Paddling on Leigh Lake

Setting out from String Lake

It was so refreshing to be on the water, the sun was shining and looking up the mountains added another dimension to the already beautiful scenery. Then surveying the view in front of me I could hardly believe we’d only packed the bare essentials…..we were packed to the gunnels and had nary enough room to dangle our legs over sides.

Packed to the gunnels

Within a short distance we arrived at the isthmus between the two lakes. John unloaded all our gear into the bear proof bin and we started the portage up the hill. In no time we were chatting to some regulars coming up behind us, smartly towing their canoe on dolly wheels and next thing Aquadude was sitting on top……..I was thinking how fortunate our timing was.  John went back for our gear and off we paddled.

Making friends during portage....helps

We started at a leisurely pace and over time got into a nice paddling rhythm. Nearing the point we saw campers lazing around on the rocks and padded in a bit to see what the campsite looked like.  Then rounding the point we came into a gusting wind as we made our way to the far western shore

Paddling and being mesmerised by the scenery

The entrance into our campsite

Paddling close to the shoreline we found our campsite hidden amongst the trees.  Freshwater from the melting snow was rushing into the lake on both sides . I can confirm it was freezing, after we tried to walk through it.

Unloading Aquadude

Following a trail through the lush undergrowth and dense trees we found the bear bin. It had survived a near miss with a fallen tree and we had to scramble over the tree to wedge ourselves inbetween it to access the bear bin….I mused to myself that it would be too spooky to come back here at nightfall.


Our lush and wooded campsite

Waking up to a nice sunny day it had been a long night for me. I guess that’s bound to happen when I start thinking about bears before going to bed....!

We packed up camp and set about exploring the lake before paddling towards our next campsite. On the way we met up with two rangers on their daily rounds checking each campsite. They really loved their work and living on the lake all season......wow, good on them.



I think John's doing all the work here....

It was getting quite warm as we neared the northern shore where some sandy white beaches where. So we went for a dip in the very refreshing water.  It was mid afternoon when we set up camp and decided to go for a hike up to two smaller lakes to stretch our legs. Back in camp we lazed by the water until the sun went behind the mountains.  We had only seen the rangers and another paddling party on route to their campsite all day and it reminded us of Papua New Guinea and our boating weekends out to the islands.

 

That night shortly after going to bed a wind storm suddenly blew up. It sounded crazy with the noise of the sand hitting the tent, the noise of the trees and the water crashing into the beach. The tent filled with sand and we got up to check that the kayak was still safe on the beach. It was so weird having all this wind blowing without any rain. Eventually it died out and we settled down and went to sleep.

All packed but reluctant to leave 

It was so peaceful and beautiful we did not want to leave and the next day it was mid afternoon before we finally pack up camp and started paddling back.