Widgeon Creek: Trying Something New
The first time I took out our new canoe, I flipped it. The two kids who were on it with me, Neil and a friend, were shrieking with excitement. Or was it the shock of the cold water? Either way, they just kept on shouting and laughing for at least a half hour afterwards. I admit to wondering previously – how would we get back into the canoe if we capsized? I might have even made a mental note to look this up and practice it. There was no time for that, I had to make some snap decisions – how to get the kids back into the canoe? After one or two tries, I figured out a system. I asked one of the kids to hang from the side of the canoe, from their finger tips. Then I went to the opposite side of the canoe, at the same end, hauled myself up over the canoe and on to my stomach, and pulled them in. I was able to get in carefully afterwards, crisis averted.
When was the last time I tried something new? I was wondering about this, and the fact that I couldn’t really remember scared me. With the excitement of travel to foreign countries being off the horizon for us due to COVID, it was natural to look for some excitement closer to home. Perhaps my looming middle age was also to blame. Either way, after spending far too long mulling this over, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a high quality inflatable canoe. That was just the beginning though, since we also needed paddles, life jackets, and so on. But after a quick shopping spree, we were ready to roll.
Our first try with the canoe was very close to home. I loaded up our cargo bike with all the gear, and then stopped for a moment to appreciate the novelty – we can now bike to the beach with our canoe and go for a paddle. I might have had a smile plastered on my face, the whole ride to the beach. Despite capsizing, we had a great time, and it was a good test of our equipment. I figured we were ready for a weekend trip, so two days later, off we were to Widgeon Creek.
After driving through the urban sprawl of metro Vancouver to Pitt Meadows, we arrived to the put-in at the edge of Pitt Lake. Inflating the canoe was a breeze after our previous practice round, and soon enough we were on the water. The route begins with crossing the the edge of Pitt Lake, right where it flows into Pitt River. We had heard that there can be a lot of motorized traffic in this area, but it wasn’t too bad. That’s not to say that we were alone though. There was a mad collection of barely sea-worthy inflatables, including a few actual canoes and kayaks, but mostly SUPs, Canadian Tire dinghies, and some weird inflatable blobs that seemed more appropriate for a session at the pool than for crossing a large body of water.
We paddled up Widgeon Creek. The kids were quite fidgety, so we stopped at a nice little sandy beach to have a snack, play, and relax. Looking around, we found lots of salmon berries and some red huckleberries. From there it was a short paddle to the campground. Despite arriving around 4pm, we still managed to find a free site – it wasn’t as busy as we had expected. I tried to tire the kids out a bit by exploring around the campground, and getting them to run back and forth to various landmarks. After dinner, we all crashed early. I continue to be amazed at how easily we go to sleep early when we’re out and about, and how it never happens at home.
The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we packed our lunch and headed off to Widgeon Falls. The beginning of the trail was on an old road, but soon enough it entered a lovely forest. With some cajoling and hand holding, Kai managed to hike the whole way. We could hear the falls long before we arrived to them. The falls themselves were quite impressive, but the cherry on the top were the natural rock pools just above it, where cooled down, clambered up some huge granite boulders, and enjoyed the setting.
On the hike down we took the alternative trail, which follows the old road the whole way. It was less interesting but more direct. After a quick swim to cool down, we packed up our gear and off we went, back down Widgeon Creek. The sandy beach beckoned us again, and some of us even managed a quick nap. Crossing Pitt Lake was a bit more exciting this time, due to the many motor boats who were zooming around. When we got close to the little beach where we had put in, a teenager was going around in circles fast, seemingly in a mad trance. We waited a few minutes, and thankfully he motored away.
We packed up the canoe and all our gear back into the car, and pronounced the trip a great success. We realized that canoeing is a fun way to spend time in the outdoors. But also that it would open doors for us by allowing us to access new areas that we haven’t been to. With two young kids, not having to carry all our gear, not to mention a heavy baby, made the trip so much more relaxed. It was just the first of hopefully many more canoeing trips to follow. When was the last time you tried something new?
