Monday September 4, 2017

Woke up far to early.  Had the last hot shower for a week and went out to cook breakfast - first one on the camp stove.  After collecting out 40L and 20L buckets I also moved the food from the cooler.  There was a lovely fog covering Bowron Lake itself all morning.

Just before 11am we loaded up Becker's Lodge truck with all our gear and they drove us down to the registration office.  We unloaded our gear and headed up to watch the mandatory video.

When we weighted in and our food alone was close to 60lbs (the mandatory maximum weight for canoe portaging).  So we strapped on dry bags to our packs.  The first portage was a rough one.  We hadn't quite figured out how to balance things and the packs were very heavy.

The first put in was Kibbee Lake.  We were swarmed by butterflies.  They were ruthless and fluttery and would not leave us alone lol.

The first paddle was amazing.  The water was calm and the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky.  It didn't take too long.  The second put in for the portage was sandy and butterflies amassed once again to greet us.  When we put our feet in the water a swarm of small fishies nibbled on our feet and ankles.

The second portage was...awful.  Everything we read and everything people had told us was that it was a slight incline.  Uh not even!  It was a steep incline and VERY poor trail conditions.  Ruts, pot holes, mud, tree roots and large rocks on top of the incline made it terrible.  We were both drenched in sweat.  Everything burned and ached.  By the time we got the entry of Indianpoint Lake there was a bottle neck of people.  We everything and changed back into our water shoes.  Originally the goal was to just do the first 2 portages and camp.  We did better.  We pushed ourselves and made it all the way to campsite 6.

The lake was crystal calm and the reflection of the surrounding mountains we just spectacular.  We set up camp and had a lovely dinner of steak and potatoes with gravy.  We took a dip in the lake which was a tad on the cool side but it was nice to be able to wash the sweat away.  We packed up dinner and watched our first movie.  We were pretty sore but we had made it the first day.