Around the Labour Day weekend we paddled Slocan Lake in the West Kootenay. This is a large lake lying West of the larger Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior. Bordered on the West by Valhalla Provincial Park it offers excellent paddling and hiking.
We drove to Hills Beach on the extreme N. Tip of the lake and put in traveling S. for just a few kilometers to a fine beach near Shannon Cr. This spot offers engaging views down the lake and sports gravel of just the right size. Not so fine as to stick to you or your gear and small enough to be comfortable to sit in.
In the morning we packed up and headed down lake to Wee Sandy Beach in Vallhalla Provincial Park. The shore was lined with a forest of Cedar and Hemlock with occasional Birches and other deciduous species all pleasing to the eye as we cruised by on the clear waters of the lake.
We set up on the campsite at Wee Sandy and went exploring up the Wee Sandy Trail. This is an historic logging trail built up Wee Sandy Cr. The side slopes approach 80% or more and it is interesting to speculate on the challenges faced by the men who hacked this small road out of the forest. Large Cedars and Cottonwoods dot the route and in areas of broken canopy Devils Club rears it’s beautiful, but thorny and inhospitable form.
It rained hard in the night and in the morning it passed and a stiff wind began building from the North. The wind is supposed to blow from the South in most interior valleys but obviously no one had told this particular breeze.
So we loaded up and set off into the teeth of the wind. The waves built and we had to turn the bow head-on to avoid shipping the breakers. However our experience in the desert earlier in the year had taught us much about the wind and we motored along making good time with little or no whining from the crew. Unfortunately the maggoty little dog was ensconced in the bow and every bit of spray drenched her. She didn’t like this and upon nearing shore she sprang from the boat and raced about in great joy at having once again escaped a watery end.
We camped again at Shannon Cr. revelling in the view and the comfort of this excellent site. A fisherman appeared and told us a tale of a great fish that had got away and then the evening came down and we slept the good sleep of the tired and contented.
The next day was fine again and as we paddled the short distance to the truck I was struck by the quiet beauty of the place and thought if you gave me a good boat and a thousand miles of shore like this I would never, ever, come home.
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