Murtle Lake

Where do I even start with Murtle Lake? I have been vacationing here since I was too young to remember... so many times I have lost count. A lot of my memories come from Murtle Lake.

If you are looking for some peace and quiet, in a place that is remote, (but not TOO remote,) and you love clear water and sandy beaches, then this is a great place to go.

This year, it was just the husband and I, although I have been here with various assortments of people over the years. This is husband's favourite destination of all the places I have taken him so far.

I have a very bad habit of picking "punishing" summer trips, (that leave me far more exhausted AFTER my vacation than before I took it,) but Murtle is probably the most relaxing one that still lets me enjoy the back-country and get away from the "car-campers." (No offense, car-campers! But I immensely dislike loud obnoxious people and alcohol, and summer time provincial park sites are usually filled with both. Not to mention, who can afford that anymore??)

Murtle Lake is the largest canoe/kayak only lake in all of North America. It is deep in Wells Gray Provincial Park, down a winding 37km dirt road east of Blue River that will probably leave you white-knuckling the dashboard and yelling at whoever is driving to SLOW DOWN! If it's your first time here, be sure to stop at the information center in Clearwater. They have TONS of info, and can direct you to other great things to see. (There are some amazing waterfalls nearby that are worth a quick detour.) Once you reach the parking lot, there is a 2.5 km portage to the lake.

We came here nearly every summer when we were kids, unless we were canoeing Bowron Lakes instead. (Don't worry, there will be a post on that later!) Back then, the road was even more terrifying. The portage trail involved climbing over rocky outcroppings, so canoes had to be carried on shoulders rather than rolled down the trail on wheeled dolly's. You may notice several wooden structures on the trail that look like giant croquet hoops, that are strategically placed after long hill sections; these are resting stations for those poor souls still carrying canoes on their backs!

In the past, payment was done at the little teal ice cream parlour in Blue River, (which is abandoned now,) but it is now self-registration at the end of the portage. Don't try to skip out on paying.... the rangers make their rounds every day and will catch you!

When you set your paddle to the water, you're not actually in Murtle Lake yet; you're in Murtle Lagoon. A short km or so will lead you through a small marshy passageway, (watch for moose!) and will then reveal a magnificent sprawling beach with campsites on both sides. We almost always end up here on the first night.

Our first night this year was definitely the most exciting of the trip. Shortly after dinner, we began our nightly routine of brushing teeth, caching our food, and purifying water for the next day. Then we sat on the beach to read. At the opposite end of the lake, a storm was brewing. We watched as it slowly headed our direction. The thunder got louder and the lightning got closer. Husband and I pulled the canoe up high, flipped it upside down, and tied it to a tree. (I always do this. Many people give me funny looks.)

About 15 minutes later, it began to rain, so we took shelter in the tent, making sure everything was tucked neatly under the vestibule. We sat and chatted for a while, waiting for the rain to pass. Instead, it turned into a torrential hail, and then the wind hit. POWERFUL wind that shook the tent so badly we had to brace the corners down with our bodies. It ripped our pitiful tent pegs right out of the sand and left the fly fluttering uselessly. The hail and convulsing tent were so loud we had to yell to hear each other, despite the fact that we were only two feet apart. Thunder boomed, and lightning struck trees not too far from us. It was terrifying, but in an exhilarating, "it's good to be alive" kind of way.

Suddenly, we heard a very strange clanging sound, and instinct told us it had to be LOUD for us to even hear it over the sound of the wind and hail. We unzipped the tent and peeked outside just in time to see that our neighbors red rental canoe had caught the wind, and was now flipping end over end down the beach!

(Beware of storms that can sweep up on you unexpectedly. Always secure your canoe at camp, and gear and tents too! Many boats and tents have been lost to the lake......)




From this point, you can decide if you want to explore the West Arm or the North Arm. Visitors to the West Arm outnumber visitors to the North Arm at least 3-1. It is shorter, the water is warmer, the beaches are sandier, there are three islands to visit, a lagoon with a shelter, and a lovely hike to McDougall Falls.

The North Arm is very long, has colder water, bigger, rockier mountains, rockier beaches, and is famous for wind storms that can leave you stranded. Few people visit this arm, although it is breathtakingly beautiful. It is also my experience that if you are going to see a bear, it will probably happen on the North Arm!

The husband and I took the West Arm route when we were here a couple years ago. We took kayaks, and had amazing weather. We did notice that the pine beetle has ravaged much of this section though.....

This year, we headed North! I had forgotten how amazing this side of the lake is. It was also great to have the whole thing pretty much to ourselves.

I had some bad memories of the north arm from when I was young, and was therefore hesitant to go down it. The north arm is where our camp stove exploded, where we saw many bears, (and I'd like to note, just a few days before husband and I headed down here, a camper had managed to get video footage of a moose fighting a bear!) and also where I remember being stranded for days by the wind. I remember dad putting the canoe up between two trees, supplemented by a horizontal tarp that we sat behind for hours because we were so small the wind would knock us down if we tried to stand. I told the ranger about this, and he laughed, blamed me for how few people go north, and nicknamed me "Karma Girl."

Thankfully, no bears this trip, although many of the sites had "bear in area" signs posted. If you do explore the arm, I would recommend camping in site 15 or 18, and not the end itself. The very end of the lake has little protection from wind, HORRIBLE bugs, is probably the worst camp for swimming on the entire lake, and the beach is coated with sticks and debris that gets pushed all the way down the lake by wind. (And did I mention the bears?)

Try to do you paddling in the morning, because the wind tends to really pick up in the afternoons.

We spent our last night, as usual, on Sandy Point. It is well named, because the sand is pure white and the water crystal clear. On a hot summer's day, you'd swear you were in Mexico. This site is one of the most popular on the lake, but we were lucky this year to have it nearly all to ourselves. We swam, we read, we played in the sand, we ate great food. It was a perfect day!

Weather-wise, we could not have timed this trip more perfectly. We spoke to one family who was nearing the end of a TWO WEEK vacation on the lake. They told us that for nearly that entire duration, forest fire smoke had hung low over the lake, making breathing difficult, the temperature cold, and seeing the other side of the lake impossible. It had also rained nearly every day. However, that wind storm the first night we arrived had blown all the smoke out of the valley and left us with 5 days of clear sunny skies. It started to rain about 30 minutes after we had exited the lake, finished the portage, and loaded everything back into the car. The forecast said it would continue raining non-stop for the rest of the week. Haha! I figured that made up for the 7 days of straight rain I had to endure on my hiking trip the summer before.

But as always, nature has a mind of it's own. You don't head out there without preparing to get a little wet. (And if you don't? Bonus!) You also can't let weather ruin your trip. The key to this is always being prepared for the worst possible situation, and of course, respecting the power of nature!