Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 21:22:19 -0700
Reply-To: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Subject: Re: Waterfront campsites on Vancouver island and Bella Coola,
British Columbia?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Trip update:
Made it from Edmonton AB to Vancouver BC, 1400 or so km of the 3500 total.
Started out driving straight through Alberta, since we see our home province on our weekend trips.
Camped on Kinbasket lake the first night, near Valemount, BC. The west Canoe reach rd has many nice informal camping sites with morning sun and a beautiful view south along the lake and of the rockies to the east. This is an active logging road though so it was good we went there on a Sunday, when it was quiet.
Second day we went to Paul lake provincial park, near Kamloops, BC. Liked the beach and picknick area, but campsites were far away from that. We ended up staying the day at the beach and bbq:ed, but didn't camp there.
Third day I had planned to camp and kayak at Lake Alouette, a bit north east of Vancouver. However we stopped at Kirby, where the Fraser river meets the Harrison river. There were beautiful waterfront campsites at the small provincial park just at the river confluence, and a historic site nearby to explore. Water table was higher than normal, so our campsite was literally a couple of meters from the waters edge. Kayaked upstream in the Harrison river as far as we endured against the current and then floated back. Kirby is easily found if one drives Hwy 7 instead of the busy Transcanada 1.
Now we are in Burnaby. Looking to take the ferry to Vancouver Island tomorrow. Still haven't made plans for the Vancouver island part of the trip, and where to find the nicest camping and kayaking on the gulf coast of Vancouver island.
Cheers,
Martin (and '82 Diesel Westy, '75 wife and '09 daughter)
--- On Sun, 7/3/11, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> From: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca>
> Received: Sunday, July 3, 2011, 11:23 AM
>
> Today we start our trip. Wife has some meetings in Burnaby
> next week so will stay in a nearby campground with my kid
> the first days. Anmore camplands in Coquitlam seemed like a
> good compromise between close to Burnaby and quiet setting.
>
> Then we go to Vancouver Island, drive north along the
> island and take the ferry from Port Hardy to Bella Coola.
>
> We bring a folbot greenland kayak with us, and I would love
> some tips for where to be able to camp and take kayak day
> trips with my 2 year old. It would be ideal if we can camp
> and launch from the campsite. (Having the 2year old running
> around regular boat launches where big trucks and trailer
> drive when I prepare the kayak is not so good..)
>
> So if anyone has tips for quiet launch spots on vancouver
> island, ideally campapble, please let me know.
>
> The ferry between port hardy and Bella Coola sometimes
> stops in a few places on the way. Any of these worth taking
> a stopover at?
>
> From Bella Coola we drive back towards Alberta via rte
>
> Thanks,
> Martin
>
> Complete route is:
> http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=11645+Saskatchewan+Dr+NW,+Edmonton,+AB&daddr=52.744751,-119.101099+to:burnaby,+bc+to:Port+Hardy,+British+Columbia+to:Bella+Coola,+British+Columbia+to:51.124213,-115.839844+to:Edmonton,+AB&hl=en&geocode=FQ_SMAMd_J47-SkneNnGiSGgUzFpFg44pwZXKQ%3BFS_SJAMdVanm-A%3BFWV67wIdnJGr-Clzg5whqHeGVDFpsVKHc3IK3Q%3BFbX3BQMdS51m-CmL7UkaLHxkVDEIndkGssZotg%3BFZ8lHwMdsMFx-ClPv6twd3l6VDG_AIQFSgNavQ%3B%3BFYwCMQMd7EU8-Skj_96ARSKgUzFdFfZKDKAfQQ&gl=ca&mra=dpe&mrsp=5&sz=5&via=5&vps=1&sll=52.908902,-117.729492&sspn=12.208181,27.905273&ie=UTF8
>
>
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