Our first paddling trip on Lake Akan was beautiful, confusing, and gloriously ignorant all at the same time. To start, I didn’t have any information about where paddlers could put in on the lake. That was not for want of trying. I called the Akan information center. “We’re not sure,” they said. “People don’t really paddle much on Lake Akan.”
Google Searches came up blank.
It really did seem, as incredulous as it was, that almost no one ever paddled on Lake Akan.
It just didn’t make sense.
So, with very little information to go on, I decided to act on the little knowledge I did have of Lake Akan.
“There’s a spot close to one of the outlets at the eastern side of the lake that you can get right to the water,” I explained with feigned confidence to Haidee and Saoka. “It’s right next to the Oakan-dake hiking trailhead, so there’s a car park there too.”
So it happened that we ended up putting in at the very eastern-most end of the lake, at around 7am, blissfully unaware that we would spend the next few hours hugging the shoreline, keeping out of the way of the alarmingly frequent, alarmingly gigantic, and alarmingly fast tourist boats that would cruise into even the most sacred-feeling nooks and crannies of the otherwise peaceful eastern reaches of the lake.
As we were paddling in the beautifully remote-feeling southeastern corner of the lake, we had one crew member on one of the larger ferry-like vessels cross his arms in an ‘X’ formation at us, which made us wonder if actually we weren’t supposed to be where we were.
Once we were in cell reception range on the lake, from my kayak I called around a few more information centers in Akan village, as well as the Akan-ko Nature Center.
“There’s no map that shows the off-limits areas,” the representative at Akan Nature Cetner told us. “And there’s nothing in writing about crossing the cruise boat float paths. However, generally, it’s not acceptable to cross the float paths, so it’s not possible even for us, an official canoe tour outfit, to paddle the eastern side of the lake,” he said apologetically.
Suffice it to say, the 15-minute quiet times between speedboat arrivals were a beautiful, calm, quiet oasis at the eastern end of the lake. Replete with flowers, deep forests, and white-tailed eagles.
We carried on, and paddled the majority of the eastern and northern shorelines of the lake, including the remote northeastern corner of the lake.
It was all very beautiful. Native ezo deer on the shoreline. A quiet facility of some sort. No tourist boats.
Once we made it a bit further around the lake, I spent a few more minutes scouring the web on my smartphone for more information about where it was OK to paddle on Lake Akan.
It was then when I came upon a map by the Ministry of Environment, below. It showed quite clearly where the ferry routes were. Based on this map, it appeared that the only way we’d get back to our put in where our car was, was to paddle all the way back around the lake, in the opposite direction.
So I called the Akan Nature Center again, and explained our situation in more depth, including where we’d ignorantly put in at the far southeastern corner of the lake.
“You shouldn’t have put in there, sorry. You’ll need to take out at the only legitimate take out on the lake,” the representative told me. “It’s just northwest of the tourist ferry boatyard.”
So it happened that we ended up finishing our paddle about 8km sooner than expected, but at least we finished it at a legitimate spot to take our boats out of the lake. As a put-in/take-out, it was perfect. A nice sandy beach, good vehicle access, amazing views. It felt strange that there wasn’t more information about this location on the web. We can only assume that the vast bulk of people visiting Lake Akan come to simply look at the lake (which as a goal in itself is a worthy one!).
Fortunately, I was able to call a taxi to take me from the take-out back to the car.
A few months after our paddle on Lake Akan, I started to email a few other agencies on the lake. I was keen to find out more about rules, restrictions and considerations for paddlers on the lake.
After a number of emails going back and forward with the Ministry of Environment Lake Akan Management Office, in the end it became clear that:
- It’s OK for paddlecraft to paddle in the Special Protection Zone at the northeastern end of the lake – only motorized vessels are prohibited.
- Unauthorized vessels (including paddlecraft) are not allowed in Churui and Kinetanpe Bays, as per the Lake Akan Management Plan.
- Paddlecraft should avoid paddling across ferry routes*, and should take care to keep watch for sightseeing boats and fishing boats.
*When I asked about hours outside of ferry operation, the ranger said he didn’t see an issue with out-of-hours paddling.
To get to this point in understanding, it took a lot of back-and-forward. First, on the phone, the very helpful Ministry of Environment ranger at the Akan Management Office said that all vessels, including paddlecraft, were not allowed in the Special Protection Zone, due to concern over wake impacting marimo moss-ball colonies on the shoreline of the lake. Then, after asking about why non-powered vessels were not mentioned in the Ministry of Environment directives about the Special Protection Zone, to the officer’s credit he spent a few days finding out what was going on. It was after his few days of fact-finding that he amended his advice to paddlecraft being able to paddle in the Special Protection Zone, but not in the Churui and Kinetanpe Bays.
I mention this process of back-and-forward with an official agency simply to show that understanding about where paddlecraft can and cannot paddle on Lake Akan appears to be very blurry and ambiguous, even while government advice appears to be fairly black and white (in obscure documents that are difficult to find).
There may indeed be other local “rules” and preferences around paddlecraft on Lake Akan. Many of these rules and preferences seem to be quite unknowable without extensive surveying of a lot of institutions, companies, and agencies involved in the lake.
At this point, it appears that if paddlers just keep to the western end of the lake, there’ll be no issues whatsoever.
If paddlers must circumnavigate the lake, it appears the least worst option is to make sure to smash out the southern shoreline before around 6am if possible, and certainly before 8am when the ferry starts operation.
