Day 2 Saturday May 28 – Wistaria Provincial Park to the Alcan Spillway Recreational site
- Wake Up Time: 4:00 am
- Departure Time: 6:00 am
- Arrival Time: 11:30 am
- Distance Paddled: 26 kms (Total: 51)
- Total Paddling Time (not including breaks): 4 hours and 49 minutes
- Weather Conditions: Fairly calm and warmer
This day was a lot like day 1 of paddling except that we got started much earlier. This allowed us to take advantage of better conditions on the water for a longer period of time. But eventually the wind did pick up again. The scenery was very much the same as the first day. Mostly soft rolling hills and the wide expanse of Ootsa Lake. I started to take more notice of the dead trees on the other side of the lake along that shore. We would get closer to these dead trees tomorrow.
We paddled slightly more distance than yesterday and I was starting to feel the toll of doing this two days in a row. I don't know about Maria and Arnie but I was a bit sore at the end of our paddling on this day. I was sure that this was strictly just a conditioning issue, one which would correct itself very quickly over the next two days. So all was good. Just needed a good night's sleep and some Advil.
Arnie's canoe sail
Another thing that came to my attention was that my rain jacket did not allow for good airflow while paddling. When we arrived at the campsite I was actually soaking wet from sweat. I decided that I would only wear my Merino wool shirt and a pullover from now on for paddling, unless we got serious rain fall. Merino wool is outstanding for all sorts of conditions. It dries very quickly. I was able to wash this shirt every couple of days in the lakes and have it dried within an hour. This is what I wore for the rest of the trip. The rain jacket was simply tucked away in the kayak and ready for use if it rained.
The campground at the Alcan Spillway was very nice. It was actually more like a very clean provincial park. When we arrived, the sun was shining and the temperature was warm. It was a perfect opportunity to dry everything off (e.g. tents, clothes). While we were setting up camp, a lady on a ride-on lawn mower drove up to our campsite and started chatting with Maria and Arnie. It turned out that she and her husband were contracted out to maintain various parks like the one we were at.
This couple was very nice to us. The lady asked Maria if there was anything that we needed and Maria sort of jokingly said that we could use some mustard for our dinner tonight (i.e. she had forgotten this item). The lady said: "No problem. I can give you a whole container.".
We asked the husband, a retired RCMP officer, if we might be able to use one of the bear proof garbage bins near our campsite as a bear cache. He said: "No problem. I'll get you some clean garbage bags to wrap your barrels with so that you can keep them clean.". They both seemed very intent in doing anything they could to assist us.
We were telling them about the state of Wistaria Provincial Park (the previous night's camping spot) with all the garbage and high exposure to wind etc.. They told us that they would take a quick drive out later that day to have a look and they actually did.
The lady mentioned that there had been quite a few bear sightings in this park (Alcan Spillway) within the past week. As it turns out they were eating all the Dandelion plants around the campground. I knew that bears are omnivorous but it surprised me that this plant would be in their diet. Remarkable animals really.
During the afternoon I started to notice that Maria was knitting something. I remember thinking that this was an unusual thing to see out camping. I wondered what the hell she could be knitting. I assumed it was something for one of her grandkids. I never asked but would find out when we got back to a motel in Prince George on our way home.
Later on after diner we took a walk over to the actual spillway dam and were amazed at the enormous flow of water going through. A lot of power behind the flow of water.
Overall this was a good day and a great camping spot.
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