Expedition Canada Race Report

 What an adventure Expedition Canada was!

Sunday Sept 26

Drive to Penticton. Jason and I traveled from Victoria and Laurel and Kristal traveled from Saskatoon. Road trip fun!!

Sunday night late in the hotel we met Laurel for the first time. She had enthusiasm and excitement that pumped me up. And it was awesome for me to see my dear friend Kristal for the first time in a few years.

Mon Sept 27/Tues Sept 28

It takes a LOT of work to organize the logistics and gear for an event like this. We spent all of Monday and Tuesday doing rope checks, swim checks, photos, meetings, organizing food, organizing gear. Packing our bikes into our boxes, deciding what stuff goes into what boxes. It was a lot! By Tues night we were emotionally done with all of this planning and ready to get after it.

Wed Sept 29: The Start

4 am wake up, pack up/eat, go into lockdown at 4:30am. 

Then the race video was shown. Watch it! It’s amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JzjF9AAoDQ

Jason and Kristal - our awesome navigators - looked at the map and figured out our intended routes of travel for the first half of the course.

6:30am - everyone walked 1.5km to the start line carrying our paddling bags, swim gear, and trekking gear for Leg 2.

Leg 1: the swim

Estimated time from race director 0.6-1.5 hours

Actual time for team Ignorance Is Bliss: not known. Approximately 1.5 hours

Jason and Laurel started us off and swam together for the 1km West. Kristal and I walked to the end and cheered them on. When they came out of the water, they tagged us and we swam back. I was really proud of Kristal. I knew this was not inside her comfort zone and she just kept going and tried to stay calm and move forward. I did my best to help her along and we were both pretty psyched when we could stand up in the sand at the end!

Leg 2: trek 14.5km to Skaha Bluffs 514m up /396m down

Estimated time by race director: 1.5hr-4hr

Actual time for Ignorance Is Bliss: Approx 3 hours, plus time in transition building bikes

We fast walked through town as we ate and continued to dry off from the swim. At the south end of town we started a very steep climb up toward skaha bluffs and checkpoint 2. 

Checkpoint 2?!?  Uh-oh. Where was checkpoint 1? Shoot!

We felt really silly as we realized that we had completely missed checkpoint 1, which was in town and really close to the start. I felt particularly silly because I had underlined the words ‘visitor center’ in our little passport book, but I hadn’t connected this with CP1 in my head and assumed we would be going through town at some later date to get this one… nope! We mourned this stupid miss for a few minutes and then decided just to keep going. We knew we would be “unranked”, but we also knew that going back for it wasn’t worth it to us, because we were never in this event to be competitive.

We hiked up to CP 2 and punched the orienteering flag, and then made our way through the bluffs. Navigating was a hard job - difficult to try and put the information from the map we had in front of us into all the trails around us on the ground. 

We made it to the transition (TA2) to finish the trek leg and start riding our bikes. 1-2 teams were just finishing up their bike builds and off they went, leaving team 6 as the last ones in this transition. I was really stoked when we (thanks to Kristal’s awesome bike mechanical skills) got 4 bikes built and in working order out of our boxes and ready to ride.

Leg 3: Mtn Bike 50km total

Estimated time from race director: 3.5-8 hours (including transition)

Estimated time it actually took us: 9 hours, 45min (not including transitions)

Part One: getting through Penticton from Skaha Bluffs to 3 Blind Mice trails

We had a tough time negotiating our way through town. We started the bike tow here, but weren’t very skilled at using it (having never practiced) in traffic, so Jason tried to navigate us away from traffic. We then had extra opportunities to climb hills as well as carry our bikes up and down some stairs!! We were trying to laugh at ourselves and do our best to just keep moving forward.

Part Two: singletrack mountain biking through the 3 Blind Mice trails

Kristal and Jason helped us navigate through the chaotic network of beautiful riding trails there. We headed up and they did an awesome job bouncing ideas of where we were and what was coming up as we went. Laurel got off her bike and ran any section she didn’t feel comfortable riding. There were two checkpoints down low and then a significant climb up to the top of the area for CP5. We met a group of local bikers as we negotiated our way to the top. They couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t just use the Trailforks app on our phones to help us find our way to the top of the climb, and were totally confused by the idea of our race. (“You don’t have your phones?!”) They did help by pointing out that the trail we were on did not exist on our map, but that it would take us up to the top area. 

The climb up to CP5 felt never-ending, and we ended up being really happy to find it just before dark. We treated our water, put on our lights and warmer clothes, got really surprised by a truck that came our way, and then rode down. The ride down had some challenging stuff and we navigated through the trails to find two more CPs. We enjoyed seeing a skunk running into the bushes, and then a flowy fun ride to end the section.

On a personal note, I was really happy about all of this riding. I’ve worked hard this year to become a competent mountain bike rider and a better hill climber as well. I really enjoyed all of these trails and feel like I can ride most mountain bike legs out there in adventure racing, day or night, which is a huge accomplishment for me.

The person waiting for us at WP2 at the end of the section was so kind and encouraging. We really appreciated him checking on us and sending us off with a warm smile.

Naramata Beach transition (10:20pm-11:30pm)

When we arrived, many racers were there and everything felt a bit frantic. Nathalie met us and told us that the paddle had been canceled due to high winds, and the race had been paused and was about to restart on a short course with no paddle. We could jump back on our bikes and restart with them, joining the main pack again. I guess from a race perspective this could have been cool, but we knew climbing up the enormous hill to get back up to the KVR on our bikes would be slow going for us. And we were hungry. And we had just been on our bikes for almost 10 hours and wanted a little break.

Laurel had a quick nap in transition while we fired up the stove and made a hot meal (quinoa and sausage dehydrated meal - yum!!) and got some clothes, pot, stove, fuel and food out of the paddle bag for the next bit.

Leg 5: Bike 12.5km

Estimated time from race director: 0.75-1.5 hours (including transition)

Time it actually took us: 1 hour, 45 min (not including transition)

Jason put on his jet pack and helped tow Laurel up the steep hill to the KVR. I could barely keep up with him even while he was towing. From the top of the road climb it was about 9km to the transition along the railroad (2% incline). We were plugging along, a little bit sleepy and tolerating the wind ok.

Transition 5: Bottom of Okanagan Mtn Park

We arrived here at about 2:15am. Removed our sleeping stuff from our dropbox “A”, changed clothes, ate some food, and set our alarms for 5:30am. I’d say resting inside our ‘emergency shelter’ was uncomfortable for me with some dampness, wind and cool parts, but it was still a welcome break after ‘day one’ of racing.

Getting out of the bothi bag at 5:30am, I started shivering and shaking pretty significantly and couldn’t really function well. So I warmed up by the fire for a brief stop before eating oatmeal from the stove and getting ready for the trek. The folks at this transition were lovely and did an awesome job of encouraging everyone and keeping water available and the fire going.

Leg 6: Trek 28km 

Estimated time by race director: 3.75-8 hours (including transitions)

Actual time we took:10 hours (not including transitions)

We left at about 7am and started walking up the steep road. We saw a team on their way down and were in awe of how fast they must have done this trek through the dark, windy cold night. We were moving quite a bit better today than we were the day before, and it was beautiful to hike along admiring the fall colours and more remote trails. We didn’t have to think about navigation much at all through this trek, but there was a lot of hill climbing to do. We gently hiked up to the first CP, and enjoyed the sun in that area, before our climb became steeper and more windy. We could see the rain approaching but it held off until we were closer to the second trek CP near Baker Lake. By the time we got there, it was pouring rain and some slow bushwacking was required to actually get to the CP flag and punch our passport. 

We then climbed up and around to the next CP at Divide Lake, near the summit of Okanagan Mtn, and it was a cold heavy rain (?sleet) as Kristal rocked the navigation to the marshy area. With wet feet we snagged this CP flag and punched our passport. We took shelter in the emergency hut right there to have a snack and change because it was miserable outside and we were now soaking wet, but overall the hike was beautiful and I thought we made good progress considering the amount of climbing.

The descent was wet and we were keen to get down, but we didn’t run much. Maybe we should have pushed harder to shuffle along a bit more. Some sections were steeper and slippery and more technical, but some parts were runnable… For us, though, 28km on feet with a huge climb/descent and 3 CPs to find - it was a successful leg. Plus, it was a giant loop and I love loops!

Transition 6: Bottom of Okanagan Mtn Park

As we approached the transition we were getting prepared for the upcoming 44km biking leg. The great news was that the rain was done and it was supposed to be clearing up overnight and sunny again tomorrow. And the volunteers had boiling water ready for us to make some dinner! 

We had loads of stuff to fit into our packs. For legs 7,8,9,10 and 11 we wouldn’t have any access to drop boxes. So we had to carry a lot of gear, clothing, water, sleeping items, food, lights, etc. Our packs were HEAVY and FULL. 

And then as we were leaving, Kristal and the volunteer started asking which way we wanted to go. KVR flat for 25km or up the steep hill road for 8km? And there were 2 checkpoints to find along this section of road/KVR. Oops. I hadn’t realized what was coming up, and neither did Jason. We hadn’t prioritized any time for our navigator to be looking ahead and tell us what was coming…

Leg 7: 44km bike ride

Estimated time by race director: 3-6hours

Actual time it took us: 7:15pm Thursday-1pm Friday (18 hours)

So we started riding and pushing our bikes up the steep road climb as the sun set. And then we saw a team heading our way - coming back and having to pull out because of an injury on the course. So they were biking back to Penticton. On we pushed into the dark. Another team came our way, dropping out because of an injured teammate and biking back to Penticton.

I was getting tired and wasn’t thrilled about the long boring bike leg ahead. I had some tears on this climb as fatigue was setting in and we were heading out into the night.

At the top of the 8km road, we knew we were close to Chute Lake Resort. Jason and I had been there once years ago but it was closed, and there wasn’t much to it. But I joked and said “how amazing would it be if you were allowed to rent a cabin at the resort for a few hours and sleep and be warm and dry?” Ha ha… we were pretty sure it would be closed, and we didn’t think it was allowed in the race to rent a room part way through... was it? 

First we had to find the next checkpoint anyway. It was dark but still earlier on in the night, and we wanted to find this checkpoint and then get some km done on the KVR to keep moving and keep warm as we continued on before a rest. The checkpoint was described as being on a single track, off the KVR, requiring a short out and back. But we couldn’t figure out where to go. Maybe we are here? Or here? What about this road? There is no lake near here... this road isn’t on the map. We must be back here? Or here? … and on it went. No single track around. Only logging roads.

Our communication and cognition wasn’t going well. Nobody was angry or unhappy but we weren’t capable of making good decisions. So we opted to take a camping break and try to get rested up and warm and then re-try for the checkpoint. 

Two racers came by, returning back to Penticton as they had an injured teammate. Kristal chatted with them and they gave us some intel on finding the checkpoint. But we opted for some rest before we went out to find it. We got into the shelter at 10pm and we set our alarms for 1am. I was damp and shaking and shivering a little but managed to get some sleep.

Getting out of the shelter to go out into the cold to look for a lost checkpoint was a real low point of the race for me. Laurel and Kristal made a fire (amazing girl guide skills because it must have been below zero degrees and everything was wet or frozen!). We were in a weird place here and everyone had their own challenges going on. I was terrified of the cold and shaking and shivering and didn’t really know how to leave the fire and warm sleeping bag.

Eventually, our navigators came up with a plan and renewed confidence. They realized the map scale wasn’t what they thought before, so the single track was about 5km in and out, not 2km in and out, so we had to go further than we had previously tried.

We went in on foot, leaving our bikes, and paced off our distance to confirm what road we were on with other trails/roads. We figured it out, found the dam, and found the checkpoint. We were excited to celebrate and took a moment to stare at the beautiful stars above. Although we still don’t understand how the instructions could have said ‘singletrack’ when it was in fact all on a double track, driveable active logging road until the last 20 meters.

We walked/jogged back to our bikes, wrapped in emergency blankets and a shared sleeping bag. We packed up, wiped all the ice off our bikes, and started riding. But my gear shifter was frozen and I couldn’t change gears. I was stuck in the same gear for the rest of the day, and couldn’t climb any hills.

We rode right by Chute Lake resort, which we thought did look open. (It turns out that two other teams HAD rented rooms there for a few hours and that this was allowed within race rules - another rookie learning. I think if we had done that and then gone back to the checkpoint with a plan, we might have wasted way less energy and certainly been way less cold!)

Then we had loads of kms to knock off on the KVR in the dark before the sun came up enough to hit us. We weren’t biking too quickly and our hands and toes were all chilly. We had different strategies of emergency blankets wrapped over our bodies or handlebars, socks on hands, etc. It seemed to me that the trestle we were aiming for to get our next checkpoint was taking SO LONG to come along. We made it to the trestle and CP 15 just as the sun hit us and lit up the trestle wood in a beautiful sparkling frost. 

We snagged the checkpoint in the creek at the bottom of the trestle, and had a hot meal with the stove in the sun. Bathroom breaks, food, a nap for Laurel, and Kristal fiddled with my gear shifter… it was a glorious stop. 

Forward we went, past some participants in the BC Bike Race (going the opposite direction), and into the Crawford Mtn Bike trails. Kristal was smart to remind us to be conservative on these downhill singletrack trails because we were tired, our packs were very heavy, and it had rained yesterday and frozen overnight. Plus, we had seen three teams come back to us with injured teammates so we wondered what was happening in these trails.

The trails were awesome. The sun was up, and we had made it to Friday morning sunrise, which meant that the rain in the forecast was done and it was supposed to be sunnier. The views into the Myra Canyon were lovely and riding the trails of the biking network there was really fun. Laurel was improving SO much on her bike and really enjoying the riding now, so we were mostly having lots of fun together again. My bike couldn’t ride uphill very well at all, which wasn’t a big deal in this area because it was mostly downhill.

We had to find one checkpoint at the ‘top of the hill’ near Lost Lake before ending the section and getting to the ropes. Maybe it was our fatigue or not communicating or maybe the trails weren’t quite adding up, but we hiked up several extra hills not finding the CP flag and not being quite sure where the lake was. We were getting really low on water and we were all looking forward to being done on our bikes. 

Anyway, we took some time to navigate around the Lost Lake section. But I found a “Lost Lake” sign, after poor Kristal did all sorts of extra work trying to find out where we were/check extra hilltops, and we couldn’t find accessible water. Fatigue was on us but we were mostly still being nice to each other and laughing about it all.

We rode out of the Lost Lake, Crawford trails area and then had a 2km road climb up to the ropes area. I needed the towline this time, since my bike was stuck in a gear that made uphill riding pretty hard. This sealed the decision for me right there. I couldn’t ride up 2km and it was already late in the afternoon… I didn’t think we could ride 33km more, with quite a bit of climbing, without it getting cold and dark. We weren’t set up very well to go into a third cold and wet night if we couldn’t stay moving quickly to stay warm. So we decided that we would do the ropes section and then call it quits.

Leg 8: The ropes

We heard people cheering for us as we came into the parking area of the high adventure ropes course of Myra Canyon. That cheering was really awesome. They hadn’t given up on us!

We learned that the rappel was closed because a rope had frayed. We were able to hike to the top of the rappel and look down and DANG! That was an intense and long long long way down… I really don’t think I could have done it. I’ll have to figure that out if I want to do more races in the future. But we did the two high ropes course elements and that was quite fun for all of us to complete that and get checkpoint 18. It was sunny and we knew we were ending on something fun to end our adventure.

We had the option of hiking down into the bottom of the canyon to collect checkpoint 19 and then hiking back up, but the team decided against this so we ended our adventure with some extra ropes course playing.

Finishing / Getting back to Penticton

We went back to our bikes at the parking lot/transition area and announced our decision to be finished. We took a team picture and felt really proud of ourselves and all that we had done.

Total time on course: 55 hours

Swim total 1km, Trekking total 65km, Mountain biking total 107km, + ropes course

Navigated to 15 checkpoints and had about 5-6 hours of sleep total

Then, miracle of miracles, the volunteer there had a truck and was driving back to Penticton anyway for his next duty. So it pays to be LAST!!! Other teams that finished had to turn around and bike back to Penticton, which was something that was really upsetting to me because I had no interest in riding my bike along the railway path (KVR) any further.

We left our bikes and jumped in with our stuff and got to sit in a cushy seat and ride to the finish line. Doug Smith, a super kind man from Calgary, made our day and was full of stories from the race and enthusiasm for life and adventure racing.

We turned in our race tracker at the finish without much fanfare. Then we grabbed some food, showered, got a hotel room, checked in with friends and family online, checked in with the other racing teams around the course, and went to sleep. In a lovely, clean, warm, cozy bed!

Reflections

Overall I’m really happy with our experience. I’ve been fascinated by this sport and by these amazing athletes that can keep going and do this stuff. There is no way to really understand what it is like to mountain bike in the dark or organize all the gear or navigate around as a group or keep going through the night and then keep going again… and it’s hard. And it’s really cool. And I’m so glad I was able to do this with my partner for life Jason and these two other women that I really respect that are kind and tough and smart.

My favorite parts were the Okanagan Mtn trek and the beautiful aspen up high, and I also really enjoyed the single track bike riding in the Crawford Trails.

  

Getting ready for Expedition Canada

Jason and I are about to take off for a crazy adventure... perhaps crazier than anything ever before. The kids will be cheering on our dot with Grandma at home as we take on a 100 HOUR ADVENTURE RACE called 'Expedition Canada'. 

https://www.expeditionracecanada.ca/course-details-disciplines

Wait, what is adventure racing?

Adventure racing is a little bit like a triathlon, in that you move from one element to another with 'transitions' in between to change equipment, and then you keep going. Unlike a triathlon, you have to navigate your way from point A to point B without a marked course. You may have to search for checkpoints along the way that aren't necessarily easy to find. The "short" races are usually about 8 hours. The medium distance races are usually 12-36 hours. And the "expedition" length races are anywhere from 3-11 days. Perhaps you've watched Eco Challenge, or "The World's Toughest Race"? That's the idea.

Our race will be done in a team of 4, and the 4 of us will stay together the entire time and we cannot split apart from each other. The team consists of myself (Meggan), Jason, an old field hockey friend I grew up with named Kristal, and her friend Laurel that we have only met on zoom. 3 females and 1 male. Our team name: "Ignorance is Bliss".

Our race is approximately 400km long in total. The totals for each element are: 235km of mountain biking, 110km of hiking/running/orienteering, 59km of canoeing, 2km of stand up paddle boarding, a ropes section (some kind of rappell/rock climbing element), and a 1km swim. We don't actually get any race maps until the morning of the race, but we do have some idea of how far in we might see a drop bag so that we can pack the right gear.

Have you ever done this before?

Jason and I have done a few of the short courses before. In fact, when I (Meggan) stopped playing on the national field hockey team, the first thing I did was sign up for a solo Mind Over Matter Adventure Race in Duncan. I owned a hardtail commuter-style 'mountain' bike, and ran beside it for the majority of a bike course as other people raced past me. But I did pretty well at finding my way around and had a blast... I was hooked. Jason and I have done two other in-person and one virtual versions of this same race since. But we have never done one longer than 8 hours... and I wouldn't say that our performances in these shorter races were worthy of impressing anyone, but we had loads of fun doing them.

Jason is just the kind of guy who goes big on all that he does. He signed up for Ironman as his first triathlon as a weak swimmer, and then rocked the swim. He did 1x 100 mile mountain run before his second and third were the HardRock 100 miles races. Just last weekend, he finished his 4th 100 mile run at IMTUF.

Kristal and Laureal have never done an adventure race before... but they are pretty amazing women and I'm looking forward to trying to keep up with them. Kristal is a tough, smart, and talented woman. She's a nurse, with a background in geography. She played field hockey, mountain biked, and rode horses all at very high competitive levels. Most importantly, she makes me laugh and understands how to push me but make it fun at the same time. Laurel is an equestrian athlete and has stepped up to the challenge of training for and preparing for this event like a boss. 

All 4 of us are parents. We all happen to have two female daughters.

Will you sleep?

Well, we hope so! But some teams will keep moving forward while others will stop to 'nap' on the side of the trail. The faster we go, the more chance we have to get some rest. But if we are slow and get lost often, we may only sleep a little. I'm guessing we will try to get 2-3 hours sleep per night. We do have to carry small sleeping bags and light tents with us the whole time. Our packs are decently heavy with mandatory gear, water, clothing, safety equipment, and food. Sleep deprivation is a huge part of the expectation and experience. 

The idea of continuing onward at night, through any weather, and navigating through the dark, while being very sleepy, is really the amazing part of these long races. I'm terrified and excited and curious about this part.

Have you ever exercised all night before?

Nope! Jason has. He has run through the night during several of his ultras. I have paced him through the dark but then went to sleep at 3am when I was done my pacing duties. I did the Grand Traverse Ski Race and that started at midnight and then went through the night and into the next day and lasted almost 16 hours. Jason and I hiked to the summit of Kilimanjaro and we started that at midnight and then continued to hike throughout the day for about 14 hours total. 

I remember the cold and sleep challenges and darkness during these events between 3-6am... but I also found this experiences deeply special... and sunrise each time has provided beauty and peace and renewed energy in a way I can't quite articulate.

Do you eat?

This is an 'unsupported' race. No crew. Nobody making you hot meals or hot cups of soup as you come into transition. I will be carrying dehyrdated food, a stove and a pot so that we can pull over and make some dinner at times... but that will also take up time and energy, and we won't want to do it too often. 

Why would you do this?

I've been asking myself this a lot recently. I have it on my bucket list to do an adventure race longer than 23 hours, and this happens to be closer to our home and more accessible than any 36 hour races because this isn't that popular a thing in BC. So we just signed up and went for it... and for sure 100 hours is feeling WAY more overwhelming than 36 hours, which now feels like it would be 'easy'. Ha!

I am a very goal-oriented person. Ever since I stopped playing field hockey at a high level, I have dabbled in other athletic challenges. I've done a trail marathon. I've done several triathlons, including a half ironman. I've done some long distance backpacking. 

I've watched high level adventure races with such awe and respect. I know two other women who are moms and professionals that are real people with real lives that have done this incredible races all over the world. I'm not at their athletic level at all... but they have inspired me to at least get out there and give it a shot.

Our 'A' goal is to complete the race and get an official finish. Our 'B' goal is to complete a shorter version of the race but still progress forward for 100 hours and get to the end, even if we miss a section because we were too slow for a cut off. 

I really hope that the four of us can find that balance of having fun, making each other laugh, challenging ourselves and pushing, and continuing onward toward the finish. I love the idea that the 4 of us have to progress together. We will only be as successful as our slowest member of the team and our navigation skills... and I love working together with others toward a common goal. I love the idea that we have to find checkpoints like a giant scavenger hunt in the woods.

I grew up in the wilderness of a huge property (in the Highlands of Victoria) and I spend my childhood chasing my brothers around in the forest. I feel like I was made for this kind of a thing.

How has the training been?

Well... I guess that's all relative. First, when I signed up I wasn't in very good shape... and it makes no sense whatsoever on paper that I'd be up for this. I could maybe run 5km. I wasn't a very good mountain biker, and have done it on/off over the years but have never really been good at it or practiced or been courageous. I don't canoe. I enjoy SUP and swimming. I'm terrified of heights and being in a harness on a rock wall, but I can do the basics.

Mountain biking is a huge component of this sport, and of this specific event. So I've been focused on that this summer, biking 1-3 times per week over the last 4 months. I'm WAY better than I was, and I'm much fitter than I was. I recently did an xterra (off road) triathlon. When I first looked at the course 3 months ago, I cried and tried to quit the race because it was a really hard technical course. But I practiced a lot throughout the summer and I was really proud to have completed it (even if I walked several parts). So regardless of the outcome of the entire thing, I am really excited to have this be something I'm now capable of.

I've been running some, and I'm in decent shape for me, but my longest run this year has been 10km... which for 'expedition' length standards is pretty minimal. My longest hike was a very mountainous 23km and it was hard... so the one section of a 38km mountain hike up and down to altitude and possible snow seems like a really daunting section that I'll be happy to finish.

Still... it's been outstanding to have a fitness goal and improve my fitness so much this year. Especially during the pandemic, when so many other things in life feel very small and routine. I have enjoyed being so focused on this race. The fact that it's so scary has motivated me to push myself out the door far more often than I would go without this goal.

But it's been hard on our kids. We haven't done as much as a family in the last 4 months as I would normally choose to do. Perhaps after the previous 12 months of being together SO much during the pandemic, this was a welcomed change at first. Grandparents have been helping watch the kids more so that we can get out and train. 

But many areas of my life have been shelved since May, and part of me is looking foward to re-connecting with the other elements of my world after the race.

How are you feeling?

Many people have been asking me that and I'm both excited and genuinely quite scared. I really cannot fathom going forward hour after hour after hour without sleep. I LOVE sleep. That's the part that I just can't wrap my head around and it feels gross to me. 

Maybe next time I'll have to find a stage race: something where you do all the activities during the day but you come back to a real bed and a shower each night before you go out again hard the next day. Right now that feels like the better choice...

But I'm hoping that those majestic sunrises and some race adrenaline and my fun teammates will help us continue forward toward that finish.

Can others watch our progress?

We aren't allowed to communicate with the outside world or use GPS or anything like that for the entire race. We are hoping that the race website will post our tracking map publically so that you can cheer us on and send us energy toward the finish line. We start Wednesday Sept 29 at 7am in Penticton BC and the course closes on Sunday October 4 at 12:00noon.

There are some pretty hardcore, experienced teams that will probably clear the course in 2-3 days, but we will expect to be near the back of the course, moving forward with a slow and steady pace.

https://www.expeditionracecanada.ca/2020-teams

Broughton Archipelago Kayaking Trip

Hello MOJO family fans! 

This is a trip report for the Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park, BC kayaking trip that Jason and I took in early June, without our kids.

The backstory...

In the winter, during the full lockdown of the pandemic, I was looking for a trip to take in the Spring/Summer that would be something to look forward to. I was working really hard toward a huge work goal that came to an end mid-April, and I wanted a reward. Also, my brother Tony turns 50 this year, and we wanted to celebrate in some way. Also, like everyone else, we have been stuck at home a lot in the last year+, and it felt exciting to be able to start getting out and adventuring.

In March, we booked a canoeing trip to the Bowron Lakes for early June, which is in the middle of BC. By early June, travel restrictions related to the pandemic remained, making that trip impossible...so we needed a plan B. Something closer to home. We were allowed to travel within our Vancouver Island travel region.

Tony: "Well, we could go kayaking with whales near Telegraph Cove."

Meggan: "ok" 

Vancouver Island. We live at the bottom in Victoria. The blue dot on the northeast coast is Telegraph Cove, BC.

The timing...

Did I mention that we moved house June 1? We took on the crazy real estate market and sold our family house this spring. So the way that schedules worked out, we moved in June 1 and we went on the trip June 5. It was the only time we could all get time away from work and, for us, time away from our elementary school girls. Tony ended up being in charge of all the logistics for this one because we were up to our eyeballs in boxes and trying to find the right gear was enough of a challenge.

The other amazing part was that my mom, "Nana," was kind enough to help us move into our new house, and then stay with the kids while Jason and I went out of town.

Saturday, June 5

Four of us: Tony, our buddy Sean, Jason and myself jumped in a car loaded with gear and 2 single kayaks and drove North on Vancouver Island from Victoria to Telegraph Cove (about 5.5 hours drive).

I haven't been North of Campbell River, BC in a long time and it is BEAUTIFUL! We saw a mama bear and two cubs cross the road just before we pulled into the cute village on the seaside. 

Tony had prearranged a rental of a double kayak for us, and it took some time to get our boats, load all of our gear in the pouring rain, fill up as many water bottles as we could, and load the very heavy / full boats into the water. I was relieved that our large blue plastic water container fit in our center hatch. We heard that there was no fresh water on any of the islands, so we would need to carry enough fresh water for 5 days. We were trying to give ourselves 5L each per day, so that ended up being a lot of water to lift on a heavy and sturdy double kayak.

Paddling out of town in the late afternoon was very peaceful - the water was calm, there was no wind, and we paddled south. We passed a few eagles and seals en route to Blinkhorn Peninsula Rec Site, where we camped for the night. The site was so-so. A few run-down tent pads and an old outhouse at the end of an overgrown trail did exist, but we opted to camp in a more open area where we could watch the water on either side. There was fresh water available, and mosquitoes were happy that we came to join their party.

Sunday, June 6

Tony used to be a paddling guide so he knows his stuff when it comes to tides, currents, kayak touring and weather. Jason and I were along for the ride on this one, and Tony was in charge of our timing. Currents in the area can be strong, and things can get gnarly if the weather or timing doesn't go well, so we were grateful for Tony's leadership. 

Sunday morning we woke early and packed up to push off, hoping to time things right so that we could cross Johnstone Straight toward Hanson Island and up the channel on its east side during slack tide. There was a little current and some waves to cope with, and I was glad we were in a sturdy double. Jason and I worked to learn to paddle together without any arguments, and Tony kept encouraging our pace and helped us ferry across the straight. I gave Tony a hard time about pushing our pace more than I wanted to do while on vacation, but he was right on, and we made it through the channel just in time. Tony was in a single boat that was pretty 'tippy', and it was a good thing he is a strong paddler as we went through some weird eddies and small whirlpools. I was pretty tired when we pulled over in a little cove of Hanson Island to see over 10 seals welcome us to our lunch spot. 

We had a good rest, food, got rained on, walked around the island a bit (which seemed to be a grazing area for sheep), and waited for the next slack tide timing. There was fresh water here also. We saw mink cruise along the beach from time to time, and watched an eagle try (unsuccessfully) to catch a mink for dinner.

After our break we paddled north a bit, and then at slack tide we started the next large crossing east toward Compton Island. We saw whales spout in the distance, which was very cool. The crossing was kind to us and went very smoothly without much hardship. We were headed toward Mound Island, but as we approached Compton Island, we noticed a beautiful white sandy beach that had excellent camping facilities, and decided to stay. The current coming in at the last minute was hard work, and Jason and I were really slow going anywhere for the last few minutes of the day. Thankfully the sun came out and we enjoyed laying out all of our wet gear on the beach to dry as we were able to relax. The island is actually First Nations land, but commercial groups often stay there on these lovely tent pads with an outhouse and a covered eating area. No commercial groups were out for the season yet, so we used the tent pads and enjoyed the sunsets from the beach. We even had weak cell service at the edge of the beach. I think we ended up kayaking about 20km that day, and it was tiring with some challenge to the timing, waves, current, etc. but overall I think we lucked out / timed it right because I bet it could be way harder on other days with other weather and timing. As Tony would say "we nailed it."

Mink here and there on the islands

Monday, June 7

We decided to stay for two nights at Compton Island and spend the day exploring the islands without having to move all of our gear. We paddled around and saw lots of wildlife. I especially enjoyed watching dolphins play in the wake of a boat in front of our kayaks. We also found a rope swing on one little island retreat and got out to play for a few minutes. We went to Ralph Island for lunch, and it was warm and sunny enough to have a quick dip in the ocean and play bocce ball before returning back. 

We heard there was good camping on Ralph island, but we were just there for lunch.

On our way back, we explored the camp site at Mound Island, which would be a lovely place to camp (room for 4-5 tents in the trees and well protected). I think we were close to another 20km of paddling today, but with flat water and no current issues at a much more chill pace.

We had a nice campfire hang out this evening and the rain held off until we were inside our tents for good. It POURED rain that night, and many many things were very damp from then on.

Tuesday, June 8

We packed up all of our very wet gear, and paddled out toward Flower Island. From there, we went east and inside the islands north toward our destination of Owl Island. The weather was kind to us throughout the day and our one larger crossing was successful. We saw a whale closer up and some more porpoises, a sea lion or two, and more eagles. It took us some time to decide where to camp on Owl Island. There was a less attractive option on the south side, but going around to the north side proved to be the way to do it. There was a lovely group site in the forest that could hold about 6-8 tents and had an open-air outhouse with a great view!

We spent the afternoon lounging in the sun on the beach and playing games and relaxing.

Wednesday, June 9

We decided to stay a second night at Owl Island and spend the day exploring the little islands all over the park. We heard and saw whales and more wildlife on our way to Dusky Cove on Bonwick Island. Our larger crossing went well and the wind and current were favourable again. Tony, once again, 'nailed it' in terms of timing and planning.

 

Watching whales...

Paddling all around the little islets and the colour of the water was lovely. The water was flat and it was fun to explore all the ins and outs of smaller islands. 

We stopped at Dusky Cove for lunch, but didn't find it too hospitable. There must have been better camping in another little cove we didn't find. We did see minimal fresh water, fresh bear tracks and fresh bear scat. 

This is where we had lunch. Perhaps another little nook nearby has better camping...

Our paddle back to Owl Island was also lovely, with a sprinkle of rain here and there. Tony and Sean caught some urchin to supplement our supper, so we taught ourselves how to prepare 'uni'... it was a fun experience but it wasn't my favorite taste.

Thursday, June 10

It rained again in the night and we packed up all of our wet things as the sun came out. 

Our destination of the day was Flower Island, where we had pre-scheduled a water taxi to pick us up and take us back. The weather and lack of wind made paddling on the west side of Swanson Island possible, and that was awesome because there was a lot of wildlife to enjoy along the way. Dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, seals, and whales were all around that day, and we didn't have to rush to get back.

Flower Island - a smal blue dot

We had time to relax on Flower Island watching dolphins and eating lunch before our boat came to pick us up. I was really impressed with the process for loading the kayaks on the boat and thankful my companions were strong enough to make that happen. Our boat captain, who ran grizzly bear tours in the summers up Knight Inlet, was fun to chat with as he drove us back to Telegraph Cove. The weather was changing, the winds were picking up, and the current and swell were starting to show their dark side. We were lucky to be exiting the park at this time before things became more challenging. 

We unloaded the water taxi and our gear, returned our double kayak, loaded up the car, and off we went!

We had an awesome dinner stop in Campbell River at a real restaurant (Beach Fire Brewing and Nosh House) with real people (not common for me since the beginning of the pandemic!), then home to Victoria for a clean shower and a soft bed before returning to the realities of family and household life the next morning.

If you get a chance to check out this amazing Marine Park, it was delightful!! Going early season worked out really well for us - we saw one other solo kayaker and a handful of small speedboats over the 5 days we were there. We are so lucky that my brother Tony had the skills and organization to make this happen, and appreciate being able to go out with him on this beautiful adventure.