I thought of you when we were there! 😆 Yes, they are quite a lot warmer than the lake, but they didn't seem too pleasant when we were there. I wonder if it is due to timing, you were there earlier in the season than we were. Though with hot springs that shouldn't matter, I suppose. 🤷♂️
Just watched this great clip. Great adventure! I have a couple of questions for you. I understand that you started from the Powell Lk (common end point). Did you drive there and left your car?? Also, where was your exact end point at Lois Lake? The campground or the Lois Lake Dam Boat Launch? I am planning to do this route this summer (direction undecided), and I am wondering how you moved from the end point back to your car (if you left your car at the start, that is.) Thank you in advance.
Thank you for watching, it is much appreciated! We rented a canoe from Mitchell's in Powell River. They let us park our vehicle there and we used Sasquatch Trails to shuttle us to the start and to pick us up again at the end. We agreed to meet at the public boat ramp at the bottom of Lois Lake. I wouldn't leave my vehicle at the boat launch. The put in was much more public, but since we didn't decide to leave our vehicle on either side I never looked into options for that. We decided to start on the Powell Lake side to make use of the waves. We're slow starters and knew the afternoon winds would be a challenge for us. Cardiac Hill is a challenge, but if you take a day and go slow it is quite doable. Because of Cardiac Hill, if you do go our way around (clockwise) and you rent a boat, it is worth shelling out for the lightweight boat. We ended up flying up Powell Lake and if I'd known that (you can't bank on it, though!) we would have taken a day to explore Goat Lake. In hindsight I am extra happy we went this way around. We didn't know this when we left, but the shores of Powell Lake are lined with never ending floating cabins, which was fun for a little bit, but it was bad for the sense of remoteness we were looking for. As soon as we left Powell Lake we got exactly what we wanted and it stayed that way for the rest of the trip. Lois Lake has some cabins at the end of the lake, but nowhere near as many as Powell Lake and that made for a much more pleasant ending to the trip. All in all I'm glad we did it this way around, but, in fairness, you can't go wrong. If you're on Facebook, there is a group dedicated to paddling the Powell Forest Canoe Route. You can find lots of good information there, too. Happy paddling!
@@adventureben22 Thanks so much for the detailed account. Your info is much appreciated. We haven't decided the direction of the travel but were leaning towards the counter clockwise. Humm... Finishing in the wildness instead of boat houses is much appealing. We will see. Anyways, thank you!!!
Thank you for watching! Yeah, it is always fun to see bears. Saw a decent grizzly a little farther down the road, but didn't get him on video. There are a lot more episodes coming, enjoy!
🤣😂🤣😂 We hadden er een bij ons, maar die uit de tas graven leek meer werk dan even spitten. En als oer Hollandsche jongens was een gracht graven een aantrekkelijk alternatief! 😉 Bedankt voor het kijken!
Thank you for watching! I really should have learnt my lesson the first time around and gone earlier in the season! In the end it wasn't too bad, though. Just bad enough to remember it as a tough one and tell tall tales about it! 🤣
@@adventureben22 Those are the experiences that make the trip memorable! But I will admit while watching your video I may have thought "I'm glad did that trip when I did!" a few times. But the video also made me want to go back again.
It certainly was type 2 fun a few times. 😆 I'm happy the video makes you feel inspired to get out there again! We took 13 days to do the trip, so we had lots of time for extracurricular activities. The hardest part is behind us now. Fun videos to come!
End of August, early September. It was pretty brutal. In the lakes the water level was fine, but the rivers barely flowed, especially the first section. The other two weren't that bad, but that first section took some effort!
Great Video. Nation Lakes is on my bucket list. Lucky you that you were allowed to enjoy campfires, especially after a wet September. I understand why we have fire bans, but they are taking away a big part of the fun of canoe trips.
Really enjoyed your video, can you please roughly give any idea where to hunt for Turkey. I am planning to travel from Vancouver to the hunting location . Cheers
Loved the video! We're planning to do this trip this summer (2024) but were thinking of July. Our dates are totally flexible. I haven't read any trip reports for July. Comments from anyone regarding the best time to do the trip? Thanks in advance.
Thank you for watching my video, I am glad you enjoyed it! From what I understand the river can be quite high in July and judging by the size of some log jams and the size of the trees in it, the river can actually get quite serious. Water had been low the last few years, though. I would recommend asking the outfitter for guidance. They'll be able to tell you when the best time is. I know people who have done it in August and they had a grand time. You'll love the trip, have fun!
Thank you for watching it ... again! Much appreciated. 😊 You'll have a ton of fun! Most people do the loop counter-clockwise, but we decided to go the other way around. You can't go wrong either way, but we were very glad we opted for the tail winds on Powell Lake at the cost of portaging "Cardiac Hill" uphill. It bought us an extra day (made it to Goat Lake on day one) and we enjoyed finishing the trip on Lois Lake, which is a bit less busy with people than Powell Lake. But again, you can't go wrong either way! Have fun and safe travels!
I'm excited! I noticed you did the route "backwards." We are still in planning stages and we had talked about getting Powell Lake over with first but at the moment I think we are leaning towards starting at Lois Lake. I do like the idea of getting the "busy lake" over with first though! How did your 2nd trip to Nation Lakes turn out?
@@ruraldragonflyIt was amazing! My friends had no clue they were going on the trip until breakfast on the day they were getting on the plane! 😆 Very interesting to do the trip again, it was both the same and very different. I'm editing the video at the moment, but it is a bit of a monster production... Also! Bring good shoes to the Powell Forest Canoe Route, it really is 50% paddling and 50% hiking! Amazing and worth it, but good to know before you go.
Thanks. I was planning on good footwear.I was able to get away with my Teva's for last summers 500m portage but figured proper shoes were a must for this trip. Can't wait to see your Nation Lakes video.
We went in September. Bugs were there, but they were getting sluggish. Daytime temperatures varied, in the teens (Centigrade), I'm guessing. Both day and night temperatures dropped substantially over the 10 days we were there. We did have two frosty nights at the end. Water levels can be an issue in September, they are getting low by then.
Awesome video! I’m here from your comment on Facebook. What an amazing trip. It seemed like y’all had a great time. Thanks for filming and sharing with all of us. I have a Coleman ram x Scanoe with the square stern. Planning on putting a 5hp motor on it. I haven’t used it yet so I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy your ram x. I also have a very old 16ft sears fiberglass canoe that I love. I’m hoping to take many trips this upcoming year. Thanks again for sharing! I’ll definitely be watching future videos from your channel!
Hey! That's awesome, thank you for watching. We rented that RAM-X and it turned out to be a good go anywhere, do anything canoe. You'll have a great work horse with that engine on the back. I hope you'll have a ton of fun on your adventures. Again, thanks for checking out my videos. I don't make them very fast, but I always have one or two on the go that I chip away at when I can.
Thank you for taking the time to watch my video! That is awesome, you'll have a ton of fun. I'm curious how different it will be from your memory of the first time. Yes, 10 days is a leisurely pace with lots of time in camp and for breaks on shore. We only paddled 8 days and had two rest days. I'm sure early risers/faster paddlers can do the trip in 6 days if they put their mind to it, but we like to really take it in and experience the place properly. I would recommend taking at least 8 days, but am very happy we took 10 and I would not have been upset if we had had another few days to spend there... ☺️
Superb narration! You really captured all that the Nation Lakes Chain has to offer, aswell as some of its challenges... And all within a reasonable runtime, especially given the amount of ground you covered! 👏
Thank you very much, that is high praise! ☺️ It took a lot of effort to whittle down the video to this length. The first cut was much longer! 😆 Thank you for taking the time to watch it, it is very much appreciated!
WOW what a great video! You really capture the Powell Forest Canoe Route. Thank you for adding in a shot of my van, always appreciate help promoting my small business. Those ultralight canoes are a blessing Eh? Hopefully this year we get more rain to fill up those lakes and rivers. BTW those are Bullfrog Tadpoles, invasive buggers. Hope to see you back here again soon!
Yes, they really are! Going up on Cardiac Hill was a slog. 😆 Still happy we did it that way around, it was nice to have the tail wind doen Powell Lake and get the hard work over with early on. We had such a blast on that trip! I learned afterwards about the bullfrog, those things are voracious! I hope they don't end up taking over completely... We'll be back out that way one day, that place is too beautiful to stay away from! 😉 Have you filmed anything spectacular with your drone recently? You showed us some of your orca footage and that was really cool. I hope you'll have time to check out my other videos.
It is a bit of personal preference. They are nowhere near as nice as a backpack for hiking, but they are generally used for food and easier to organize for that purpose. In my area I hang my food off cliffs at night for bears and bags tear easier scraping along the rock. You can sit on barrels when you camp. These barrels aren't bear proof, but they are air tight and don't smell as good to bears as a food bag does and they are somewhat bear resistant. I used dry bags for food for a long time, but I find the barrels easier for food storage. And the better resistance (again: not bear proof) to bears is a big plus for me. These barrels are purely for canoeing, though. The harness is fine for portaging, but I'd never take one backpacking.
I worked forestry up here for years - such an amazing part of BC - so many wolves there :). Everyday I drove to work was a “safari tour”. Thanks for sharing your adeevture 🍻
I got all nostalgic and found a cool map image I have of that area from the owners of Douglas Lodge. Miss those epic areas; mason river, nations, babine river, Takla Lake. Fox you choose this over palm trees ;)
She wears it when she is at risk of not making it to shore. She is hilarious though, does not care about us at all. When we tip she says: "You're on your own!" Swims to shore and just watches us struggle from there. She doesn't wear it in the river because I worry about it getting snagged if we tip.
With their vehicle. It is about half that if you use your own vehicle. I agree it is dear, but in their defence, it is the absolute middle of nowhere, and it is a 7-8 hour round trip for the truck and driver. Canoe rental was much more reasonable than I expected and camping along the way is free, so over a 10 day trip it averaged out to less than I would spend on a similar trip going elsewhere. Again, I agree it is expensive, but logistics get pricey in the back country.
Awesome! I loved my Nation Lakes Solo trip in August. I agree the sunsets were incredible everyday. Looks like the river levels were lower for your trip. I couldn't lift my canoe over that one jam you showed, water levels were so high and fast. Had to carry my canoe around the huge tree and was really wishing for a canoe that bends at that point. Although the hot springs weren't very hot, I enjoyed a few soaks once I removed the "scum." That mint smell around the springs was incredible. I enjoyed getting to see this beautiful area from your perspective (and Flokke and Rebecca's) and reliving some of my memories again. Thanks for sharing. Happy Paddling!
Yes, the water level was quite low by the time we hit the rivers. We could paddle a lot of it, but especially on the first and second stretch there was a lot of lining through the shallows involved and the first section of the river took us a loooooooong time to get through, we were very tired after that day. It was pretty amazing, though. Everything just got better and better as time went by! 🤩
@@adventureben22 I think you had to do more lining than I did. But I agree the first river section was exhausting. The bugs (mostly flies) were also really bad and I was eaten alive. I usually have a high tolerance for bugs but my face was very swollen at the end of the day. It was so hot, I think it took me twice as long to get through the river because I had to swim and the start and end of every portage (and sometimes in between. But it was all very incredible - scenery, wildlife, beaches and solitude.
No bugs for us. It rained the whole day during the first river section and it had gotten too cold for them anyway. A few stragglers, nothing too bad. Funny how we had such a similar, yet different trip!
Wow! Seeing the sun set and a full moon rise at the same time is unreal! I didn't even know that happened! You were so lucky to see that. Once in a lifetime, thank you for sharing.
