by Šárka Lhoták
If you’ve paddled for a while, the trips just come and go; you paddle, swim, the sun is shining, scenery is great, and you’ve been there and seen it all. But some trips stand up. They become memorable for the camaraderie, difficult conditions overcome, unusual sightings of wildlife, and become part of the lore on future trips. This trip was one of them.
We were to meet at the Fathom Five Park’s Visitor Centre in Tobermory to get a camping permit for Flowerpot Island. We did not know that, unlike in previous years, the Flowerpot campsite can now be reserved ahead of time. Those who got there on-time (unlike me) were told that we could not camp there, however, because there was a bear on the island. An alternative was a Bruce Trail campsite Stormhaven, but permits for that could only be had at the Cyprus Lake Park Office. So there we drove with all the cars. There we got a lesson in bureaucracy from an officious lady clerk. After a lengthy list of “can’ts” and “don’ts” she announced with glee that for a paddling day trip to Flowerpot Island we would need day passes and those could only be had at the Fathom Five Park’s Visitor Centre. Apparently, these two national parks do not talk to each other! So Rob drove back to get the passes while the rest of us proceeded to Dunks Bay. Undeterred by the bureaucratic hurdles we launched happily into a beautiful sunny day. There were eight of us, Rob, leading the trip, Susan, Beth, Scott, Ed, Sam, Jim F. and me.
It was a 13-kilometre paddle to Stormhaven, along spectacular cliffs, caves, overhangs and the Grotto where we found a big group of Halton Outdoor Club members waving at us from the top. At Stormhaven we had barely set up tents when it started to rain. Tarps were erected for cooking and socializing. It rained buckets and our imperfect tarps were sagging and collecting water. It had to be emptied from time to time, that is the puddle was chased to the edge of the tarp with a Greenland paddle and landed unpredictably with a big splash. Later we discovered a nice dry cave in the cliff and settled there for some wine sipping and socializing.
It rained and poured all night. In the morning the rain stopped but the day was grey and foggy and the guys decided to improve the tarp system. We could not see the islands, Bear’s Rump and Flowerpot, anymore. But we set up to go and after a long paddle to an invisible destination (12 kilometres) we arrived at Flowerpot and the fog opened and sunshine greeted us. We had a happy lunch and went for a walk. The major goal of this annual pilgrimage is to find the rare Calypso orchid. We found them but as everything this year, they had bloomed earlier and were past their prime. But it was good to know that they were still there. And we found more species of orchid (Rob did, to be precise): round-leaved, striped coral root, early coral root and helleborine. Then we paddled to Dunks bay to drop Beth off and the rest of us continued back to our base camp at Stormhaven. It was a long day, some 26 kilometres paddled.
Back “home” we enjoyed a nice calm evening. Sometime after 8 p.m. I just happened to turn on the VHF radio and to our disbelief there was a strong wind warning for the night and next day with northeast winds up to 25 knots. We were in trouble. Stormhaven is a beautiful campsite, however, it is exposed to the north and in even small waves difficult to launch from. A suggestion was made to pack up and paddle to the cars right now. But it would mean paddling an additional 13 kilometres in total darkness and nobody wanted to do that. We moved all the boats to safety and fortified the tents. Sam relocated his tent which was too close to the water. It rained more through the night and towards morning the wind started to howl. I was in no rush getting up knowing we wouldn’t be going anywhere but when I finally poked my head out of the tent I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were humongous waves with white caps everywhere and huge surf washing up on our beach. It looked so different than last night!
We started discussing our options. Staying until Monday was not one of them since the forecast for Monday was no better: northwesterlies 20-25 knots. One possibility was to load our gear into kayaks, hide them in the bush and walk out to the Cyprus Park Office, get a taxi to our cars and come next week to pick everything up. Listening carefully to the marine forecast, though, there seemed to be a little window there. At noon the winds were supposed to calm down temporarily, only to veer to the northwest and pick up again in the afternoon. If the waves subsided enough during this window, maybe we could get out and paddle the 13 kilometres before the strong afternoon headwind picked up. Rob asked everybody for input and the consensus was to give it a try. So we packed up and waited. Wind aside it was a nice day with sun shining. While waiting we explored around Stormhaven, admired many yellow lady slippers and Rob found one more orchid (not flowering yet), Menzies rattlesnake plantain. And of course, we were keeping a close eye on the waves and looking for the best spot to launch. This was a cobble beach, mostly steep, with large boulders strewn around in the water. The wind was indeed subsiding and waves getting smaller. At 1 p.m. we decided to go for it. I was the first to go. After a set of larger waves we pushed my kayak in the water, the guys held it and I quickly jumped in and paddled like mad through water that was rushing into my open cockpit. But I got out. Outside the surf line I pumped the water out and watched others getting through. Sam was the last one and had to launch without help. We made it! Paddling back towards Dunks bay we were pushed nicely by the waves and got there in record time. As we were loading the kayaks on cars, a cold northwesterly started to blow. We timed it exactly right in the short two hour window!
We felt a sense of accomplishment, what a great trip. Rob, your leadership was excellent. But then we made it easier for you because we were such a good group (we were!), we even paddled together, more or less! Thank you, until the Orchid Trip 2011…