Day 5 of 2026 Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit
"The Chute! and the Cariboo River"

Date: August 17, 2026

Day 5 Started at Site 29 and would take us through The Chute and "Roller Coaster" to a mandatory portage past the Cascade Falls to a short river run to a mandatory portage past the Isaac Falls, to McLeary Lake, to the Cariboo River west to Lanezi Lake to Site 33

After practicing The Chute the day prior with empty boats, we tackeled The Chute with loaded canoes.  We all made it without dunking a boat!

Day 5 required a mandatory portage around the Cascade Falls and then around Isaac Falls.  Cascades would have likely destroyed a canoe and Isaac Falls would probably been lethal. 

Isaac Falls viewed from the portage trail.  What a ride that would have been!

Once we got out of McLeary Lake, we entered the Cariboo River.  Depending on conditions, the Cariboo River can have deadly flows and debris. 

There were plenty of "Deadheads", "Sweepers", and destroyed boats on the river.  One canoe was completely taco'd around a deadhead and others littered the fast flowing banks of the river.  Scouts followed the line of our River Guide and avoided adding more evidence of carnage to the river.   

Not advised for future trips, our adult leads were able to collect a lot of lost gear which we transported out of the Bowron Lake Circuit for our service project.  Each of our canoes carried 2 bags of lost gear.

Among random gear we carried out was a huge wallet, cellphone and car keys.  We sent these off with some Canadians that lived in the same town as the owner of the wallet and after our trip, the owner let us know they received it.  It was good to hear that they made it out alive after capsizing and losing all of their gear.

Site 33 had a cabin next to it.  Each of these cabins had a wood stove and were decorated with artistic paddles.