Tuesday, August 12, 2008

3rd Douglas Sea Scouts Sayward Forest Canoe Route Trip August 2008

3rd Douglas Sea Scouts are based out of Scouthouse in Victoria BC and we have been around since 1938. This summer we chose to canoe the Sayward Forest Canoe Route. In planning the trip I had trouble finding good information about the route and decent maps. As a Scout Leader I have to make sure that where I take youth is appropriate to their skill level.

I found almost nothing online about the Sayward Forest Canoe Route. On the May long weekend I went up to Campbell River and took a look at what I could from the shore. This was not really enough and so therefore I have decided to post much more detailed information about the route on this site.

We were on the route from Sunday August 3rd to Thursday August 7th. We had four canoes with five youth aged 10 to 13 and four adults. We did over pack, we were over prepared and this added to the difficulty of the portages for the youth.

We did 2/3s of the route, leaving at Brewster Lake. We called it there because the route was on the edge of what the youth could, especially the youngest two. We are likely to go back and do it again sometime in the next few years. I may also choose to do it with my brother in law and oldest two boys next summer. It is an amazing and wonderful paddle.

My estimate is that only about 1000 people use the route in any given year. We were out there on part of the BC Day weekend and still there was very few people on the route. We had Amor Lake almost completely to ourselves the one night.

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