Since being here in BC, I’ve been pretty active in the outdoors, trying to do as many hikes as possible, try new things and activities. I’ve been pretty open to anything but I realised this year when my girlfriend suggested we go paddleboarding, that maybe I’m not as open to things as I had once thought!
I say this because I initially had the feeling that paddleboards were there just for nice Instagram pictures and i judged them vey quietly, because they weren’t a canoe or a kayak. Don’t take this the wrong way, never thought anything bad of anyone using them etc, but I just thought “it’s not for me”. And our first attempt of SUP I thought I had proved myself right. Maelys and I were paddling on Heffley Lake near Sun Peaks Resort. Looking back I was a bit grouchy from being tired, or on a coffee come down or something but I wasn’t too impressed. It was difficult to turn, the board felt unstable and I had to use all these stomach muscles! I spent most of the paddle sitting on my heels or on my ass pretending I was in a kayak.
A week later we had decided to head out to Alice Lake in Squamish. We had rented some inflatable SUP’s from Quoth Life in North Vancouver. They were packed away in backpacks making it easy for us to carry. This proved to be very important as Alice Lake was jam packed and we needed to talk up from the main road. Once on the water Maelys was in her element and was loving it. I started to get the hang of it a little more, and spent much more time standing up than sitting down. Alice lake was a great place to start and practice as it’s pretty sheltered and a small lake to paddle in. It was at the very end, when we got back to shore to leave for the day, that I realised I was missing my paddle. Yes, I know. “how did you not know” but… it was a super hot day so I was laying on my belly surfer paddling with my hands. The adventure for the search of my paddle put my new found skills to the test and made for a great mini-adventure. I start to realise that this is more than just for pictures and actually a pretty cool piece of kit.
This story ends with Lightning Lakes in Manning Park. This is where I was really converted into an SUP Lover. This was the first time we actually been to Lightning Lakes in the summer, so it was the first time seeing water (we had a sleepless night back in 2018). I knew it as beautiful in winter but it was just as beautiful in summer… just more people. Despite slightly harder conditions (wind) which gave us a bit of a challenge, it was everything that we wanted from a SUP trip. The sun was out, we were surrounded by mountains and it was just incredibly chill which was much needed as being cooked up working from home was slowly taking it’s toll. The best part was paddling up the shallow creeks, and turning the corner to see the adjoining lake. Maelys had found her feet on the first trip but I had really found mine here. I spent pretty much the whole time standing with some convincing paddling if I do say so myself. From this point onwards I can now say that I am an SUP convert and have wholly learnt to hold my tongue on preconceptions until trying for myself. I am happy to have been proven wrong, because we are both proud owners of SUP’s, so the paddling adventures will continue into 2021
Cheers, Scott
- Heffley Lake Rentals from SurfIt. Bodie is the read deal when it comes to SUP
- Quoth SUP are based in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver
- We now own SUP’s from Quoth and Cascadia
(Lightning Lakes, Manning Park – BC)
Live in the Trees 