Nation Lakes Canoe Route in BC, Canada
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- In September of 2022 we paddled the Nation Lakes Canoe Route in BC, Canada.
The route consists of a series of four lakes: Tsayta, Indata, Tchentlo and Chuchi Lake. They are connected by short stretches of the Nation River and are collectively known as the Nation Lakes. Paddling the route requires a shuttle to the starting point in Tsayta lake.
We picked this route because we can bring the dog (often not allowed) and it was rumoured to be a beautiful one. While a true wilderness experience, once the river get lower during summer the water becomes suitable for novice/intermediate paddlers. There are hotsprings to visit (well, warm springs), the fishing is great and there is a lot of wildlife.
We were not disappointed. The first few days were a bit rough, cold and rainy, but once the weather cleared up we had an amazing time on the water.
I hope you enjoy the video, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!
IN THIS VIDEO:
00:00 Intro (1 minute)
01:07 Day 1 - Rainy day for a tropical island...
02:42 Day 2 - Tsayta Lake
04:44 Day 2 - Into the river we go!
09:24 Day 3 - Firewood for a rest day
12:00 Day 4 - Indata Lake, our second stretch of river and a simultaneous sunset/moonrise
16:50 Day 5 - Chentlo Lake hotsprings
20:34 Day 6 - A lazy morning, an ode to the RAM-X 17 and the first "real" fish!
24:12 Day 7 - Spectacular sunrise on our second rest day
24:50 Day 7 - Playing in the water with the dog
26:03 Day 7 - Oh, them beavers!
27:18 Day 8 - Waking up to smoke in the air
28:07 Day 8 - Old mining camp: core samples everywhere!
30:47 Day 8 - Our third and final stretch of the Nation River and arrival in Chuchi Lake
33:10 Day 9 - Finally! On a cold, but beautiful morning our luck changes...
35:48 Day 9 - We have a weird dog...
36:41 Day 9 - Water like glass
37:32 Day 10 - A quiet morning for our last morning
37:48 Day 10 - Poetry
38:18 Day 10 - Final words and please subscribe!
MUSIC:
00:52 HoliznaCC0 - Breath
01:10 Mr. Smith - Lamento
02:21 Jason Shaw - Green Leaves
03:14 Monplaisir - Brotherhood
04:47 Mr. Smith - Insomnia
05:50 Doctor Turtle - I snost, I lost
10:10 HoliznaCC0 - Boredom
10:36 Jason Shaw - Hoedown
16:17 John Bartmann - Soaring Hawk
17:05 Mr. Smith - Sonorus
20:07 HoliznaCC0 - Boredom
20:33 John Bartmann - Iyanetha
21:58 Jason Shaw - Thingamajig
24:11 Mr. Smith - Pequeñas Guitarras
24:49 Jason Shaw - Rocky Top
25:42 Mr. Smith - Sunday Solitude
26:51 Axletree - As the Crow Flies
28:41: HoliznaCC0 - Trauma
30:29 Jason Shaw - Running Waters
31:08 HoliznaCC0 - Busking in the Sunlight
33:38 Kai Engel - Snowmen
34:08 HoliznaCC0 - Crooked Townie
36:43 Peter Rudenko - Iced Spring Theme
38:23 HoliznaCC0 - Sense of Purpose
All music from www.freemusicarchive.org.
You weren't lying, that trip got better and better! Loved the quiet morning paddle near the end. Great photography!
Why thank you! I appreciate you sticking it out. ;-)
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.
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!
Ahhhhh, that dog, though! 😊
The whole video is lovely, but the dog makes it awesome.
Yeah, she's a keeper! Best adventure buddy we could wish for.
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.
Thank you! The Nation Lakes is a wonderful route to paddle, I hope you get to tick that one off your list soon.
Thanks for putting this together! What a beautiful route.
Thank you for taking the time to watch it, I appreciate it very much! It was a very special experience being out there.
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 ;)
Thank you for watching. It really is an amazing area!
Epic trip!! 😮
Sure was! Thank you for watching. ☺️
What an epic trip! Thanks for sharing, miss this place
Thank you! Yes, it is a very special place. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Such a beautiful place and to have it all to ourselves was amazing! Also, we have a cute dog😊
Yes we do!🐺
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.
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!
@@adventureben22 If you haven't already, you should paddle Clearwater and Azure Lakes in Wells Grey - dogs are allowed!
Really! We wanted to, but thought they were not allowed there! Ok, we're putting that back on the list, then, thanks!
An absolutely excellent video.
Thank you very much for taking the time to watch it!
Enjoyed
Thank you for watching!
My bad saw the jacket latter fo the pup
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.
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!
Did this some 21 years ago, and doing this agin in August. You took 10 days, was that a relaxed pace?
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... ☺️
I just emailed to ask about the shuttle....$950 +GST 😢
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.
what month did you do this trip? when do the bugs die down up there- you didn't seem to have any problem? what are average daytime temps ?
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.
i have a coleman 13ft
They often get a bad rep here in North America, but given what they are designed for they are great boats!
you all use these barrels, How can these be better than a reguglar backpack? not judging but thinking....
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.
If you love your dog ,get him a life jacket.