Seymour - Indian Arm Bikeraft

About a week after my first successful bikeraft trip, I was pretty excited about the potential of my new raft and was looking for a more ambitious route.  With the day off of work on Friday, May 31st and clear sunny weather on the menu, I was eager to do something big.  I thought it would be pretty cool to combine riding, hiking, and paddling in a circuit that would involve climbing to the top of Mt Seymour and paddling 5km up the Indian Arm.  I plotted it on the map and it seemed doable if I gave myself enough time.

A map of my route that involved riding, hiking, and paddling.

I ended up having a slow start to my day, and didn't get out of the house until 1pm.  However, sunset was at 9:00pm so I would have 8 hours to complete my planned route before dark, and there were a few ways I could cut things short if I needed to.  I set out on my old Miyata rig that is reliable enough to take me long distances efficiently without failing, and unattractive enough for me to stash it in the bushes with little hesitation.  I had my raft mounted to a saddle pack at the back of my bike, and my paddles in a hiking pack I had on my back.  My pack also contained lots of snacks and 2 large salmon sandwiches.  Salmon is my favourite and most reliable food for long endurance activities.  I find a full can's worth of salmon salad on whole grain bagel sandwiches with thick cheddar cheese can power me through 10 hours of semi-strenuous activity on its own.  It's an efficient fuel that was perfect for the trip I was heading out on.

I pedalled at a relaxed pace over to North Vancouver.  Just over 30km into the ride I began my ascent up the long steady climb up to the Mt Seymour Ski Lodge.  It was mid-afternoon and the weather was hot, so this climb ended up being very exhausting.  Once I got to the lodge I felt a little burned out.  I spent a few minutes consuming water and gatorade and filling up my bottles at the lodge.  I eventually felt re-energized, and found a nice place in the bushes for my bike, which I locked to a tree.  I mounted my rolled-up raft to the back of my backpack, and started up the Mt Seymour trail at a steady pace.  The mountain was pretty quiet as it was a weekday and ski season was over.  Shortly into the hike, I hit steady snow.

Nice views along the snowy Seymour ridge trail.

The snow felt refreshing as it was hot out and I was still pretty warm from the pedal up the mountain.  There were a few tricky sections along the trail where I post-holed or had to bushwack, but overall it was smooth-going.  About 1 hour after leaving the lodge, I found myself at the top Pump Peak via a short scramble up the rocky south face.  The views were spectacular - the sky was clear and all distant snowcovered peaks were visible.  I spent some time on the summit chewing on my salmon sandwich and snapping photos.

Looking to the north end of Indian Arm towards Bonnycastle and Meslillooet.

I got a nice view down at Indian Arm, McCombe Lake, and Buntzen Powerhouse, where I would be paddling in a few hours.

Looking down at Indian Arm towards McCombe Lake and Buntzen Powerhouse 1. 

Zooming in on Buntzen Powerhouse 1 and McCombe Lake.

Looking west at Crown Mountain.

Looking down at the city below, where I had been a few hours earlier.

Me on top of Pump Peak with Indian Arm below.

Looking north from the snow-covered ridge.

I thought I might climb further along the trail over to Mt Seymour summit, but it looked like it might be a bit slow and tricky, so I opted to skip it.  I was also running a little behind schedule, and didn't want to be paddling across Indian Arm in the dark.  I headed down the mountain, enjoying some refreshing boot skiing in the soft snow.  The snow allowed for an efficient descent, and I got back to the lodge in about 30 minutes.

I got back to my bike - and tried many times to open the Masterlock on it, but it wouldn't budge.  Due to its age and a few recent minor issues I had with it, I became very worried that it was broken and would never come unlocked.  As I began to accept that the epic trip was in jeopardy, the lock miraculously succumbed to a heavy yank.  The trip was still on.

I enjoyed an exhilarating descent down the mountain.  This is the heaviest load I've gone down this road with, so it was pretty quick going.  Once I got to the bottom of Mt Seymour Parkway, I took a couple of wrong turns before finding my way along Indian River Drive towards Indian Arm.  This road climbs more than I had remembered, and my legs felt like mush grinding up steep pitches after the long descent. Eventually the road drops down steeply to Indian Arm.  The descent portion of Indian River Drive had been freshly paved, so the curvy plunge down to the ocean was fun.

At the bottom of the road is a public dock that spits out onto Indian Arm.  This is as far north as public roads go up the west side of Indian Arm, so this is where I would start my paddle.  There were a few guys partying on the end of the dock.  They were a bit confused when I started unfolding my raft with my bike beside their party.  I told them about the bike-raft system, which they thought was pretty cool.  They entertained me a bit as I inflated the raft and mounted the bike onto it.  Lastly, I carefully picked up the bike and boat, and lowered it off the edge of the dock and into the water.  The drop off from the dock to the water was a bit higher than expected, so I had to make sure I didn't accidentally flip the raft - or let the raft get away once it got down to the water which would force me to hop into the cold water and swim after it!  I successfully got it down to the water and got into the boat, and had to move quick to not drift away from the dock without my paddle.

Once I was in the boat, things suddenly felt very peaceful and relaxing.  The sun was starting to hide behind Mt Seymour ridge to the west, so I started paddling at a steady pace.  My plan was to paddle 5km northeast, and get onto the road at the Buntzen Hydro Powerhouse 1.  I slowly made my way up the inlet.

The front end of my raft with the Miyata mounted to the bow.

At times I didn't feel like I was moving, as I was in the middle of the fjord and didn't have a stationary reference.  It was quiet and the water was calm, and I was able to get into a zone and move efficiently over the smooth water.  The views were picture-perfect, so I took lots of photos.  I rounded a bend in Indian Arm, and was able to suddenly see the endpoint of the paddle: the Hydro Powerhouse.  This gave me a mental boost.

The views towards the north end of Indian Arm were fantastic.

A close-up shot of Buntzen Powerhouse 2.

Looking north towards some rugged peaks near Squamish.

Looking south towards the city.

The calm water and great views were soothing.

Eventually, I arrived at Powerhouse 1.  I got onto a small piece of shore beside the road. The road is elevated above the shore a few feet, so I had to lift my bike and raft up a steep embankment onto the road.  On the road, I was able to efficiently pack my raft back onto my bike.  The last challenge was grinding my way up the 20% grade climb from the Indian Arm up to McCombe Lake, but I was motivated by the onset of dusk and got up without any trouble.  At McCombe Lake, I snapped some nice photos of Mt Seymour Ridge in the distance, reflecting off of the calm lake surface.  I was at the top of that ridge a few hours earlier, and had gotten from that point to this point in one of the least orthodox ways possible.

Seymour Ridge from McCombe Lake.

I didn't spend much time at the lake, as it was beginning to get quite dark.  I pedalled on, and after a few ups and downs I arrived home. This was another huge confidence building trip.  With the 3 modes of transportation I used on this trip, you could technically go anywhere in this rugged province, which is a pretty cool feeling!

https://www.strava.com/activities/2413219418

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