When I think of British Columbia canyoning I think of the well-known canyons of Squamish. These canyons and this general area known as the Sunshine Coast was really not on my radar at all until Lukas suggested a trip. It was instantly intriguing. Three aquatic canyons (Seshal, Soda, Osgood) plunging through temperate rainforest, requiring a ferry, hour-long water taxi charter, then camping and packrafting to access all sounded like a suitable adventure. The first descents were only two summers prior and we would be something like the third or fourth group to check them out. Between Lukas and I we gathered a diverse group of eight to tackle the canyons. We opted for late August when water levels would be low enough that there should be no real dangerous hydraulics in the canyons, giving us the highest chances of success. Between the flights (for me), the BC ferry, water taxi, packing efficiently, and organizing group gear, there were a fair bit of logistics to navigate. Somehow it all worked out.
Ryan picked me up at the Seattle Airport (my new least favorite airport in the world) and drove me to crash the night at his parents' place at Warm Beach, a really cool 1920s seaside cottage overlooking mudflats and islands complete with a pet eagle. In the morning Keith and Rob showed up and we piled into Ryan's megatruck. Thankfully the border crossing was trivially quick and easy, and the boat inspection similar. We met Lukas and Suhei, and for the first time Jack and Kenna on the ferry crossing from Vancouver to Langdale on the Sunshine Coast. We made good time to the roadend and got organized in the last two parking spots available near the dock. We were worried about our volume of gear until the boat captain laughed us off and told us that we had nothing compared to hunters. Around 4pm we were finally loaded and cruising down Jervis Inlet at speed. We were baffled by the strange pattern of logging blocks along the way and the random quarries, otherwise the scenery was spectacular with steep forest and alpine peaks. After about an hour the boat pulled up to the bouldery shore, we unloaded gear, then set about carving out our camp. We had a sizable flat bulldozed by logging operations to work with but it still took considerable effort to clear the brambles that slashed all of our legs, some rocks, and to rig tarps with the less than ideal placement of trees. Eventually we got there and had ourselves a nice camp overlooking the inlet and its 12 foot tidal range. Ryan and I each flew drones to scout the canyon, both agreeing the water level looked tame with no real hazards.
For a few days we had been watching the weather cautiously. Thankfully forecasted rain of nearly an inch dropped to more optimistic forecasts. We had some thunder booming further up the inlet but thankfully only sprinkles and light rain upon us. We readied our canyon gear so we could have an efficient morning. Some people went for a swim in the surprisingly warm inlet, marveling at the bioluminescence agitated at every movement of water.
I awoke to find the ground dry and sparse raindrops on my tent. It seemed the thunderstorms completely missed us and now we had blue skies, a relief that water levels in the canyon should not be a concern for us. We were on for canyons with Seshal Creek right behind camp being our first target. Around 8am we were finally organized for the 1.8 mile hike up the old logging road that we were camped on. Five large switchbacks in the road helped us gain about a thousand feet in elevation without too much effort. Far from acclimatized, I was drenched in sweat despite the early morning hour. The last third of a mile the road was thoroughly overgrown which slowed our progress. Following a GPS track we bashed down the hill off the road to arrive at a scenic granite patio area perfect for changing into wetsuits. We were all immediately struck by the beauty of the gray-peach granite slabs, green forest, and most of all the clear emerald waters in the pools. Looking downstream we could see a continuous chain of drops and forest framing a view of the distant spire of Churchill across the inlet. The crisp water clarity and color ended up being my favorite features of the Jervis Inlet canyons; combined with a surprising lack of sediment in the creek there was seldom ambiguity in the depths of the pools at a distance. The canyon started with a few awkward obstacles including a meat anchor into a slide, a slide too low angle to actually slide, and another obstacle where a bolt hanger had been removed requiring a rappel down a chockstone crack.
We soon got into the swing of it, working effectively as a team to scout jumps/slides and leapfrogging the rappels. I was perfectly happy in my 4/3mm wetsuit and hood to the point of not really consciously thinking about the water temperature. At the low flow we had the canyon there were no hydraulics to be concerned about so it was just about checking pool depths and having fun.
The canyon had quite a mixture of styles from chained pools, open slabs, boulder gardens, sculpted hallways, a rapid-fire three falls sequence, and a dark ravine section near its end. Lukas' light sub-8mm rope gave us some trouble between a core shot and spontaneous twists in the end nearly chocking into the anchor. The slides were typically short but some of them quite fast and fun. One in particular had a neat banked turn reminiscent of a bobsled course. My favorite single feature in the canyon was a clean 30ft jump into a bottomless pothole with more drops chained beyond (frontispiece); I rigged a rope and several people ended up taking multiple laps on this one.
Nearing the end of the canyon the style changed with a dramatic horizonline leading into a sequence of 25m rappel, pourover exit leading into a 22m rappel, then a steep 20ft slide. At higher flow this section would feel quite intimidating; at our flow it was just scenic. If the whole canyon was like this section it would have really won me over.
After the rapid-fire section, the canyon ended with two rappels into the narrowest section of the canyon, which had moody churning vibes. Down the short narrows was the final 25 ft jump into the last of the freshwater, a stone's throw above the saltwater of the inlet. In all, the approach took us about 1 hr and the descent took us a leisurely 6.5 hrs, with about 11 rappels, 11 slides, and 9 jumps.
We all really enjoyed the day and it was great to see how well everyone got along and worked together despite huge age gaps and not knowing everyone's background. It was probably my least favorite of the three canyons due to boulder hopping sections and the general lack of consistency in its style. I was tired at the end of it, mostly because we did not stop for lunch and I was too engaged with the canyon to eat or drink. Once fed and recovered, we all chilled near our rain tarps. Ryan even got a fire going that was nice to stand around before turning in.
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