This fall was a tricky one for running whitewater trips on Vancouver Island. There was very limited rain over the fall. We had done some days on the Campbell River, then we had some opportunities to get on the gold river. Levels fluctuated and provided us to work small sections of the Gold over a few days. See this post.
Now we were off with the Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training Students (COLT) to the Nimpkish with a lot of rain in the forecast. We decided that some options with vehicles at a couple of the camp locations would be great for this fall trip, as snow was also possible during our three-day trip.
Grateful for Tlatla’lonam for sharing his knowledge as we travelled down Gwa’ni. Through the Namgis First nation, which is one nation of the KwaKwaka’waka. More info here.
The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are.
Lynn Culbreath Noel
The photos below are from the first night camping near the power lines on the Nimpkish with some solid rain activity.
The first day was a good paddle through the calmer middle section ( below Gold creek ) down to Iron Mine rapid. This provided some good kms on the river and some excellent rapids for the students to run before getting to camp in the early afternoon. The sunset comes early in the fall and wanted to use some of that time to get camp set up.
Shortly downstream we get to another fun rapid which we camp beside called Iron Mine. Excellent waves and good hits at this level. Lots of time to make the eddy on river left at camp.
Check this link for a little bit of history on the Iron mine on the Nimpkish river. Historical Link
Nothing like frozen wetsuits in the aim to wake up.. almost as good as a cup of strong coffee.
As we head toward the lake and the end of the trip down the Nimpkish we had good moments enjoying and savoring the past couple of days on the water.
The last few strokes across the lake.
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