Highway 3, the Wet Version (Similkameen Float)

The Vitals

Date: May 18-19, 2025

Location: Similkameen River

Distance: ~80 km

Time: 2 days

Partners: Alex, Dave, Christian

Resource: Life of Luke

The Trip

Another from the wishlist when first constructing the DIY packrafts, the Similkameen was a perfect introduction to running rivers for a few fairly novice paddlers.

I’ve gone canoe tripping a number of times (portages up to ~2 km) and also done a few sea kayaking trips with no portaging. Last year, we did our first true packrafting trip, carrying the boats up to Garibaldi Lake to cross to Sphinx Hut and climb Castle Towers. However, I have very little experience with running rivers. When I was a teenager I had an inauspicious introduction on the North Saskatchewan where I dumped the canoe on the first rapid. More recently, Brittany and I took a whitewater course in Squamish that spent a couple of days on flat water and rivers with limited sections up to class III.

The preamble above is to set the stage for uncertainty on how to plan a river trip. From finding information on water features (what class, where?) and flows (what does such-and-such cubic meters/second mean?), to what to pack and how to secure it well in the rafts. The good thing about the Similkameen and Hwy. 3 is that lots of internet research can be supplemented by unlimited stops along the river as you drive to set up a car shuttle. After scouting the rapid after Bromley rock and the “Golden Dawn” rapid, we felt fairly confident we could paddle everything.

I also think I nailed the packing. The weather was forecast to be showers all weekend, with cold weather coming in overnight on Sunday including below freezing predictions for Princeton on Sunday night. With recent cold trips on my mind, I packed two complete sets of clothes for two days on the river, right down to two sets of gloves. We also packed our drinking water for camping though we supplemented a few extra liters from the hand pump at Stemwinder Provincial Park along the way. With all of the agricultural and old mine runoff in the Similkameen, no one was too keen on drinking the water.

Saturday we set up the trip by driving to Cawston, BC where we have some friends. We were treated to a lovely dinner and camp in a vineyard despite some heavy evening rain. Breakfast was also very civilized before we finally embarked in one car back to Princeton around 8:30.

An hour’s drive and some packing faff and we were ready to hit the river just before 11:00. We chose to start at 2 Rivers Park where the Tulameen and Similkameen join. Pushing into the flow for the first time in some light rain was exciting, mixed with a little trepidation. Even though everything went smoothly, I still didn’t quite know what to expect.

The river was moving more swiftly in general than I imagined and we began to make progress downstream. We stopped a few times in the first 20 km to regroup and eat lunch, but the rafts were well-packed and we were dressed according to conditions so there truly wasn’t much faff after the initial pack.

Just before Bromley, we unexpectedly encountered and paddled the biggest wave train of perhaps the entire trip. We had already planned to scout the rapids after Bromley, but it was apparent we had already navigated something rowdier so it wasn’t a long stop. Between Bromley and the Golden Dawn rapid were numerous small sets of waves and we didn’t bother to stop and scout the Golden Dawn, knowing that the line down the center was what we wanted.

In the later afternoon, the sun came out and we saw many types of birds including western tanagers (a favourite) and a bird of prey with some fresh kill. We also navigated many small rapids and the open-topped rafts started to show their deficiencies. Even small waves crash water into these boats so their pilots had to repeatedly stop to dump it. By the time we hit Hedley, this action was getting old and we found a beautiful, flat plateau to stop at for the night.

Monday dawned dry and we elected to pack up quickly while it remained so. In the end, the weather looked stormy in many directions throughout the day but the rain always missed us.

In general, the second day had fewer and smaller rapids but there were still some fun waves. We saw many more birds and watched some deer cross the river ahead of us. It was a colder day and we were wearing more clothes, but when a headwind picked up it was time to pull off and get heart rates up with jumping jacks and tea.

A highlight for its absurdity was encountering a pickup truck with welding equipment abandoned in the river. It was stuck fast and I imagine it can have only gotten to its current position when the water was much lower. I’m sure the story will remain a mystery to me.

The wave action really died off by the time we hit the red bridge near Keremeos, but the water was generally moving swiftly and the landscape changed from forest and ranchlands to more of a sandy and rocky floodplain. A few kilometers before Cawston, the wind picked up mightily and two of us came to a dead stop despite paddling hard. Luckily a few minutes of hard work brought us through and thereafter we were always making progress to our final destination of Kobau Park in Cawston.

Packing up and returning to Princeton was again smooth as we retrieved the car left there overnight. Back at home, I unpacked everything and covered every available surface in my basement with gear to dry. The trip wasn’t truly packed up and over until 5 days after I got home when the last gear was put away. A good confidence-booster, the Similkameen lived up to and exceeded all of my expectations.