I’ve been itching to get out on the water, because that is my Zen place, and when I go too long without a water-based adventure, I can start to get a little twitchy. So today, I packed up my twins and our kayaks in our faithful red van and headed to Elk/Beaver Lake to do some kayaking.
The lake has a little bit of interesting history. It actually used to be two lakes (thus the unusual name), but in 1872 Elk Lake started to be used to supply the drinking water for Victoria and the lake was dammed, causing the water to rise enough that the two lakes became one.
Although us locals (I’ve lived here long enough to be a local now 😉), still refer to the lakes like there are two of them. The north shore of the lake is Elk Lake, and the south shore is Beaver lake. Which is important to know if you’re meeting someone there 🤣.
You can read more about the long history of this lake, which goes back to when the Coast Salish people were the only humans inhabiting the Saanich Penninsula here on the CRD website.
Elk/Beaver Lake is very popular with swimmers and boaters alike—it is even home to the Canadian Olympic Rowing team—but my twins and I look a little bit unusual when we kayak because we only have two kayaks, and there are, of course, three of us. The solution is that I tow an inflatable boat behind my kayak for one twin and our gear and, part way through, we find somewhere to switch around.
Today’s kayak was amazing! I’ve done a few kayak trips with my twins, but even last year, their range was always so short that it probably took longer to load up the kayaks than we paddled for.
Not so today!
Twin A 
Twin B
This time we paddled for a few hours, and I discovered parts of Elk/Beaver Lake that I’ve never seen before. In my twenty-six years in Victoria, I’ve spent a lot of time at this lake. It’s only a ten minute drive from my house, so it’s easy to access.
I’ve swam in this lake training for triathlons, ran on the 10 kilometre (6.2 miles) trail that circles the lake, played at one of the sandy beaches, and both canoed and kayaked. But today, I saw parts of this lake that I didn’t even know were there.
Normally we launch our boats at Eagle Beach, which is located partway up the east shore of the lake, and paddle north towards Hamsterly Beach (the main beach on the Elk Lake end of the lake). This time we paddled south, exploring what would’ve been Beaver Lake, and it was beautiful.
Bald Eagles were flying over our heads and trilling at us from the trees, and we glided by fields of lily pads, and flocks of Canada Geese.
This lake is, of course in the city, so it’s a different experience than visiting a lake surrounded by true wilderness. At Hamsterly Beach and along the eastern shore, you can hear the noise from the highway, which steals a little bit of the serenity of the lake. But I was pleased to be reminded that, as you get further south, the noise of the city fades into the background.
There are several islands in Elk/Beaver Lake, and since my twins think that islands are the greatest thing, no matter that we live on one and these ones are really small, we stopped on one to have our snack.
Snack time turned into swim time, and I’m sure if I’d brought enough food for lunch, we would’ve ended up staying all day.
But what about the writing inspiration? What creativity did this lake adventure feed into my writing soul?
In one of my upcoming books—Nurturing Natalie (working title)—Natalie isn’t so keen on hiking into the backwoods because of a hiking accident that killed her sister, so her love interest, Karam, takes her kayaking instead. It might just be this lake that they go to. We’ll just have to wait and see because Nurturing Natalie is still only in outline form with lots of room for changes.
For more water fun, already published, Saving Shelby, West Coast Romance Book 1 involves a canoeing adventure gone wrong that results in a reckless rescue that goes right—if you know what I mean 🔥🔥🔥.
As my twins get stronger and stronger at paddling, I’m sure that my water-based adventures will increase. In the early days of our relationship, before we were overrun by twins, my husband and I used to do some pretty amazing overnight canoe trips. I can see those on the horizon.
And I will share them with you as they occur.
Keep wandering my friends,
This adventure took place on 21 July 2020
