The Moose Jaw Canoe and Kayak Club couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to hold their annual open house in Wakamow Valley.
Not only was the weather gorgeous as can be, paddlers were able to enjoy almost calm conditions on the Moose Jaw River, perfect for getting into a kayak for the first time and checking out the beautiful scenery in the valley.
Folks were more than happy to take things in, too, as a steady stream of visitors to the clubhouse at the Wakamow dock made for a busy day for Moose Jaw Canoe and Kayak Club instructor Mark Gilliland and the club’s members.
“It’s been busy, we’ve been going steady since 10 o’clock, signing up lots of new members and some old members and doing some orientations,” Gilliland said shortly after chatting with a newcomer on Saturday afternoon. “We have a beautiful day for this, so it’s been busy and it’s been great to be out.”
Things have picked up and then some as the weather has grown warmer, a welcome return given the slower summers the last two years.
“The last couple of years with COVID have been kind of compromised, people have been kind of hesitant to join clubs and things like that, and I don’t blame them,” Gilliland said. “But this year, things are more or less back to normal and here we go.”
The club offers a host of options for those looking to get into the sport. They have a wide selection of both sport kayaks and two-person K2 kayaks in addition to canoes for members to use on their journeys.
Instructors will teach you all you need to know about safely making your way around the water, something that has become a prime focus for the club in recent years.
“It’s more a grassroots, family-oriented, learn-to-paddle kind of thing and that’s much appreciated by the Moose Jaw community, and it’s been going pretty well,” Gilliland said. “We can teach them what they need to do, and then they can use skills they learned here anywhere. They can rent a kayak somewhere else and have confidence they can be safe and have fun wherever they are.”
The club regularly heads out on group paddles in the valley, and the scenery during their trips makes it all worth it.
“It’s an appreciation for the history of Wakamow and for the ecosystem that’s out here, it’s pretty cool,” Gilliland said. “There’s so much wildlife to see, like turtles right now. Painted turtles are doing really well, then here’s lots of beavers and mink and muskrat and snakes and foxes and deer. And even at night, we’ll sometimes go raccoon hunting with flashlights and sometimes you’ll see whole families of them fishing along the shore… so it’s really interesting, and you never know what you’ll see when you’re on the river.”
Folks who really get into the sport and are interested in trying longer trips will have all sorts of support, too -- members of the Moose Jaw Canoe and Kayak Club have made many a paddling excursion in the northern reaches of the province and in Alberta, including trips in a massive 26-foot voyageur canoe.
“Then there are whitewater trips, too, Upper Red Deer and Kananaskis, places that are world-class playgrounds for whitewater and tripping,” Gilliland said. “So there’s quite a bit you can do if you’re really into it.”
The club is continuously looking for new members, so if you’re interested in signing up or checking things out, be sure to visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MJCKC, leave a message, and they’ll be sure to get back to you.
