Thursday, June 18, 2026

June 13+14,2026 - Nimpkish Lake, Huson Caves, and Schoen Lake Provincial Park - Leader Harvey Pearson

 On Saturday, June 13th 2026, six members of the PGOSA Paddlers Club drove to Anutz Lake and made camp in a large meadow fronting on a beautiful yellow sand beach with a million dollar view.  It was windy every afternoon, but on Sunday morning, we six ventured onto Anutz Lake, through the long channel joining it to Nimpkish Lake and explored the perfect calm and reflections of early morning.  There we found karst formations in abundance, Quatsino limestone, and many small waterfront caves.  


After a well-earned rest, we spent the afternoon at Little Huson Caves and as one member said, it was stunning.  A whole river disappears into a wall of limestone and the resulting grotto is sunlit and can be explored.  

The next day, Monday, we drove up some not-so-good gravel roads to Schoen Lake Provincial Park.  Although it was somewhat overcast and a little windy, the Schoen Mountain is impressive.  At one point, we could see ample snow and six or seven high waterfalls.  The peak rose straight up from the lake.  

9.4 miles at Nimpkish Lake and 7.3 miles at Schoen Lake.  The photos below show Anutz Lake, the channel onto Nimpkish Lake, karst formations along the shore of Nimpkish Lake, a backwater bayou with lily pads, Little Huson Caves, and Mount Schoen.











Thursday, June 11, 2026

Nanaimo, Newcastle and Protection Island - June 11 2026 - Linda Watson

7 paddlers launched at Brechin Boat Ramp in Nanaimo just before 10 am on Thursday, June 10th and paddled 10 km around Newcastle and Protection Islands. The weather was favourable with sunny skies, albeit a little more wind and wave action was encountered than predicted on the west side of Newcastle.

Being the seasoned paddlers that we were a little chop, chop didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the group. We stopped at Smuggler’s Cove on Protection Island for a short break and then continued on to Newcastle Island where we had lunch. The beautiful south and west coastline of Newcastle with its’ interesting sandstone creations never cease to amaze and are a definite contrast to the heavily populated Protection Island “cottages” and the Nanaimo city high rise buildings. There was lots of “action” in the harbour with B.C. ferries, float plans, barges and sailboats. Everyone was respectful in sharing this beautiful water and we returned to Brechin Boat Launch without incident at approximately 1:30 pm.
A good paddle! Thanks to everyone for pitching in and helping with loading and unloading boats.













Wednesday, June 3, 2026

June 2, 2026 - Saltspring Island - Don and Elizabeth

 The 2026 PGOSA Saltspring Island paddle took place June 2nd under sunny skies and calm seas.  It was quite warm.  Twelve paddlers took part in a pleasant journey of 8.7 miles.  The little islands and beaches and white shell beaches were gorgeous and, in fact, we stopped and had breaks at them on three occasions.  Some of us even went swimming!  As far as wildlife, there were many seals to see and the odd bald eagle; being low tide, there were starfish and also jellyfish to be seen.  Many thanks to Don Poirier and his wife Elizabeth Hardy for leading the trip and doing the job of being the sweep.