On a summer day we drove east on the Trans Canada Highway through to Sicamous where we left one vehicle.    Three of us then went up the highway to Malakwa.   The launch spot was next to the Malakwa Suspension Bridge (originally built in 1915).    We paddled downstream to Shuswap Lake, a paddle of 33 kms, then paddled around to Sicamous (another 2.5 km).  The river meanders for most of the way downstream, doubling the linear distance.   

We encountered a number of hazards in the first part of the journey.    It was a route for experienced paddlers only.   The second half of the route had slower water, but that also meant slower progress downriver.   

All seemed benign when we launched our boats and kayaked downstream.  

In the first hour we came to a very large logjam.    This was a formidable hazard.    Although I paddled through a narrow channel with rapids and logs, our second person through became trapped and turned over.    He lost his glasses, his phone, and his camera, no of which could be retrieved.    He held on to a log and was assisted to shore by the third person.     I paddled back up through the channel and brought his boat south of the logjam and landed on the shoreline.     The other two portaged the third boat around the logjam.   After drying out, we continued downstream.     I kept the second boat close to my stern so that I could assist with more hazards.     Without his glasses, he couldn’t see that clearly.   We made it down the river without further mishaps.

We steered around more hazards – sweepers, smaller logjams, submerged trees, and some rapids, including a short section of whitewater near Sicamous.   Much of the day, though, was paddling back and forth on the  meandering river.    At several points our bows were pointing east when the overall route was southwest.   

We were pleased to reach Shuswap Lake, but we still had to paddle into Sicamous, landing near the bridge over the Shuswap River connecting Shuswap Lake to Mara Lake.    We left one person with the boats and two of us drove in the vehicle back to Malakwa to get the other vehicle.    Back at Sicamous, we loaded all the boats and drove back home, very tired from a long day of paddling and driving.   

We have never returned to paddle the Eagle River again, although it would be a good one to do, paddling about half the distance, avoiding the upstream hazards.