A river indeed runs through it

The Puntledge River she be short in length (about 10 kilometres, or 7 miles) from the placid and pretty waters of Comox Lake to her confluence with the Tsolum River in Courtenay on Vancouver Island. But, short though she may be, at certain times of the year, she be fierce.

Her normal and very inviting green waters become a tempestuous and powerful flood that can only invite awe and the most experienced and hardiest (and arguably foolish) of white water kayakers.

Right now is one of those times. It is a time when, high above, the snows of the Beaufort Range (the backbone of Vancouver Island) are in full melt and their waters pour down into overtaxed Comox Lake and then into the Puntledge via the hydroelectric dam which regularly must purge the lake ere it overflow its banks.

This is the time to see the Puntledge at its most sensual. The roar of the crashing waters is virtually deafening, with the roar only being punctuated in an almost chilling manner by sirens every few minutes to warn hikers along the banks that another tsunami is to be released from the dam and higher ground should be sought. It’s one of those whooping sirens that seem to fortell missiles raining from the skies rather than just water.

Early today we wandered to one of the best vantage points for the river in its springtime fury – a recreation area known as Nymph Falls. There, down by the falls proper the magic is at its most turgid and climactic. Quite frankly, it’s thrilling. Nearly as thrilling as when the whole of the South Pacific bursts in thousands of miles of pent up fury across the barrier reef at Muri Lagoon on the Cook Island of Rarotonga. And that is thrilling indeed.

If you ever get such a chance in the springtimes of your lives, pay a visit to Nymph Falls.

This is not a paid announcement by the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce, but just a reminder to me: “Self, get your ass off the sofa and take a look around more often than you do.”