Posts Tagged "Canoeing"
Moosonee or Bust ~ Wednesday June 30, 2010
TRAVELLED/ ESTIMATE: 22.5 km/ 24 km TOTALS: 45 km/ 102 km
Woke up to non-rain. Yes, actual sunshine. Maybe today we will make some miles.
We were packed up and about to load the canoes, I went back to the Campsite to do the final walk-around and to pick up any odds and ends. There sitting on his unfolded sleeping bag was Carl, surrounded by all his belongings, picking his toes or something …only in Carl world. We were ready to get on the River and here is Carl picking his toes NOT packed !! FUCK !! I found out that Todd was frustrated by Carl too.
Mixture of sun and cloud, and cool, but the main factor was the wind. The wind was very strong and from the north. So strong that at one point waves were coming in the boat. Plus, the canoes are keel-less and easily turned by the wind. It was going to be a work-out and an interesting day. Also, my first day as a pirate.
Boulder fields were the theme of the day. Another day of searching for water. Dave and I agreed to play it safe – the Granny method for running the swifts. We walked any chute that looked like trouble. It worked. We spent most of the day in the canoe on top of the water rather than under it. Also, a huge sand bar that we dragged the canoes over. In all, a safe and productive day.
We found a giant Campsite that seemed unfinished. Felled trees everywhere, and dry. It was like a forest fire waiting to happen. We were careful with the camp fire that night.
A clear, cool night.
Dad
Read MoreMoosonee or Bust ~ Tuesday June 29, 2010
TRAVELLED/ ESTIMATE: 0 km/ 25 km TOTALS: 22.5 km/ 78 km
Rain. We woke up to rain. What ever happened to our clear, starry sky ??
Todd let us sleep in. Really, what was there to get up for ? Rain ? Cold, dreary rain. There was vertical rain. Horizontal rain. Diagonal rain. Rain in waves. Rain in sheets. Huge down pours. Little mists. It even stopped raining for short periods, then it would start up again. There was thunder, but we saw no lightning. Just cold, wet, wetter, wettest rain.
We moved the clothes line next to the fire. A lot of the clothing had been semi-dry, but no more. Dave spent most of his day cooking clothes over the fire making them dry …drier.
Dave had spit his pants. Too much muscle ? Todd spent a good portion of his day sewing up Dave’s pants. After seeing Todd’s sewing job, I was looking forward to cutting myself, so Todd could sew me up.
Carl spent his day in Dave’s tent.
I gathered firewood. We had gotten most of the dry wood the day before, so a lot of what I got was marginal.
Afternoon naps all around. I slept well despite my sleeping bag being even wetter than before.
A cool, but drier evening.
What a wasted day,
Dad
Read MoreMoosonee or Bust ~ Monday June 28, 2010
TRAVELLED/ ESTIMATE: 4.5 km/ 24 km TOTALS: 22.5 km/ 53 km
The rain had stopped sometime during the night, but the trees were still dripping. It was a cool morning, I could see my breath when I stepped out of the Tent, and my semi-wet sleeping was no incentive to stay inside.
Todd was up first. He had made a fire, coffee, and oatmeal/ porridge for breakfast. I had not had porridge since I was a child – I quite enjoyed it.
It was a semi-clear day and the north wind was cold. A good day to make miles …or 4.5 km.
There were eight swifts divided into two sections. Dave and I dumped the canoe three times. The second time being the worse. When I bobbed back up to surface, I was greeted with a canoe in the face. I lost my hat at this point. Dave was clinging to the canoe and being pulled left. I too was at the mercy of the currents, but travelling right. I tried to stop. I put my feet down – they just bounced off the rocks. I kept going. I tried to grab different rocks with my hands – I was not strong enough to hold on. I got a “road rash” from my right elbow to the palm of my right hand …in a river ? The knuckles on both my hands were bloodied. I was being dragged, out of control, until the river got bored and dumped me in a pool. The canoe had gotten wedged against some rocks and Dave was still hanging on. I swam over to Dave. Todd too was in the water and coming to the rescue as always.
As we unloaded the canoe, the water was surging and boiling all around us. We lost a few things – Dave’s paddle (rescued by Carl), my bag of ropes, but worst of all Dave’s tent !! It was going to be a very crowded and interesting two weeks without Dave’s tent.
The three of us were about to wrestle the water filled canoe through a huge water chute to shallower water when I yelled over the roar of the rapids ” Whatever you do …don’t scratch the canoe !!” We all burst out laughing. Canoe humour.
We got the canoe to shallow water, when Dave saw it. Todd and I could not see it, but Dave did. It was his Tent. Teetering on the lip of a rock about to be swept away by the current on either side of the rock was Dave’s Tent. The Tent should have been far away. The Tent should have sank. But the Tent waited for Dave, and only Dave, to rescue it. It was a miracle !!
We eventually found my long, heavy duty rope which became our primary clothes line and an important part of our camping family, but the other ropes, my hat, and whatever else we lost were gone.
We stopped for lunch at the Campsite on the Brown Rapids portage. We thought about staying the night and maybe a chance to dry out, but the north wind seemed to be funnelled through the Site. We could not stay here. Both Todd and I were cold. Despite the warmth of the River water, we had been wet too long and lost too much body heat.
We reached the next portage around the Kettle Rapids in less than an hour, and the Campsite was suitable. Between the ongoing wind and part time sun, we began to dry out and warm up.
It was a cool, clear, starry night. We even watched the Moon rise. Good, the weather was finally cooperating.
Dad
Read MoreMoosonee or Bust ~ Sunday June 27, 2010
TRAVELLED/ESTIMATE: 12 km/ 24 km TOTALS: 17 km/ 29 km
Cool but dry morning. We were going to make miles – Dave and I making ours in the water.
Todd and Carl became canoe partners for nine days, meaning Dave and I were together in the other canoe.
Despite the low water issues, the water was down at least a foot, the scenery was beautiful and the River water warm. Boulder fields were ever present, the Swifts dry, and the Rapids less than rapid, add to that a strong north wind in our faces, we had to work for every foot of River.
Despite the low water flow, Dave and I lost control in the Rapids and dumped the canoe – twice. As soon as Todd noticed us in the water, he jumped ship and joined us. Once the canoe is wedged against the rocks, you need to empty the canoe of its load on to dry ground, then wrestle the water filled canoe to shallow water where it can be emptied. Reload the canoe and back on the water.
We only lost one bag that day, though it took us several days to figure out what we lost – it was the Garbage …oh well.
Wet – we stopped early in an effort to dry out. Dave spotted a former Park campsite and we took it. The River had washed away the approach to the Site, so you had to climb the Bank to get to the Site. Being the tallest, I stood at the bottom of the Bank to past up the gear, I asked Carl to stand at the top and I would past the gear up to him. I grabbed the first bag turned and Carl was gone – Carl was looking at the trees, his fingers, or maybe his toes …whatever Carl does when he is in Carl land. I was NOT impressed.
It started to rain – perfect. We got the Tarp up, then the wet Tents under the Tarp, clothes lines, and us. Not much drying that night. Dave and I discovered that cameras do not like being underwater and you cannot depend on Zip Lok bags. (I had to pour the water out of my battery compartment.) Though my MP3 player worked great.
So the wetness begins,
Dad
Read MoreMoosonee or Bust ~ Saturday June 26, 2010
TRAVELLED/ESTIMATE: 4.9 km/ 4.9 km TOTALS: 4.9 km/ 4.9 km
Even though I was up before 06:00. Even though I had packed the night before. Even though I let most of my personal hygiene slide, I was running late.
To make things worse, I could not find the Garbage. I had smartly collected all the Garbage into one bag, not wanting to return to rotting garbage, but I could not find it in the apartment or outside. SHIT !! Finally, I gave up and just left.
07:13 – I was running thirteen minutes late. Got to Todd’s after 07:30 – LATE !! Todd was a machine. All Todd’s personal equipment and the Groups’ bags by the Van in 17.3 seconds. (21.7 seconds if you include kissing wife Tammy good bye.) Found the Garbage packed in the Van.
Back on schedule and off to Dave’s. We would have been on time to Dave’s, but we drove past twice. Finally at Dave’s, we discovered Carl’s many little bundles and bags, and Dave was not quite ready. (They made me look good.)
Finally, on the road, a little late, but going. The trip to Cochrane was pretty uneventful. We ran over some black, mole-like animal the size of a rat on Hwy 64. We saw another one on Hwy 11, but managed not to kill it. We stopped for gas, Vanna was not used to hauling two canoes on her roof, four men, and a few hundred pounds of equipment – you could watch the Gas gauge drop. I could not get over the amount of farm land in New Liskeard – Wow !! Plus, Dave brought his lunch because his other lunch was at home on the Stove. (Another wife Tammy appreciated finding Dave’s lunch two weeks later.)
Finally in Cochrane and Terry “Johnny Bait”, our Outfitter, found us before we completed the phone call. Dropped Terry’s truck off at home and on to Mattice.
Terry a retired Beer Store worker – 35 years. Apparently,he still supports the Store. Terry did not like silence, so he filled in the silence with details of current River conditions and weather – VERY DRY, current events, and stories from forty plus years ago when he worked on building Hwy 11. We even got the “Johnny Bait” story.
Mattice, a village on Hwy 11 almost to Hearst. We drove to a park in town and the Missinaiba River. Unloaded the Van (Vanna said thank you), and loaded the canoes. Terry hung out waiting for us to get under way. Terry took our group picture, then we all waited for Carl to put on his diving boots. (Terry called them his Tinker Bell boots.)
In the water …with a little effort. The Water was low. Carl and I got stuck on the rocks in the first swift for a moment, but were soon on our way. (A little foreshadowing.) It was a warm, sunny afternoon and it took us over an hour to get to the first portage, Rock Island portage, and our first campsite.
The vacation has begun.
Dad
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