Chilliwack River – April 2016

Lower Chilliwack River – April 17, 2016

For those who did not attend the Flatwater Instructor Testing at Deer Lake, the RCABC Paddle Conference at Kawakawa Lake, or the Sun Run in Vancouver, or the Spring Flower Festival in Abbotsford, there was nothing left to do but go paddling in the sunshine.

Ann and Alain, Chris and Rich, Phil and Andrie, Phil Rankin, and I met at the Vedder Crossing Bridge. There we did the boat shuffle, and left a vehicle at the Peach Road park ready for a shuttle later. At the put in, the rocks in the middle of the river between the merging channels were slightly under water, telling me that the river was slightly higher than last year, but still at a fun level. We bounced down the river occasionally dodging steelhead fisherman along the way. With the fast moving water we had time to spend an hour laying in the sun and watching the white puffy clouds scoot overhead, pushed by the cool breeze flowing from the snow covered hills around us.

At the Peach Road take out there were nice wide stairs built from the large flat boulders laid up through the rip rap bank, which made exiting the river a treat. A great day with 25 degree sunshine, faces were turning red by the end of the day. The drive home was slow as traffic was backed up about 10km each way near Whatcom Road where the Flower Festival was happening alongside the highway.

Claude