Widgeon Creek. The High Water Row. April 1st, 2014.

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I am going to Row Widgeon Creek at the highest water ever for me.  I intend to row up the western most channel between Siwash Island and the West Shore.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Putting Gwragedd Annwn in at Grant Narrows.  The water level is very high.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Rowing away from launch.  It is a sunny, calm day.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Amazing! This boat slowed down.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Looking a the shoreline where Widgeon Creek Lodge used to be.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Piling at the north side of the mouth of Widgeon Creek.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The no power boats sign.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The water is deep everywhere.  I do not have to follow the creek channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

A canoe heads upstream.  The estuary is very wide here with the water so high.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

This is the highest I have ever seen the water on the stump.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The depth marker piling.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Six feet!

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Authentic beaver stick, gnawed on by B.C. beavers.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The no-trespassing cabin.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Rowing past the cabin.  I will take the fork towards the campsite.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The side channel to the right (east) that is usually to shallow to explore.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Past the fork, heading towards the campsite.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The water is up to the reeds.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Widgeon Creek Wildlife area sign.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The skunk cabbages are some of the earliest plants to flower.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Does this flotsom in the trees indicate the highest water level?

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

This is where the channel I intend to take branches off of the campsite fork.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Not a lot of water even with the water level this high.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I back up the channel for better visibility.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The channel widens as I leave the campsite fork behind.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Continuing down the channel.  There is a lot of depth here and the rowing is easy.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

A shallower spot where a creek enters from the West.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I touch bottom several times as I attempt to find the channel though.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Moving into deeper water.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Looking South-East.  The channel is deeper here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

There are still shallow spots as I row on.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I pull over into the reeds so the wind will not blow me back as I have a drink and a sandwich.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Looking back down channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

This channel is right up against the mountain.  I am now heading back towards Siwash Island and the Pitt River.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Another side channel leads back towards the mountain.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The channel moves away from the mountain and South-East into the marsh.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The channel is now heading almost directly East.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I am looking North-East.  The line of trees is where the North Shore of where Widgeon Creek along to the Pitt.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The South- West view astern.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I am hugging the South bank to avoid the wind.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Looking North-West.  The channel is quite wide here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The line of trees to the West marks where the channel runs along the mountain.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

This is where the channel connects with the channel around Siwash Island.  Siwash Island is directly ahead.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

There are a lot of posts crossing here in the channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Sorta makes you wonder what the fence used to be for?

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The channel around Siwash Island leads to the South from here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The Widgeon Creek estuary.  The stump is in the distance ahead.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Sadly, the mirrors are not perfect.  I ran into this pipe rowing to the estuary. I guess that it used to have a very informative sign attached to it.  I am going to call this pipe the “Cat’s Claw”, for the scrape it put along Gwragedd Annwn’s port side.  When I circumnavigated Siwash Island on my last row here, I was rowing Gwragedd Annwn backwards, saw and avoided this hazard.  I was more to the East side of the channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The beach by the no-trespassing cabin.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The depth-gauge piling.  During the hour and a half that the row has taken, the water level has dropped six inches?

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I am going to see where the side channel to the West of the no-trespassing cabin leads.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Too shallow to go over the logs, must go around.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

At times, a tight fit.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Around the first set of logs,

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Squeeze past the second set,

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Push through the reeds,

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Looks wider ahead.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Into the wide spot.  The water is quite shallow here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Almost at the end of the line.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The water is too shallow to continue on a falling tide.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Back past the logs.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Almost back to the channel in front of the no-trespassing cabin.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I think that it always looks prettier at high water.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

There is still enough water to try the first side channel to the North-East.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I am in the channel. I am going to see how far I can get.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Wide and shallow here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

I continue heading up, travelling North-East.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Some sort of barrier.  It is made of rocks.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Can I slip by?  There is clear water on the other side.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Just enough room on the starboard side to slip by.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The channel carries on beyond the barrier.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Close-up showing how high the water got on this tide.  I have to be careful so I do not get stuck beyond the barrier on a falling tide.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Rowing backwars for better visibility, I leave the barrier behind and explore up the channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Past the barrier, looking South to where I have come from.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

looking North-East up channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Near the end of the navigable channel on this tide.  It seems to go right up to the edge of the hill.  I will have to try this on a higher tide.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Back down the channel with the outgoing tide.  There is a current flowing out of the channel and into Widgeon Creek.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The water is still quite deep where the side channel enters the main Widgeon Creek channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The scum-line on the logs suggest that the water has been nearly two feet higher that it is now.  The water has fallen over a foot from its highest point today.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The canoeists head home too.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Good-bye no-trespassing cabin.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The depth gauge piling showing a water drop of over a foot in the three hours I have been rowing here.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The stump shows a drop in water too.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

The estuary is still quite deep.  It is beginning to shallow and I stay close to the channel.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Leaving Widgeon Creek Behind.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

There is a breeze up river as I cross to Grant Narrows.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Gwragedd Annwn awaits for her trailer tied to the dock.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Taking Gwragedd Annwn out.

 

Waterlevels at the guage

Composite photo of the Gauge piling showing water levels during the row.

 

Widgeon Creek High Water Row

Ready to be secured for the trip home.

 

Urban Oarsman

Good rowing to you.

Mike

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