Burrito West Blog

In the craziness that has been the past month (losing Kitty, Peter working insane hours... again), I failed to blog about my August long weekend camping trip!

Last year it was a hike up to Garibaldi which was the most beautiful trip I've ever done and my first time camping with ladies only. Also, someone brought a water filter so we didn't have to ration water which changed the entire camping experience for me. It was lots of fun. So when Amanda, the mastermind behind that trip was planning for this year, it didn't really matter what she proposed, I was going.

This time it was a kayak camping trip in Sechelt Inlet.

Peter dropped the 3 of us and our gear off at the ferry and we headed to the Sunshine Coast and then caught a bus that took us within walking distance of the kayak rental/launch at Halfmoon Bay. We took some time to load our 2 kayaks (many dry sacs and lots of water) and headed out!

We quickly learned that I am terrible at steering a double kayak, hopeless actually, so we found some shallow water and switched out. Other than that, it was smooth paddling in pretty scenery and perfect weather.

We stopped on a beach to rest and have some food and admire the view. After a few hours we landed at Nine Mile Point and decided to try to find a campsite (busiest camping weekend of the year).

We squished our two tents into a spot that was kind of occupied (they were very understanding) and breathed a sigh of relief because we were far too tired to kayak to the next camping site. We unloaded our kayaks and moved them up above the tide line.

I was very happy to be sitting on a beach a and our hangout spot was pretty awesome.

We had some tasty re-hydrated food for dinner (no really, it's not bad), some wine, and conversation and watched the sun set.

The next day Amanda and Sara took the double kayak and went exploring. I very happily stayed on the beach with my book, got cozy in the shade and did a lot of reading.  I also pondered why I don't spend more time reading on the beach, it's possibly one of my favorite things to do.

We had another lovely evening (this time with fresh pineapple and champagne) and remarked on what a good idea this trip was.

We were really lucky because it was unusually warm, even at night so we could sit out on the beach after the sun set and watch the stars and check the water for luminescence (it is sometimes really bright in this inlet). We went wading in the water in the dark and there were some sparkles, but nothing dramatic enough to make it worth dragging the kayaks out. We chatted with the guy whose campsite we had crowded onto and discovered he's in the sustainability biz - always nice to run into good people randomly.

The next day we had to head back to reality. We packed everything up and headed out.


Unfortunately, the winds were blowing against us and the water was quite choppy. I was in the front of the double kayak to start and I got
soaked immediately by some waves. It was pretty funny actually. I've only ever kayaked in calm water before.  This was harder. A lot harder. If you paused to take a break or drink water, you would go backwards. There were some corners we went around where the wind blew really strong where we kind of doubted if we would make it around. But we did!

It took us 5 hours of paddling (with just 1 beach break) to make it back to the kayak launch. I've never been so happy to land on a beach and exit a kayak before.  We had survived though, which gives one a sense of accomplishment. Also, we happened to paddle by a rock covered in seals which was pretty neat.

We had been looking forward to visiting the pub that is conveniently located next to the kayak launch, but getting back took much longer than expected so we had to run to catch the bus to catch the ferry. The kayak launch owner gave us and our gear a lift to the bus stop, thank god - the thought of walking with all that gear, ugh. And we caught the ferry, yay!  And Peter picked us up at the ferry terminal on the other side, saving us from cramming onto a crowded bus to Vancouver, double yay! (Peter is very popular among the girls I go camping with because of his heroic efforts to always pick us up.)

Things I learned on this trip: after 5 solid hours of kayaking, my fingers will twitch for a few hours which is very unsettling. Then they will swell up the next day. Also, I learned I don't hate pineapple the way I used to - guess I just needed to have it in the right setting.  Finally, I took the day after our return off work which was the best idea ever - gave me time to recover (so sore) and unpack.

I'm grateful to my friend Amanda for dreaming up these excursions and for teaching us newbs about camping stuff. I still don't consider myself an outdoorsy person, but I enjoy excursions like this once a year.  :)

Trip photos uploaded to flickr here.