Nicomekl River

I put in at the Elgin Heritage Park today and paddled up the Nicomekl. My shift at work has changed and my weekends are mid week. All the better to hike or paddle without crowds. I paddled around till I hit the end of the Marine Park and started to go back the other way.

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I asked a guy sitting beside a yacht on the dock which way to the Nicomekl and he said I was on it. I said I was trying to paddle up it and he said I have to portage across the road and over the dam. I looked at him like yeah? And he said yeah the Serpentine is the same. So I did. Paddled to the end and portaged over the road.

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And put in on the other side.

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Then it opened up to the Nicomekl. It was nice. Strange to be in the middle of the city yet away from it all. Lots of different types of birds. Heron, ducks, geese, sand pipers. Even saw a large turtle. Not sure if that wasn't someone's pet set free or not. They have signs at Green Timbers asking people not to let their pet turtles free in the pond. Not sure why not. Granville Island has a pond with turtles.

I made it to 168th Street but as soon as I crossed under I hit a large thick patch of algae / seaweed that covered the river. I was thinking I'd just plow right through it as I could see open spots but it was really strange paddling in and I had to get back to drive kids so I backed out and turned around. I read that the Nicomekl originates in Langley from an underground source - a well. That was interesting. Usually it's always water coming down a mountain.

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When I got back to Elgin Heritage Park the tide was out and there were huge clusters of oysters everywhere rising out of the water. It really looked cool. Red tide still but I'm sure that doesn't last forever. I made the mistake of getting out in the mud and sinking in up to my knees. Had to pull out at the boat ramp.