This is a story about bears, freezing waters, waves, near-death experiences, and a sunk boat that almost ended my marriage.

Players:

Dad (me)
Mom (8 months pregnant)
Eldest: 7 years old
Middle: 5 years old
Youngest: 2 years old
Two dogs

Lake Minnewanka is a very large lake, deep and dark and cold, surrounded by granite mountains and fed from their melting snow caps. A drowned town sits under those cold waters, making a popular scuba diving site. In fact, my first visit to the lake was to get my advanced dry-suit scuba certification. Backcountry trails circle the lake, leading in and out of lakeside campgrounds. Bears were out too. Rangers orders dictated that hikers move in large groups and arm themselves with pepper spray. We would avoid the bears by paddling to one of these campgrounds about 8km in, have a picnic, then paddle back out. That was the initial plan.

We unloaded the boat, placed the kids and the dogs and set off. Then the wind blew.