Megin River Adventures

Some high winds were forecasted for the next few days so we wanted to get to a well protected anchorage before they arrived. In our guide books and charts we found an all-weather anchorage close by that had a river to explore. So we raised our anchor and headed to Bacchante Bay in West Clayoquot Sound. As we sailed to our new destination we passed a bay that reportedly had a river flowing into it that one could paddle a kayak up to a lake. This was too enticing to pass by so we anchored Samadhi in the small bay just to the east of the river estuary. Our plan was to paddle our two plastic kayaks up the river as far as we could and then pull them up any rocky rapids that were too shallow to paddle. The kids’ kayaks are inflatable so they are not quite as durable. In one kayak we had Dan, Ranger and Alexander, in the other we had Ashley, Victoria, and our backpack. Up the river we went. It did not take long to reach our first shallow area. The river was nice and shallow in places so walking up while pulling the kayaks to the next deep section was no problem. Victoria and Alexander walked on either the rivers banks or in the water. We made our way upriver alternating between paddling and wading for a little more than an hour. We then came upon a level section that offered slow moving and deep water. We beached the kayaks and Alexander and I jumped right in. Victoria was soon to follow while Ashley again watched from the sunny river bank. The river was full of fish and beautifully colored rocks. The water was crystal clear and about 70 degrees. There was very little current and as shallow as ankle deep to nearly 9 ft deep. There was a fairly wide opening in the trees to there was a lot of sun to warm the rocks and our bodies as we emerged from the refreshing water. This was truly a place that none of us will forget. Here we spent an afternoon in the middle of a rainforest, up a river, miles and miles from any sort of civilization enjoying simply being together and appreciating the natural world around us.