David Reilly

David Reilly

Paddle Pitt Lake to Widgeon Falls

07/01/19

Just a few things to add to the description above: Overall, the estuary is shallow. You kinda need to watch where other canoes are going-- many of which are rentals with inexperienced paddlers. Canoes frequently bottomed out on sand bars or pebbly areas. We went out 3 hours after low tide and did fairly well until an area about 5 minutes from reaching the campground where the entire width of the estuary was down to about an inch of water. It's a fairly short portage, but water shoes were a must because the bed was stones instead of sand. When we came back the tides were almost full and this area was still problematic. Only had to get out once to float the canoe about 10 feet. So a bit about the above description: It's a longer paddle than written. It took us an hour up-- with a lot of side paddling because the water was not deep for most of the trip. We also had a pretty strong current pushing against us, even though the tide was on our side. The trip back took about 45 minutes. It was calm, beautiful, no visible current and no wind. The trip from the estuary across Pitt Lake was a vigorous paddle with lots of depth. Nice way to start and end the trip. Now for the hike: When you get to the post that proposes the falls via the "road" or via the "trail", make an informed choice. Here are the pros and cons of each: I am assuming the "easy hike" referred to is the "road". We took the "trail" on the way up. The "trail" was much more picturesque and a bit tricky to navigate at times. And it is much more strenuous since they closed off the walk by the river. The detour, called "improved" on the sign, includes a few bridges with missing or loose boards and stairs no longer there. You should expect a little bit of challenge as you will have to walk up the steep hill, only to walk down it again before getting to the falls-- so three trips up the mountain instead of two. There is a nice place to swim along this path that's well before the falls. You will find encounter it before the detour. It's a better place to swim than the falls, where no one was swimming. My guess is the swimming area was above the falls, but we had had enough "up", so did not check it out. On the way back we took the "road". Don't let the word fool you-- it's a road for a Unimog. Rocks of all sizes. This was not as enjoyable as the trail and in fact, the only place I fell when a rock rolled under my feet. Though it is the "easier" of the trails, it was more difficult to walk on. So, now you know. We absolutely loved this trip. And when we do it again, we would probably lunch on one of the sand bars instead of waiting until reaching camp; store our food backpack in the bear proof vaults, if one is available, hike to the swimming hole and finish with the trip to the falls. Canoodle on!

5.0