If you’re just joining, this is my final post on my experience on the Bowron Circuit in May 2025. Start with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, to read about the full trip. This post focuses on the West Circuit if you’re just planning a partial trip.

Leaving Unna Lake definitely felt a little like the beginning of the end of the trip. We still had a decent amount of distance to cover, but the end was in sight. We didn’t regret our decision to wait to do the hike to Cariboo Falls because the water was completely flat in the morning and we had a very leisurely paddle across the lake. It’s a nice trail to the waterfall. It’s not too long and it’s definitely worth it to do the hike, especially in the Spring!

There was A LOT of water cascading over the falls in May. The river had a very high flow and to some degree, most of what we could see of the waterfall was mist! Definitely exercise caution in this area because there are a few footpaths branching off that people have created that are not formal trails. It is possible to hike down towards the river, but we only went part way because the rock was really wet and slippery and a slip on the rocks could easily knock you into the raging river. We took a few photos before returning to our boats. What was particularly surprising was how dry the forest was. There were a lot of dead trees (probably from pine beetles) and they were looking really dry, so I won’t be surprised when this part of the province gets a fire ban.

Leaving Unna Lake, you have to paddle back upstream for a short distance to get to the portage to Babstock Lake. There’s a fancy ranger cabin and a short paddle along Babstock Creek. It seems that you used to be allowed to line your boat in the creek all the way to the lake, but this is no longer allowed in order to protect the environment, so you have to portage. We had 3 portages ahead of us, but fortunately, they were all pretty short.

The first portage is the longest one of the day to connect to Babstock Lake. It’s 1.3km long, but it’s along fairly flat terrain. It’s just annoying to have to unpack and repack the kayaks multiple times in a day. Fortunately, we had a really exciting encounter at the end of the portage. We finally saw our first moose! Growing up in Newfoundland, we’re definitely not strangers to moose, but it is still fun to see them, especially in wilderness settings (half the moose I’ve seen back home have just accidentally wandered into the city). It was a female moose and she was having a nice snack along the edge of the lake, so we were able to watch her while packing our kayaks and once launching into the lake. 

We got some photos, but tried to keep our distance so as not to bother her. Sadly, the wind came up shortly after launching, but it was a nice tailwind, so we had an extra push to help us across the lake! It was only a 3km paddle and then we were back to another portage. This portage was much shorter, measuring only 300m. I was tempted to pull the kayak heavy loaded, but Seth convinced me to unload it to protect my boat from unnecessary flex… I’m not sure it was worth it. 

Unloading the boats took much longer than the actual portage and in no time we had arrived at the inflow for the next lake, Skoi Lake. Skoi is by far the smallest lake on the circuit. You have to launch into the creek, which is pretty narrow, in some parts I could barely paddle because flow between the reeds was actually narrower than the length of my paddle! It’s 800m across the lake and then you arrive at your final portage. We were greeted by a family out for a day trip as we packed up our boats to do the final 200m portage. 

The portage ends at the south end of Spectacle Lakes. There’s a campsite there (Camp #44), which is actually quite nice. The family took off to return to their campsite and we decided to hang around, eat lunch, and go for another swim. The water felt a little colder, but the weather was properly warming up over the last 2-3 days, so it was still enjoyable. I will admit to putting this swimsuit on just for the photo 😉

On a map, Spectacle Lakes looks like one big lake, but I can understand why it’s called Spectacle Lakes. There are several sand bars at the narrower parts of the channel and at least twice I had to get out of my boat and pull it over the sandbar in order to keep paddling. So I’m assuming it gets shallower in the middle of summer. The sandbars do help in keeping the wind down though. It picked up once we got about a quarter of the way up the lake, but again, we had a tailwind, so we sailed up to the campsite at the end of the lake quite quickly. 

This is another large campsite called Pat Point (Camp #48). Our plan had been to spend the night at Pat Point and paddle the remaining 19km in the morning. The only people camping at Pat Point were the family and it was a really nice campsite with another big shelter and sandy beaches. It looks down Spectacle Lakes on the south side and up Swan Lake on the north side. We stopped for a snack break while debating our options.

The wind was definitely picking up, but it wasn’t unmanageable. We had already paddled quite a distance, but there was a fair amount of time left in the day. Part of me wanted to stay and enjoy the beautiful campsite, but another part of me wanted to shorten the journey the following day so that we could get a solid start on the drive home. We were booked into the frontcountry campsite the following night, but that meant having to do the entire 10-hour drive on Sunday, and I really wanted to get home a bit earlier.

So we decided to keep going and get closer to the end of the circuit. Swan Lake is 8km long, then there’s 4km on the Bowron River and 7km on Bowron Lake. The final campsite is at the end of Swan Lake, so I figured it was worth reducing our distance for the following day. I’m still not sure if we made the right decision or not. In some ways, it felt like the wrong decision because the campsites at the end of Swan Lake were extremely crowded. But it also felt like the right decision because it was so windy the following day that I was glad to have saved the time! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We opted to keep paddling, racking up a total of 26km for the day! We had a substantial tailwind, so we made good time coming down the lake. It was also really nice because we saw a lot of wildlife! All birds, but with Seth being an ornithologist, we get pretty excited about birds. There’s lots of marshland around the west edge of the lake, which is great habitat for them. 

There are 4 campsites at the end of the lake. We knew the Canoe Bros would be at one, but we thought they were the only ones. We did not take into account how busy the west side of the circuit could get on a Friday night. We wanted to stay at campsite #51, but when we arrived, it was full with a group of paddlers who had started a day ahead of us. Then we continued on to campsite #52 and that looked full too. We probably should have checked, but we’d been warned by the paddlers at Camp #51 that the people at #52 were not friendly and did not want to share, so we decided to continue on.

Campsite #53 and #54 are right at the end of the lake, before you start paddling the Bowron River. The Canoe Bros were at Camp #53, so that site was also full. It is connected to Camp #54, which fortunately had 1 tent pad left! Unfortunately, the people at Camp #54 weren’t very friendly either. They had taken over the shared shelter and left it a total mess, so we opted to eat our dinner on the other side of the campsite.

I can’t complain about it too much though because it was a really beautiful site. It looks over the Bowron River, which is supposed to be the best place for wildlife on the entire circuit, so we were able to do some spotting while we ate. There’s also this heritage cabin there. It’s 100 years old, so you’re not allowed to go inside, but it’s still a very cool relic of the park. It was constructed the same year that the park was established, so it felt special to get to paddle the circuit on its 100th birthday. 

The campsites all have only 1 shared campfire, so we opted to join the Canoe Bros at their campfire in the evening. I felt that we got a really good mix throughout the circuit of what the Bowron Circuit is meant to be. It’s a very remote and wild location, so it was nice to have so much time to ourselves to enjoy that. But it’s also very much a social activity. It’s fun to get to know the other paddlers on the circuit and I did enjoy the nights that we got to hang out with 5 Guys and the Canoe Bros. They definitely had some characters in their groups, but everyone really loved being out on the water and in the wilderness. I’m glad I got to experience a little bit of both. Although preferably with more women next time!

Our last day on the circuit did not disappoint. Our timing wasn’t that great because the weather improved a lot at the end of the trip and it was looking really nice for the next group of paddlers. But you win some, you lose some! We got up early in hopes of seeing some interesting wildlife along the river. At breakfast, we could see some kind of large animal along the shoreline that we thought might be a deer, but closer inspection with Seth’s binoculars revealed that it was actually a sandhill crane! They are really huge birds, so that was an exciting discovery.

The crane had moved on once we started paddling the river, but we did catch up with it later on the circuit. We saw lots of birds along the route and were excited to see a beaver swimming in the river as well. The river is really meandering. It’s not fast moving, but it could be easy to get lost among the channels. We did go down a few branches just for fun to see what we could find. What we really wanted to see was another moose and we were rewarded right at the end of the river! It was another female and she was also having a snack along the edge of the river. 

Considering it was only 9am when we exited the river, it was already pretty windy on Bowron Lake. Seth and I got along really well all week, but had a bit of a breakdown in communication at the edge of the lake. The way the wind was blowing, it would be a tailwind for the first half of the paddle, but then there’s a turn in the lake, and after that we would be getting hit broadside. I wanted to paddle down the east side of the lake so that the headland would protect us from some of the wind when we turned the corner. Seth didn’t look at the map and made his decision based on vibes, so he thought it would be better to go down the west side of the lake.

Ladies, you know when you take on the emotional labour of trip planning and decision making, sometimes you get decision fatigue and you want someone, anyone, to take on a little bit of that? I think that’s what I was feeling when I agreed to paddle down the west side of the lake, even though my gut was screaming at me to go down the east side. It’s a bit more of a paddle to get to the east side, which is why I think I gave in, but it was a mistake.

It was fairly windy paddling down the first half, but manageable with the wind coming from behind us. Before the lake turned we did pull into the side of the lake to take a little break, which was definitely a good idea because we got fully assaulted by the wind after that. As we started to make the turn, we still had a tailwind, but it coming at us from a side angle that made the waves a bit scary. As we started getting hit broadside, I’m pretty sure I had a rage blackout and some inner monster took over my body and just brute-force paddled its way down the rest of the lake. I was super mad, but it was the kind of stew-in-it anger and we just paddled against the crashing waves in silence.

Honestly, the right thing to do would probably have been to pull over to the lakeshore and wait it out like we had done on Isaac Lake, but we were so close to the end and I was so cranky, I didn’t want to stop paddling. So I kept rage paddling with Seth hot on my tail. The anger took me almost to the end of the lake, then I got a little bit pummeled by waves and there was a moment of real fear that this might be the time I capsize. I think that’s when the rage finally left my body and I pushed through the last section of lake, taking the first opportunity to exit the water, which is the public boat launch. We pulled the boats up on the shore and jumped out of the kayaks for a big hug while both crying “I’m sorry!!”. And that was how our epic 7 day trip ended.

Technically, we weren’t at the end yet. The public boat launch is 2kms from the park centre, but neither of us had the desire to brave the waves for another 2km. We were just relieved to be back on shore. Instead, Seth unpacked the kayaks and I walked the last bit of the circuit along the road to sign out at the park centre and pick up the car. In total, we tracked 14km for the day, finishing before noon. Intuitively, I know we should have waited out the wind, but it was still racing up the lake when I returned with the car, so it was hard to regret the decision to keep going. There were a few paddlers trying to launch their canoes to start their paddle on the West Circuit, so I mostly felt relief to be done.

It felt like an anti-climactic end to the trip, but it was a really incredible experience. I feel like we went up against a lot of challenges due to the time of year that we paddled, but I also felt like we gained a lot. The reason I keep going on long multi-day backpacking trips is because I love the feeling of accomplishment – of really challenging myself – and the Bowron Circuit definitely delivered on that feeling. It was also really special because I did it with Seth. He doesn’t like backpacking that much, so a lot of my backpacking trips are with friends, which is also nice, but it’s special to have that kind of experience with my husband too. Within hours I’d already forgotten about all the challenges of the trip and would 100% do this circuit again in the future.