It was on. The trip of the season: Bedwell River, Vancouver Island. Dates were set, the team ready. May 10th to 13th would be our timeframe. Four days to follow the Bedwell all the way to Ursus Creek, a few miles inland from Bedwell Sound.

The Bedwell River is one of Western Canada’s premiere multi-day runs, with roughly 20 km of Class IV+ whitewater set in Strathcona Provincial Park, the oldest provincial park in British Columbia. However, it’s far from the most accessible. Founded in 1911, the park covers 250,000-hectares of rugged mountain wilderness. The river flows out of Bedwell Lake and passes You Creek, where we’d begin our paddle—after a 12 to 14-hour hike in. 

Running the Bedwell requires a lot of pre-planning and logistics. First, the journey starts by hiking from the trailhead near the western end of Buttle Lake. Once the run is complete, you’ll have to arrange for a water taxi pick-up near the Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge, which then takes you back to the nearest town of Tofino.

The first recorded descent of the Bedwell was in 2006, during a high snowpack year, in late June, by Shayne Vollmers, Max Fisher, Ryan Stuart and Jamie Boulding. They started on a Friday evening and finished by Sunday afternoon. It has since seen a handful of descents, typically done over three days. We opted for four days, however. This afforded us a more relaxed pace, taking the time to enjoy this amazing zone.

The trip consisted of myself and friends Scott Mcbride, Joe Box and Kiril Plehanov. We picked a date in mid-May, earlier than other descents but in accordance with the low snowpack that year.

Joe’s in-laws helped with the shuttle drive up to the trailhead, all our gear and boats wedged in one vehicle. We didn’t make far before the first stop. At Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken on the way out of Campbell River, we ordered to our heart’s delight, using the coming hike as a convenient excuse to stockpile calories.

Our goal on the first day was to traverse up and over the lakes and then down the other side to a big slide that comes off the back of Big Interior, where we would camp that evening. This section weaves through old-growth forest that remained untouched during a period when this area was removed from the park. The west coast of the island falls under the traditional lands of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation, and there is archeological evidence of people having lived in this area for over 4,300 years. It is a beautiful place, raw and rugged and wholly British Columbia. 

The trip would involve hiking our creek boats from the Bedwell Trailhead (altitude 517 m) up the winding, beautiful yet steep trail to a peak (altitude 973 m). This took us above the snow line, which made for some slippery moments and a need to watch our footing! We had company, of a kind, instersecting a group of mountaineers heading up to Cream Lake. We waved as we parted, certain they wondered where the heck we were going with boats strapped to our backs.

The first goal was to hike to Baby Bedwell Lake. There was still bit of snow and ice, which meant we were able to drag our kayaks across the lake to where we would then cross over to Bedwell Lake proper. The ice covering Bedwell Lake was no longer thick enough to drag across, but it had just enough open water that we could paddle. We took our time, soaking in the amazing views of the Big Interior and Tom Taylor mountains.

This first part of the day—getting up to Bedwell Lake—was the relatively easy part. We had snacks and lunch around the top of the lakes before we descended the ridges that would carry us along the river-left trail. The next 6.5 hours would be route finding and trying to follow the orange markers of the Bedwell Centennial Trail. It traces a rustic path that follows the Bedwell River for 34 kilometers, from Bedwell Lake down to Bedwell Sound.

The trail was not designed around carrying nine-ft kayaks on your back full of gear, weighing close to 90-100 lbs. Making forward progress through the woods was a slow process. There was one log bridge over K2 Creek where we used ropes to get our boats across, as there was a large waterfall that dropped down below the crossing.

We maneuvered our cumbersome crafts along this gentle trail/route, scanning trees for the orange markings to keep us on track as we dropped down toward the big landslide that comes off Big Interior.

Our first day of hiking with the boats took us 11.5 hours and we covered about 11 kilometers, ending at the same elevation we started at that morning. We nestled down, finding flat spots among the boulders and shared a couple cans of beer that had survived the hike in. Stretching our weary shoulders, we chatted before setting up our shelters. Kiril made dinner, which we wolfed down. Exhausted, we drifted off to sleep with the Northern Lights overhead.

The next day we repacked our boats and made the final hike down toward the put-in location near You Creek. The hike down was straightforward through a beautiful, forested section of trail. We were elated to finally finish carrying our heavy boats, and looking forward to (finally!) descending the river. We set up camp on river-right with a glorious view looking downriver toward Ursus peak.

The next morning came with a beautiful day as we set up to paddle the main section of the Bedwell. An open riverbed greeted us with a few small rapids. These led to a larger rapid that dropped off a good-sized ledge. Then down a channel between bedrock walls, cascading through a large chute into a 15 ft drop. We spent a bit of time high on the walls and hanging off trees, scouting our route only to discover a tree in the main line of the drop.

Then it was off to work our boats around this drop, doing some more rope work to lower the boats down along a steep cliff back to the river. History showed us the way; an old logging road made traversing this terrain a bit easier.

Much of the river is Class III-IV+ with a few portages intermixed. A few of the rapids that stand out are the waterfall dubbed Twin Falls, which has two 18-ft drops that shoot off either side of a large midstream boulder. Another is The Fold, which involves a seal launch off river-left before sliding through a folding wave as the walls squeeze in on either side. A short way from here you find yourself standing on house-sized boulders, facing downstream as you look for the drop where the whole river goes under a river-wide sieve, one of four typical portages.

The 20 kilometers of whitewater on this day took us around 10 hours. Between the scouting and portaging, we found an excellent spot to have lunch above some beautiful rapids.

Impressive mountains towered overhead as we made our way down river. Mount Mariner (2,930 ft) and Mount Cotter (3,346 ft) on our right, and Ursus Peak (4,908ft) on our left. It was a privilege to travel through this landscape.

After 10 hours on the water, we set up camp at the confluence of Ursus Creek and the Bedwell. This would be our last night on the river, and we tried to soak it all in. The last day was a very short paddle out to the Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge. This is where our water taxi would pick us up and take us to Tofino.

A restful night and a hearty breakfast had us underway at a good time to meet our water taxi in the a.m.

We loaded our boats and headed off to Tofino. Now, the fun part: getting a ride back across the island. Joe had organized a friend, Will, with a Tesla that would fit all four of our boats and us. One charging stop in Port Alberni and one smooth ride back to the east coast, and we were home.

Undertaking the Bedwell is an amazing four days of adventure in the backcountry of Vancouver Island. The logistics involved might make you wonder about doing this adventure. Trust me: it is truly worth it. The hike in was hard, a mental test made easier with the help of lots of snacks and the company of good friends. This is a trip that lets you glimpse a unique section of river most people don’t get to see. The Bedwell is special, and spending a good four days with it made it far more manageable.

Would I do it again? Once the shoulders stop aching, the cuts heal and the bruises fade, the memories of the trip flood back. Good times complemented by a bit of hardship. Yeah, I’d go again. Perhaps on a good snow year in late June.

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When not working as a care aide at Comox Valley hospital, guest contributor Dave Prothero spends a good amount of his time on the water. Kayaking on Vancouver Island, teaching Swiftwater courses and commercial guiding in the north of Canada. Dave is always looking for fun adventures and new rivers to explore. For more on Dave’s adventures, follow him on Instagram: @raftinglife.