We started our second full day camping in Jervis Inlet with low clouds draping the hillsides and high clouds blocking out most of the blue in the sky. More worrying was the notable wind swell and whitecaps in the inlet that we would have to cross 2.2 miles in a headwind to reach Soda Creek on the other side. This being the shorter of the three canyons, we had a more leisurely morning waiting to see if the wind swell conditions were stable or would improve. Around 9:45am we inflated packrafts and decided we might as well give it a try, the general consensus being we would return to camp if we found the conditions to be too borderline. Ryan's sea kayak became quite helpful for storing and transporting some of our canyon gear.
I led the charge hugging the coast for a touch of shelter, paddling to the headland 0.7 miles southwest of our Seshal camp. I paused to wait for everyone to collect here, every lapse of paddle strokes having the current and swell push me back towards camp! Eventually we assembled and all were keen to try the 1.4 mile crossing. I picked a landmark a quarter-mile upwind of the white sliver of the last falls of Soda Creek, started paddling and virtually did not stop until I reached the other side. Unsurprisingly the GoPro footage does little to convey the topsy turvy feeling of the constant swell, occasional whitecaps, and gusts of wind. Despite my upwind landmark, my GPS track showed my crossing as being more perpendicular towards a destination 0.5 miles downwind of Soda Creek, a testament to the strong currents. I was the first to arrive by about 15 minutes, taking me 1hr15min including the wait for everyone to gather. The last waterfall of the canyon plunging straight into the ocean was an awesome sight that got me excited for this canyon. Carefully I carried my packraft over the sharp barnacled rocks to a position well above high tide, then worked to arrange everyone else's boats with the limited space at our landing.
In contrast to the other two canyons whose approaches follow overgrown logging roads, Soda Creek had a more direct line steeply climbing through the forest, which was much more pleasant. This being our only north-facing canyon, we immediately recognized the forest as lusher, with more ferns and mosses. Later when we reached the canyon we realized this north-facing canyon also translated to it being the most slippery and coldest of the three canyons. Our 0.5 mile approach took us about 35 minutes to gain 500ft in elevation.
The canyon was immediately recognizable as very different in style from Seshal. Soda was mossy green, slippery, cold, lower flow, and more enclosed than Seshal. We suited up and began our descent, enjoying a great mixture of rappels, slides, and jumps.
Previous canyoners rated this as the worst of the three canyons so I went into it thinking it was just a short "add-on" canyon. What I found turned out to be my favorite of the three canyons, even if it did leave me wishing it was longer. For a 0.3 mile long canyon it was at least very consistent with little boulder hopping and mostly a continuous chain of waterfalls and pools and enveloping greenery. Crossed logs also added to the allure. Slipperiness aside, it was a beautiful canyon.
The final section of 3-4 waterfalls was the best as the tunnel of greenery let in a view of distant peaks across Jervis Inlet and fantastic pool horizonlines. My favorite waterfall was a nice jet plunging away from the wall straight into the middle of a dark pothole with a view of the ocean beyond (frontispiece).
I was initially surprised to see a fixed boater rope at the last rappel but it made sense that boatgoers would do the quick jaunt to the last waterfall to plunge 35ft since the waterfall is very visible from the water. We debated jumping this final waterfall into the ocean but in the end all of us rappelled. It almost looked like it could be a steep slide too but I had visions of hitting the wall at the end or being cheese-grated by barnacles. The initial plunge into the ocean was a shock at how warm it was compared to the creek. The canyon descent took a little less than 3hrs with about 11 rappels and 6 slides.
We had some difficulty in pulling Lukas' rope (again!), resulting in Ryan actually climbing back up and around to free it from the last anchor. Ryan also won the day by pulling out a bottled margarita to share before our paddle back across the inlet. The wind swell was only slightly improved from the morning but at least now we were going at an angle in the downwind direction. It took me a fairly deliberate 45min of paddling to travel 2.1 miles back to our camp, this time recording a sinusoidal path that started and ended more perpendicular to the shore.
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