Discovering My Love for Kayaking and Guiding

I have returned from both a 10 day training trip and my first trip as a guide. Wow time goes by fast up here!

To start with my 10 day trip, our group consisted of our trainer, John Guppy, and my fellow guides, Justine, Marshall, Anna, Danielle and Ryan. All of these people are great and I am getting to know them very well in our small community. The seven of us paddled through our two routes we take campers on. These inlets are the Sea Schelt and the Jervis Inlet. Look them up online if you want.

Generally, we would get up early, have quiet time with God and paddle into the late afternoon. Our 18 mile day took 8 hours on the water and I was exhausted! The weather was generally sunny with high clouds and calm waters. In the evenings, we would sit around a fire and share our life stories with each other and drink Mate (a hot tea drink). The beauty amazed me the farther up the inlets we would paddle. Every time we traveled around a point, the mountains would only grow in size and number. They are so majestic and so vast; I am truly humbled by these mountains and waters. I didn’t go one day without seeing a handful of eagles and seals. This wilderness speaks so strongly to me.

One of the highlights of my trip was the bioluminescence. It is one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. The water lights up with bright green sparkly flecks every time the water is stirred up. It only happenes at night so I got to see it when we went on our night paddle. We went about 11 miles during the day then pulled ashore to have dinner, a campfire and take a power nap before we hopped back in our boats at 12am. We paddled with a hazy moon in the sky, quite water gliding by our boats and only silence to accompany the trails of green sparkels left from our kayaks. I felt like I was in Neverland from Peter Pan. It was so cool! Some parts were kinda scary, like hearing a crazy seal make really weird noises like it wanted to attack us. It’s easy to let your imagination wander and lead you to thinking about illogical things in the dark waters. At one point there was a whole school of fish swimming under our kayaks and the water went bright green tracing the shapes of each fish! I cant describe with words how moving this night paddle was for me.

I gained a lot of kayaking and camping skills and now I feel very comfortable on the water. The more I kayak, the more I love it. I have been up the Jervis Inlet before this trip but on a larger boat. Going up the inlet this time in a kayak allowed me to slow down and notice the little details of this wilderness: the wildlife, the rocky and sandy shores, the changing waters and currents to name a few. I have discovered a very relaxing yet challenging sport.

As for my first trip as a guide, it was so much fun and I loved almost every minute of it. All four of us female guides went on the trip so there were times when I didn’t get to lead as much as I wanted but overall, it was a good first experience. The 10 campers were from New Jersey and in high school. The paddling was difficult for some of the girls, especially our day full of wind, waves and an opposing current. We had two girls cry and say “I just can’t paddle anymore!” But fortunately they made it without me having to tow them but it was a close call. In the middle of our 7 days on the water, we went to Beyond Base Camp where the mountain guides live and there was a cougar roaming around the camp! We didn’t tell our campers because the girls would have freaked out so we just told them have someone else with them at all times. We never saw the cougar but people living at Base Camp saw it the morning before and it wasn’t scared of people at all, just looking for something or someone to eat. I’m not sure what the status is about the cougar at this point.

One of the greatest things I learned about my experience was when I was reading the post trip evaluations from the campers; so many of them learned a lot about themselves, God and each other. My favorite camper, Ryan, began the trip not really knowing what he believed in and at the end he said the trip changed his view on religion and he cant wait to learn more about God and the Bible. I can’t believe I get to be a part of this. It’s truly amazing.

For the next week or two, I will be living at Malibu Landing doing projects around the area and getting ready for my next trip. It is going to be nice to relax, go for runs to the Skookumchuck Rapids and read in my hammock in the woods.

I miss home still but I am very happy to be here this summer.
Keep me in your prayers.
Peace.