BC 2012: Day 1 & 2

Day 1 was overall a success with one major mistake. 

 Once we arrived in Canada we attempted to take a small highway that we thought would be a shortcut, turns out it took us through the heart of Vancouver where we encountered over 100 stoplights, and about 4 of every 5 required us to stop.  It was hellish and by the time we made it to our first stop at Lynn Creek in North Vancouver we were pretty stressed from the city.  Lynn was a trickle but a nice hike to break up the drive.

Next stop was the comparatively low Furry Creek.  The unique setting inside a golf course was interesting, but the boats stayed on the roof as we headed towards Whistler.  Finding expensive food, gas, and beer ($55 for a 30 rack), we set camp at Cal-Cheak campground and tried to figure out logistics for day two.

Day 2

   We were very amped to get on the water this day.  After struggling a bit to find the put in for the Cheakamus (GPS wasn't cutting it in Canada and we didn't have a map yet), we finally set the scooter shuttle and arrived at the put in to see flows much lower than any picture I had seen.  However, more than enough water was available to float our boats so in we went!  The left side of the put in drop landed on rocks at this flow, so I scoped out a line down the right which was a fun start to the trip.

Stroke number 12 of many on the trip

From the perspective of a bird flying 4 inches above my head.

From here to the take out was a blast, excellent class III-IV boulder gardens with one scout at triple drop and another at a blind corner.  We took out stoked on life and ready for more!  The shuttle scooter needed some work so we headed to Whistler to take care of that.  With that taken care of, we were ready to step it up a bit!

  Callaghan would be the afternoon ticket, so after some hotdogs at the take out we faced similar challenges finding the put in. Our intuition sent us to the right point and we put on to very low water (certainly below recommended flows).  Nate Pfiefer has a detailed report of this section and his comparison to the Truss is spot on.  This run is what I wish the Truss was, more of the upper section and cleaner waterfalls.  We portaged the very first ledge and soon enough were upon the first waterfall after some fun boulder gardens.  The normal line was too low so we agreed on the right side, Nick's boat decided to go first, followed shortly thereafter by Nick via a leap off the center rock.  After recovering his boat in the pool below, I took my turn and following the example of the IK had a sunny side up line.

Choosing to deal with the waterfall in my boat.

The next couple ledges were fun and then we were at the signature drop of the Callaghan.  Nick had not run anything this tall in a long time so there was a bit of apprehension.  I went first and set up for media of Nick.  Unfortunately his stellar efforts and clean line were not reciprocated on my part and the shots did not come out well, sorry bud.  Fortunately, many more picture opportunities awaited us in the near future.

Nick's timing on this picture correlates nicely with the precision of his line.

Below here we paid the price for putting on with low water.  It was fun piecing all the marginal lines together, but we were tired by the end.  There were a few fun drops near the end, keeping us entertained until the HWY 1 bridge.  From here it was a short, but tortuous paddle (especially in the rock loving IK) down to our campsite.

Unfortunately my scooter destroyed itself on the shuttle road and a moderate jog awaited me, but I was too pleased by the day to let it get me down.  Another trip into Whistler for a map and zip ties for the scooter's fuel tank and the day neared its end.  Camp was mellow, and we enjoyed the rest of our hotdogs before calling it a night, ready for the trip of the trip the following day!

Day 3 coming soon...

   -Jacob