Very excited My friend Ben Bowen and I head out from Anacortes at 5:30 in the morning to head to The great Mystery, The place known as Skookumchuck. I was tired yet giddy, and as we rolled down the highway I pulled out my passport to make sure it was me that was getting to go on the epic adventure. Ben looks over and say's "a passport, yeah.. I'm gonna need that". So we made a brief 2 1/2 hour detour to Seattle where his passport was waiting. The whole time the wind blowing like crazy Ben got to deal with my paranoia of my new boat flying off the rack of his 1985 4 runner " the vintage".
We head north and make it through customs with only 4 questions asked and then drive to the ferry in time to make it before max flood. Phew.. The ferry was spectacular and I had yam fries, a personal favorite. The scenery was remarkable with jagged cliffs and snow capped pointed peaks. We arrived on the other side and rushed up the coast stopping to buysome essentials (Tea cookies). We wound up the highway wind blowing and I looked out along the Strait of Georgia to see white caps . I wondered how many tidal races where hidden among the islands i could see. Finally we made it to the bustling Metropolis of Egmont. Unloaded our gear at the camp sight and got on the water.
I was so excited that I could barely stand it, 8 knots of current will have been the biggest I had ever been in and the surroundings where absolutely stunning.
20 minutes later I could hear the sound of a large rapid and Ben was telling me to contour against the shore, and I saw a rapid, but what I was really looking at was the drop. The whole inlet just drops. It is amazing and needs to be seen to be believed. I had never known something like this existed on the sea and was now for the first time completely intimidated. We portaged around the drop, took out any excess weight from our boats and went for it.
I get in my boat and the first thing I realize is that the back eddy is moving very fast, if you're not moving downstream you are being pushed towards the front of the line at cranking velocity. So I decided that I will spin around in the eddy helplessly for about 5 minutes. Once I sorted myself out I figured out how to line up for the eddyline. Just beyond it I can see the wave starting to form. I have played around in a lot of eddies, and have been flipped in all sorts of ways but I never could have anticipated this whirl pool freight train. I dropped the line into the current. I was so glad I knew what a low brace was because it is one rock en ride.
The fear is there but as you hit the eddyline again and again it turns into determination, success and joy. Then the mind quiets and the body learns. Getting on that wave took me a long time, but for the sweet moments I was there - fully locked in, tuned in to that surf - it was beyond bliss. It was being one with the water, my boat, my body and my skills. I knew from then onward that this was a proving ground, a place where we as Sea kayakers come to learn and to be set free. This place so full of life, so full of force was somewhere that I was always meant to be and that I will always go back to.
The learning curve at Skooks is remarkable, every paddle placement teaches you a new lesson. If you're not alert then you're upside down. Skooks is a catalyst for everything that one has learned in paddling and when and how to apply it in some very dynamic water. If you come to there without a good understanding of a low brace, then you'd better get one because you will be using it non-stop. You better also bring your game face. If you take yourself too seriously you will be conquered by doubt, if you don't take the environment seriously enough you could be injured. If you come as a humble student with the willingness to learn and make mistakes, many many mistakes, then you will progress here.
The current slowed and we headed back to the camp site for burrito night and some nice rain.
End day 1
