Back to British Columbia

By Tyler Bradt

By KAVU

September 14^th, 2021

It’s been over two years since BC gravel ground under the wheels of my truck..... the borders of Canada closed to discretionary travel. Every Fall as the Northwest dries up, Canada’s West coast rivers hit prime flows, making it an annual migration for many whitewater kayakers.

On August 9th Canada finally opened their borders to discretionary travel. On August 10th, I was headed North. I could hardly believe it when the Canadian border officers let me into the land of liters, kilometers, and glacier fresh Kokanees. A smile on my face, pointed it North up highway 1, my destination.... Bear Camp on the Chilko River.

17 hours later, I arrived at Bear Camp, a beautiful lodge on Chilko Lake where I was invited to spend a week paddling down the Chilko River, a classic beautiful class IV river. The days were fun and peaceful, the experience of paddling a new river forever being one of my favorites.

As soon as the trip was over, I began the journey back South to one of my favorite paddling destinations in the world, Whistler BC.

My good friend Benny Marr was posted up there, house sitting for a friend and paddling everyday. My timing couldn't be better. We spent blissful days paddling the Cheakamus which still had good water, and book ended the trip with a trip down Fear Canyon on the Elaho River near Squamish. Pristine, beautiful class V whitewater greeted us around every corner, the river corridor covered in moss and old growth forests. Glaciers hanging high in the mountains above the river.

The journey South, back to White Salmon, took me back along highway 5 and again some fortuitous timing let me know I was in the right place, at the right time. One of my oldest friends, Dan McKay, was visiting Seattle and the Captain of KAVU, Barry Barr had just come back into town. We invited a few new friends out on Barry’s boat, and sent a classic Seattle KAVU day, surfing, sipping cervezas, and checking out the Seattle skyline.

For me this trip was a remembrance of my happy place, the importance of spending time with people I love, in places that inspire me, and knowing that adventure is always....