When the motorboats move onto Okanagan Lake in the summer months, it’s hard to look through the traffic and crowds to see another type of boater on the lake.

You definitely can’t hear them and you might have to get up early to see them.

They are kayakers and canoeists, and they love Okanagan Lake as much as motor boat enthusiasts.

Silently they paddle the shores of the lake, either for fun, fitness or as a test of endurance.

Other Okanagan area lakes provide a different experience, allowing paddlers to easily view wildlife, explore mountain areas and even fish.

As a recreation, paddling a kayak or canoe is growing by leaps and bounds as people look to get more in touch with nature or downsize from the big power boats.

The Okanagan provides a wide array of areas for paddlers to explore.

Okanagan Lake has become a challenge as individuals or groups head out to circumnavigate the big lake.

And people travel far and wide in B.C. to explore the province using nothing but paddle power.

•••

Maureen Savage has been paddling for close to 30 years.

White water, oceans, lakes. You name it and she has paddled it.

And in less than a week the Kelowna woman will cross one more thing off her must-paddle list.

Savage will be among a group of Kelowna women who will attempt to circumnavigate Okanagan Lake in kayaks, pushing off from a beach access in the Mission July 4 and spending 10 days and nine nights paddling close to 260 kilometres around Okanagan Lake.

“I can’t wait to get on the water,” said Savage. “All of the organization has been done. Now it’s just a matter of getting on the water and loading the boats for the first time.

“We’re excited. I wish we were starting tomorrow.”

Five women, ranging in age from 52 to 62, will attempt to paddle around the entire shoreline of the lake while two others will paddle with them about halfway.

The group will tent for four nights, stay at some friends’ homes along the way and even spoil themselves with one night at the Naramata Heritage Inn and Spa.

Savage said the group has been preparing for the trip for two months, practising on the water for the trip.

“I love a challenge,” said Savage. “When you set a goal like this it motivates you to get in shape.

“I don’t set goals that I can’t feel I can accomplish. We’re going to do it. Hopefully, all five of us will be able to complete it.”

Several challenges will greet the group of women including power boats, wind, potential injury or other afflictions caused by the physical demands of paddling, such as tendonitis.

Savage will be joined on the excursion by Linda Frandsen, Jean Russell, Ruth Moir and Brenda Brierley, while Marlene Deans and Renita Kraubner will paddle half the distance.

Several friends will also paddle for stretches, joining the women, who are calling themselves Damsels of the Deep.

“Hopefully we’re never damsels in distress,” joked Savage, who added all safety precautions have been taken.

“We’ve taken all the safety stuff very seriously. We’re practising our wet-exits and rescues and we are governed by the small vessel regulations so we have all the necessary safety items on board.”

•••

White water paddling nearly killed Kelowna Kayak and Outdoor owner Ray Chelini.

As a young man in Venezuela, Chelini was a member of the Venezuelan national team for flat water paddling.

Chelini and his teammates were contracted to film a TV commercial and were working on a set of rapids.

During filming, Chelini became trapped by a rapid and had to leave his boat.

He was nearly swept downstream where a huge waterfall waited.

Fortunately, he was able to climb back into his boat and paddle to safety.

The incident occurred decades ago. Now 55, Chelini says the incident kept him from paddling in white water.

But it didn’t stop his passion for spending hours and hours in a kayak. “The feeling of exploring that you get in a kayak is amazing,” said Chelini. “Even if you go out to Rotary Beach.

“As soon as you leave the shore you automatically get that felling of exploring. Even after 40 years of doing this I get that feeling of exploring and the quietness is so good. My favourite spot to pray is in the middle of the lake.”

Chelini came to Kelowna seven years ago to open his kayak store.

He and his wife fell in love with the city on a trip the previous year.

Since he has been living in the Okanagan, Chelini has found that his passion for paddling continues.

With many people in the Okanagan focused on fitness, grabbing a paddle and getting out on the lake is more than a place to relax and refresh.

It’s also a way to keep in shape.

“Fitness paddling is generally going at more of a pace,” he said.

“You’re going out for the exercise and that is a very good way to keep fit. It even works your legs if you do it properly and all you need is water.

“It’s so accessible here. Most people live close to the lake,” he said.

A lot of kayakers hang out at Chelini’s store and turn to the veteran paddler for advice, tips, lessons and equipment.

One of those kayakers is Wayne Mockford, who grew up boating and camping with his parents.

But it was later in his life that Mockford, 62, turned to canoes and then to kayaks for his water adventuring.

He has paddled dozens of area lakes and taken his kayak around the province.

“I like the wilderness and I like to get out and go camping,” said Mockford. “With a kayak or a canoe, you can go into little bays and creeks and places you can never get to with a boat.”

Mockford gets out about four times a week, mostly on Okanagan Lake but also into mountain lakes like the Beaver Lake chain, Oyama Lake and others like Wood and Kalamalka.

And it’s not just the paddling that Mockford enjoys. Often he fishes out of his kayak.

“I’ve caught more fish out of my kayak than I ever did out of my power boat or a float tube,” he said. “With a kayak, I can go as slow as I want, I can turn on a dime, I can drift with the wind or I can go into the wind and I can get that fly to do what I want.”

Wildlife viewing is also a favourite of the retired Kelowna resident.

Mockford says paddling allows you to see many more species of wildlife.

“You can go along the shore and the animals don’t even know you are there,” he said. “You can hear every noise in the bush, every tree that snaps.”

Mockford grew up in northern B.C. before relocating to Kelowna.

Along with fishing, he has also hunted out of canoes and is planning a lengthy trip himself—a solo paddle from Kelowna to Peachland.

And he uses it as a way to stay in shape.

“I used to jog but it was tough on my knees so I switched to the bike and to the kayak to get my exercise,” he said.

“It’s great. I’m in better shape now than I was a number of years back. I have fabulous endurance now.”

•••

Endurance is one thing that Maureen Savage and the rest of the Damsels of the Deep will have to find when they attempt their circumnavigation of Okanagan Lake next week.

They will paddle as many as 30 kilometres in a day with the easiest of the 10-day trip being 19 kilometres.

It won’t be the first all-woman group to travel around the lake as Savage has been in contact with another group who pulled off the feat in 2002.

But being first doesn’t really matter. Completing the trip and getting out and doing it is the most important.

“The five of us really want to complete it,” she said. “To not do the whole thing would be really disappointing. We have been training three times a week for the last two months. I’ve lived in Kelowna my whole life but I’ve never been around the whole shoreline. We’re all really physically and mentally prepared.”

***

I’ve been canoeing for many years. I’ve dumped canoes in fast moving rivers and pulled fish into them from lakes all around the province.

But I’ve never tackled anything as challenging as the world famous Bowron Lake canoe circuit—until last week that is.

The Bowron Lake canoe circuit is a chain of lakes located about 120 kilometres east of Quesnel near the historic town of Barkerville.

It’s actually 12 lakes, tied together by three rivers and eight portages. It’s 116 kilometres of paddling.

Huge mountain peaks surround the lakes, which range from the massive Isaac Lake that takes several days to travel to the tiny Skoi lake, which takes about 30 minutes.

Over 50 designated campsites are marked throughout the chain.

For seven days last week my paddling partner Neil McColl and I paddled for an average of six hours a day on the chain, camping at a different spot each night.

Here are some highlights from our paddling adventure:

• A brochure for the chain says the high likelihood of wildlife sightings is one of the reasons people are attracted to the Bowron Lake chain.

How true. We saw nine moose and several eagles and all kinds of water fowl but the most memorable sighting was more of an encounter.

And it was with a black bear that weighed more than 400 pounds.

After beginning our trek with three portages and crossing two lakes, Neil and I were relaxing with a camp fire when a black bear sauntered into our camp, cutting us off from our bear spray, which sat out of reach in our canoe.

Luckily we had an axe and some freshly chopped wood and when Neil launched a piece of wood in the bear’s direction, it drilled him in the head.

The bear ran off never to return, although several other paddlers also had encounters.

As we left, park staff were trying to locate the bear which had been habituated to humans, for possible relocation or to eliminate it before someone was killed.

• I wasn’t ready for the physical challenge of canoeing several hours each day.

And I was definitely not ready for the 2.4 kilometre portage that starts the trip around the lakes. Canoes are placed on wheels and one person pulls, the other pushes the canoe over a trail.

Seven portages total over 10 kilometres of the trip. They’re not easy but their the only way to connect to each lake.

• Some lakes are connected by powerful rivers.

Paddlers can choose to portage around the fast-flowing Isaac River or to run what’s called the Chute.

Neil and I managed to get down the river without dumping and later drifted peacefully through the start of the Cariboo River.

• Moose are great swimmers.

One of the more common sights during our trip was moose swimming across lakes. Who knew these magnificent creatures could swim?

But they have no problem. Four of the nine moose we saw were crossing lakes including one mother who appeared to lose her one year old son, growing small antlers.

He was too slow crossing and mama was gone by the time he arrived on the other side.

• Paddling a canoe circuit like the Bowrons you meet a lot of people.

Up to 40 people can leave on the same day although this early in the season there were not many people on the lakes.

The groups that leave the day before and after you become regular acquaintances at different camp sites and on different lakes. We met people from Switzerland, Germany, Oregon, Alberta and Vancouver during our stay.

• Paddling the Bowron Lakes is well worth it. Find out more by e-mailing bowronlakepfo@xplornet.com.

kparnell@kelownacapnews.com

v2