2015: Post 32 – Introduction to Kayak Camping

This year's Introduction to Kayak Camping took place this past weekend.... We held it in the same place as previous years, but Hazen and I decided to do it in reverse, just to try to change it up a little.  


On Friday I had a text message form Old Wobbly asking me to call him... 

"How about I pick up some salmon to cook over a fire for our supper?"
"Sounds good to me" I said.
"What about breakfast?  Want me to bring some eggs and bacon?"
"Hazen, if you bring it I'll eat it..."
"Okay then.  Want to drive out together?  I'll pick you up in the morning."
"My daughter will be happy to have the car to herself for the weekend."
"Okay, Dean... I 'll pick you up about 7:30."

That's just the kind of guy Old Wobbly is... always taking care of his paddling buddies, no matter how much we poke fun at him...


A small group of us met in Colinet for the put in.  This year we had a canoe join us as well... this was a first since I've been doing this trip...  

From Colinet we headed up the Rocky River until we got to the falls and enjoyed the scattered jumping salmon.

The wind was from the North, and therefore was in our backs as we followed the shoreline down to Half Island, where we stopped for lunch.

I think someone had a little too much lunch!!!

After lunch we decided to paddle over to Tickle Island with the wind on the port beam;   this would be good for skills development for some of the newer paddlers.  We followed the island on the outside, again with the sea following.

Alex and Cecilia were already at the campsite when we arrived.  They had arrived at the put-in late and had paddled on their own in the relative safety of the inside of Tickle Island.

It didn't take very long and people had kayaks and canoe unpacked and once again tent city was back on the map in Pinchgut.

It was about mid-afternoon and time to relax for a while and have Happy Hour.

Before long it was time for supper.

Terry's wife does not paddle so she walked in to the campsite
from a nearby community to join us for the weekend.  

Some people combined Happy
Hour with food preparation 

Excellent idea for our supper, Hazen old buddy...

With dishes cleared away there was more relaxation.

With relaxing, Happy Hour, and supper out of the way it was time to enjoy a campfire.

Hazen unintentionally demonstrated how he got the
name "Old Wobbly" as he fell over in his chair

We told stories, had a few drinks, and had a few laughs as we fed the fire.  Hazen made an attempt to make Jiffy-Pop popcorn over the fire but I will say that our buddy Neville is in no certain danger of losing his title of 'The best maker of Jiffy-Pop popcorn over a campfire'.  During the night we lost people to their tents now and then, and eventually I believe just Alex and Cecilia were the last to turn in.

Sunday morning was calm and people were in no particular hurry; we did not have far to paddle to get back to the cars.  Most of us took our time getting breakfast.

Derrick and Shane had been up early and decided to go for a little paddle on the calm sea...

With gear packed, we got on the water and paddled down the shore past our campsite toward the community of Harricot, just to lengthen the day's paddle a little.  There wasn't much to see really and the group decided to turn around and start the paddle back...

When we got back to the campsite area we entered the tickle and paddled with a bit of south wind in our backs.  Just before we arrived at the top of Tickle Island we pulled up on the beach and had our lunch.

Not to be outdone by Old Wobbly the the previous evening, Kevin toppled out of his chair as the legs sank into the soft ground. I didn't have my camera out to capture the moment but he happily re-enacted the event for me; it was all a good bit of fun.

A few kilometers more and it seemed we were suddenly back at the cars.

Hazen and I decided to put on the kettle as we packed up our gear so we could have a cup of tea.

A few of us relaxed in the sun for a while while everyone else had already headed for home.

This years Introduction to Kayak Camping was another great bit of fun. Although not necessarily new to kayak camping, or camping in general, I think almost half of the people on this trip were new to this particular club event.  I believe even the highly skilled and experienced kayak/canoe campers get just as much out of this simple and relaxed trip as the novice and new people.

Thanks to all those who participated.  I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope the newer kayak campers learned a few things.... after all, it is for the non-kayak camper that this event is designed for.