It’s almost sac-religious NOT to sea kayak if you live in the Pacific Northwest. From the waters of Puget Sound right outside my back door, to the vast water wilderness of Johnstone Strait and British Columbia, I hope this growing selection of sea kayaking photos inspires you to get out and explore.

View photos at SmugMug

View a slideshow of these and more Sea Kayaking Photos

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My partner from BC Bike Race, one of the many mountain bike stage races that seem to be all the rage these days, just forwarded me a link to our ride profile from Stage 1. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to recharge his Garmin after this stage so I can’t look back and realize just how painful, I mean fun, this mountain bike stage race actually was…

Click this link for a Stage 1 Profile of BC Bike Race – http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6931200#

Some notable stats:

• Ride Time: 4:50
• Elevation Gain: 8,439 ft (yikes!)
• Distance: 57.93 miles. Actual distance for the course was less…we take a wrong turn, as can be seen in the map
• Average speed: 12 mph

Fun times. If only I could get back into that form again…

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I’ve heard it before, really, as I’m sure anyone who has paddled in ocean swells and prefers the aroma of salty air over the rush of white-water, has too. Mention the word sea kayaking to anyone who has never actually done it, and I’m sure you’ll get a similar response. Little do they know how exciting (thrilling even?) and dangerous sea kayaking can be. Don’t get me wrong, most of my sea kayaking trips tend to be in areas that offer solitude, wildlife and (relatively) calm waters, such as the secluded bays off of Vancouver Island or hugging the coastline of the Channel Islands (or right here in Puget Sound.) That’s not to say I haven’t been in situations where things went bad very quickly, when I was literally paddling UP and DOWN ocean swells, praying for dear life that my boat didn’t capsize. Things can go bad very quickly in a sea kayak.

What got me thinking about this was an article I flipped through in a recent edition of Sea Kayaker magazine. There was a story about a veteran paddler who got lost, and disappeared, while paddling around the Brooks Peninsula (the most western point of Vancouver Island and all of Canada.) Interestingly I was trying to plan a trip to this exact same area for the summer (a wedding got in the way.) Of course this doesn’t mean I won’t try and get up there. Every one of my Vancouver Island trips, whether by bike or boat, has been awesome. The island is so diverse, there is so much to do and explore, that I find it hard to believe people who have called Seattle home for decades, have never made the trip north.

Cape Cod National Sea Shore

My parents are lucky, for they live in a truly unique part of the US. Although I'm spoiled by the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest, I'm always intrigued and captivated by the scenery in and around Nauset Beach and the rest of Cape Cod

8 Photos

Sea Kayaking Channel Islands National Park

Sea kayaking Channel Islands National Park, camping on Santa Cruz island

8 Photos

Blake Island Sea Kayaking

Sea kayaking around Blake Island off West Seattle.

6 Photos

Sea Kayaking Johnstone Strait Vancouver Island

The sea kayaking in British Columbia is spectacular and the thousands of inlets, coves, peninsulas, and nearby Johnstone Strait, make paddling around Vancouver Island some of the best in the world. This photo album consists of two separate sea kayaking adventure trips to the Broughton Archipelago, off the NE corner of the Island.

17 Photos

Kayaking Ross Lake, North Cascades

Ross Lake National Recreation Area is located in the heart of the North Cascades. Although not part of North Cascades National Park, it offers true wilderness lake kayaking. Surrounded by towering peaks and dotted with serene camp spots, Ross Lake runs north to the Canadian border.

9 Photos

Sea Kayaking Trip: Baja California

Unfortunately I don't have the original prints from this epic 17-day sea kayaking trip from Loreto to La Paz in Baja, Mexico, back in Dec 2000. I do have lots of memories though. This was really my first big self-supported 'wilderness' trip, one that opened my eyes to adventure travel. All sea kayaking photos were shot with a simply P&S film camera. I apologize for the very small viewing sizes. Hopefully I can uncover the original prints and rescan.

9 Photos

So, be careful if you’re going for a paddle. Although I ski and bike alone (resort ski, not backcountry ski) I rarely go sea kayaking by myself.

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After much deliberation and the cancellation of my eastern Europe bike tour (which I just realized I would be in the middle of at this very moment,) I can finally look forward to packing up the B.O.B for a short bike tour in just over a week.   Beginning on or around the 11th I’ll have my brother drop me off at Whistler, BC, where I’ll hop on the bike and begin the adventure north.

Within minutes I’ll find myself climbing into the beautiful coastal range as I pedal my way NE towards Williams Lake, about 250 miles distant. From there it’s time to head west on Bella Coola Highway 20, which apparently is the gateway to a vast wilderness. Mostly paved and hopefully only lightly traveled by RVs and logging trucks, it’s Heckman Pass that I anticipate being the high point of the journey (no pun intended here) as it drops 5,000 ft to the sea. With grades as steep as 18% it should be pretty interesting how a fully-loading skinny-tire bike handles the dirt roads (unlike my Chile bike tour, which consisted of endless "ripio" too but I was riding a mountain bike.)

If time permits I hope to venture off the main road to allow time for exploring some of the remote areas south of HWY 20, including Ts’yl-os Provincial Park , which is home to Chilko Lake, the largest, natural, high elevation lake in Canada as well as prime grizzly bear habitat. Hmmm…not sure if bear spray will do much here!

Once I reach Bella Coola, about 600 miles from Whistler, I’ll hop aboard the Discovery Coast Passage ferry heading south through Inside Passage to the tip of Vancouver Island. With enough time I should be able to bike down the island to Nanaimo, (passing, unfortunately, Alert Bay, a place I recommend everyone visit via sea kayak to experience the thrill of being face-to-face with the orcas) a short ferry ride back to the mainland, Vancouver and life as we all know it.

Besides the simple joy of exploring a new area and dealing with the unexpected mishaps that are part of wandering in more remote areas, my goal is to photograph this natural landscape to the best of my abilities. So check back in a couple weeks and I should have, what I hope, will be some pretty cool photos and stories of the area.

Below is a very simple map of the general route I’ll be on, although as I read more and more about the area there are what appear to be some pretty spectacular dirt roads I can take instead of section on HWY 97.

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