still winter outside.

[robon]

Nice robon. I been meaning to get up that way for a while. Coeur d'Alene and Flathead tho where you are seems every bit as nice.
Winter blahs? What's that? A whole different world out there right now. Give me sunshine high in the sky and water anytime. I doing a little better this year I think but will really start stirring in February and March when the days get longer and still winter outside.

Hey Lucabrasi,

Coeur d'Alene is beautiful, and another really nice place to paddle. Stand up has really taken off in Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint. I used to live just south of the border and have spent a lot of time in Sandpoint, and less time in Coeur d'Alene. Recommend both. The big lakes up here don't freeze, so you can paddle year round, but you don't see the sun for weeks at a time in the winter. Gets a bit depressing at times.

Here are a few more pics of some spots a bit south of where I camped, and a couple more around the Fry Creek/point.

[robon]

ronbon... that was totally awesome, thanks!

The vista pics you took on the lake really show off the majesty of that area, steep mountain slopes, ending abruptly at lakeside, it is reminiscent of Scandinavian fiords. Pretty sweet!

What a beautiful spot to paddle... if not a little intimidating, that landslide video really shows you haw quickly things can go bad. Those logs chased the 2nd boat way offshore, good thing they weren't paddling

I appreciate the travelogue pictures you added, it really helps understand an area better than paddling pictures alone. I immediately went to google earth and traced your paddle route... such a nice way to learn more about the incredible potential for paddling anywhere you go in the world.

Posts like this really broaden the appeal of the standupzone, since I tend to believe that a lot of paddlers worldwide simply like to get out in nature and enjoy time on the water.

I am a bit frustrated that "last 10 recent" allows posts to get lost pretty quickly, I almost missed this.

Thanks Creek,

I always check out your sup explorations, and look forward to more;)

The best way to describe the Kootenay lake is that it is fjord like, and the main lake can get a bit intimidating as storms come up very quickly. The occasional mudslide as well. On my paddle back it went from glass, to thigh high swells in about 10 minutes. The wind just gets funnelled through and whips up the water quick. You have to be prepared to stay on the water when it gets rough in spots because there is nowhere to get out in some sections of the lake because of cliffs, and exposed terrain. Regarding landslides, the island I mentioned that got wiped out had quite a few campers on it just shortly before the landslide hit. It's very unfortunate that 4 people lost their lives, but the death toll could have been much worse considering the magnitude of these events.

I included a link to a paddling link for Kootenay Lake that I had saved on my computer for a long time. Now. The Author does a better job of describing it than I can, and gets into a bit of detail why it's a paddling destination for sea kayakers. Cheers.

http://www.wavelengthmagazine.com/2001/jj01kootenay.html.

[Muskoka SUP]

Thanks for sharing Robon.  I think of the Kootenays in the winter, but seeing some summertime there sure changes my mindset.. Add some paddling to the mountain biking lure and now I reallly want to visit...

[headmount]

Been to this area many times for snowboarding.  Heaven. I stay in touch with some of my guide friends who live there and after telling them about downwind paddling, they saw the conditions occur on the lake and have been going.  I want to do it.  That lake going up to Kaslo of off the hook.  Thanks for the pics

[robon]

Been to this area many times for snowboarding.  Heaven. I stay in touch with some of my guide friends who live there and after telling them about downwind paddling, they saw the conditions occur on the lake and have been going.  I want to do it.  That lake going up to Kaslo of off the hook.  Thanks for the pics

Hey Headmount,

I think we talked a bit on the forum about you having some buddies in Nelson that are getting into downwinding on the lake. Shoot me a pm if you are ever back this way and we can hook up for a paddle. I mostly go solo, so it would be nice to get a shuttle in if the conditions are good.

It's been a slow start to the ski/board season, and I don't have a board right now anyways, but Whitewater got almost 17 inches of snow in the last two days, and most of the snow came in a 12 hour period.. Some areas got a stupid amount of snow over night and a lot of people were literally snowed in yesterday. I measured 18 inches of fresh snow where I live in less than 24 hours. The snow was coming over the top of my winter boots when I was walking, so I decided to measure and 18 inches plus of fresh was what I measured. Half the day shovelling just to get out of my driveway. Anyone with a 2wd living in the country was screwed yesterday. Snowplows buried a lot of vehicles too.