Chronicling the crazy: O Canada you are beautiful: Pitt Lake to Widgeon Falls

All adventures seem to start by waking up early and this one was no different. The alarm went off at 6:00AM on Canada Day and we got to work preparing for the day. SUPs, kayaks, life jackets, sunscreen, lunches, snacks, candy and oh yes...the kids, we should wake up the kids.

Kids are in the truck with everything and we're off....

No wait, the paddles are still in the garage...go back for the paddles...now we're off

No traffic when it's this early on Saturday and in 45 minutes we are at Pitt Lake and dropping off all our gear at the boat launch.

We meet up with our friends that doubted that we needed to get to the parking lot by 8:30 AM but the lot is already packed. So now I don't feel bad making them wake up early too.

We eventually get everything pumped and we launch off for our adventure...start the GPS now...

The first part of the paddle requires crossing into Widgeon Slough, it was pretty calm on the way there. It is a gorgeous paddle and we saw at least half a dozen eagles swooping in the sky and one diving down with a fish. It is gorgeous, it's like paddling in a painting.

At the fork on the road, you take the left side where there is a sign that says to campsite. The kids have cheap $100 kayaks and they weren't going super fast so each took a kid and connected them to our SUP so they didn't trail too far behind.

After an hour and a half of paddling, we made it to the campsite. Yes, you can camp here if you want to paddle your tent and gear to the site. We saw lots of tents set up. The area is used by both campers and day-trippers. There are dozens and dozens of canoes, kayaks and SUPs all perched on the beach. I had read about people potentially stealing gear while you go hiking so we came prepared with lots of locks. We chained everything down and started our hike.

The first part of the hike is a gravel road and super boring for the kids but you get to a junction where you can choose a scenic but longer trail to Widgeon Falls or continue on the super boring gravel but quicker gravel road. Of course, we chose the more scenic trail.

Once we were in the beauty of the tall tress, the kids transformed from "how looooong is this hike?" to happy, scampering squirrels in the forest. They kept on racing far ahead and then jumping out from behind a tree and making me scream. I was on high-alert but they got me every time.

There’s a nice look out spot before you reach Widgeon falls. Make sure you stop to look in awe of the green water or jump in the water if you’re feeling brave.

We timed it perfectly and it was just around noon when we got to Widgeon Falls. It was the perfect spot for lunch. After we ate on the rocks just taking in the beauty of the falls, the kids were wanting to jump in the water and we found some fantastic spots just past the waterfall to play in.

Warning - the water is reeeeeaaaaalllly cold but on a hot day, it was amazing.

We even found a neat grotto/cove under the falls, it reminded me of the caves and waterfalls we found in Cumberland last year.

The hike back was great, the kids scampered along the trail and when we got back to our kayaks and SUPs, nothing was taken so we didn't have to swim back. Phew.

The tide had changed from when we paddled out there in the morning so there were so many spots along the way where it was so shallow, we had to get out of the kayak/off our SUPs and portage further until we go paddle again. It felt very Canadian to be portaging our vessels on Canada Day. O Canada, our home and native land....

The wind. Oh the wind. It was not helping us on the way back, we had to work twice as hard to get back to shore. The kid's kayaks were still leashed to our SUPs which added to the challenge. The kids were pretty tired by then but not complaining. SuperDad had packed some of the energy gels that we use for half marathons and bike races, we told them it was like rocket fuel and it would give them super powers. They tried it but said it tasted awful and I don't blame them, it does. Our friend shared some super power energy bar that they get specially brought in from New Zealand. So with the replenished rocket fuel, we steadily made it back to the dock.