Murray River

 

One of the things we wanted to do was visit Kinuseo Falls in Monckman Provincial Park, 60 km south of Tumbler Ridge.  Unfortunately, the road was closed due to a forest fires.

 You could still see the falls if you boated up the Murray River from TR, but that wasn't possible without a motor.  So instead we drove up as far as we could before the road was blocked off and put in at the last bridge.  We were surprised to see all the boat trailers parked at the takeout on our way by.

Apparently a lot of people bring their jet boats to TR on the August long weekend!

Full of trepidation, we put in at the bridge:

We were worried it would be a gong show out there with jet boats whizzing by, narrowly avoiding collisions and capsizing us with their wakes.

Actually, traffic was steady but not hectic, friendly and polite.  They all pulled over to the other shore and waved as they went by.

It wasn't exactly a wilderness paddle of course and, as you can see, the atmospheric conditions were not ideal.  

Wildfire smoke!

No mountain views today!  But any day on the river is a good day.  No wildlife to be seen, but we did see some eagles, waxwings, and sandpipers.

 

Lunch stop

It was a 2-1/2 hour trip in total.  The next morning we drove by the takeout and there was no one parked there.  Moral of the story:  Don't do this trip on the long weekend.

Dale and Birgit on the Murray River