Vancouver island is a kayaker's dream. The island has it all, steep creeks, monstrous drops, clean water falls and boulder gardens are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing the rivers in this area. Along with the characters of these rivers, the insane concentration of rivers and the easy access, Vancouver Island is a lesser known location and a gem.
Near the beginning of April, Pavel Bendl and I set off for a ten day road trip to the Island. The plan was simple, fit in as much paddling as we could for the ten days we were there. With the prospect of creeking after a long winter spurring us on, we pulled an overnighter leaving Canmore after work and driving until we hit the ferry. The ensuing day brought us to the Gordon River, where we met up with our friend Glen Carpenter. The Gordon is an Island classic. This run has it all, water falls boulder gardens, and to top it all off beautiful scenery. After spending two days at the Gordon it was time to move on. We had heard rumors that Little Qualicum falls was going off and rallied to check it out. Upon arrival, we found a pretty meaty flow and a tricky line. Little Qualicum Falls is a tough 20 footer to a perfect 30 foot water fall. The line on the first drop has been traditionally to plug it on the right - down a chute and prepare for some down time, but at this flow it looked like you would pop up on the lip of the second drop. I opted for the left line over a flake and missing some rocks at the bottom. My first run sent me into a pitch pole off the top so I decided to go again and was able to stomp it. Thanks to Pavel and Glen for setting safety.
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| Little Qualicum Falls |
After our day at Little Qualicum we were pretty fired up, so we headed to Gold river. The Squamish of Vancouver Island Gold River has at least five class 4/5 runs within a 15 minute drive. We were able to get on the Pamela, Ucona, and Upana. All of these rivers were full of drops and sweet rapids. Our trip was starting to come to an end, but before we left we were able to get on Lens Creek with a massive crew of the locals. All in all it was a pretty rad trip and I would definitely suggest getting out to the island for some adventure and some amazing boating.
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| Gettin ready to run the goods on the Upana |
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| Locals on Lens |
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| Pavel getting in for the must run drop on the Upana |
