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THE SPLITS JOURNAL ENTRIES

Monday July 19, 2004

Up at 700. Overcast, cool, clouds at about 100 ft over us. Everything in camp has a layer of sand, wet or dry. My tent weighs an extra pound or two. Breakfast is cereal and milk, except for K, who has oatmeal just because it is so wonderful. Packing up in a leisurely way… Bernie (the American who built a Yukon road) and apostles come by at 830 or so, headed up Dry Canyon Creek. We get away on the river at about 915, with the weather slowly clearing. Paddle through 1st Canyon. Musta done 2nd Canyon in our sleep? Lots of picturesque vistas as we float on a big river. Some great scenes with clouds curling below top levels of cliffs. K is down to his last film so I give him one of my last ones.

We reach Kraus Hot Springs at 1330 and leave at 1515. It’s a nice little pool that has been re-arranged a bit so a few people can lounge around in the water. There are some interesting bits of scum floating around in the pond, which is fed by water coming in from a few sources. J expresses great admiration for this spring, as it allows his somewhat weary bones to rest a bit. Gerbiling has its costs. There is a well-maintained cabin and a bunch of weeds and other plants that probably would not occur here but for the springs.

This is about the end of the big canyons stretch of the river and we are entering flatter country. Continue on until about 1730, then pull over as a light drizzle falls. We are about 23 km donwnstream of the Kraus Hot Springs. Crew of 3 Germans passes us in the evening. There are 3 other crews behind us – 5 red canoes guided by Henry, 3 rafts and canoe and inflatable canoe, and finally 2 canoes carrying Bernie and his disciples. Supper is freeze-dried sweet and sour pork, except for M, who prefers a straight rice dish. We are able to dissuade him from shaving his head and donning saffron robes… might be a little embarrassing down river. Camp 15 is at 61 14 9 and 123 43 48, 48 km direct to Blackstone. We could make it there in 2 days but it is more like 100km on the water. Some lazy hairpin meanders are ahead of us, and it will be some serious rowing for the Queen Mary. M says we’ve covered 491 km on the river except for maybe 10km missed when his GPS batteries quit. We are within view of Twisted Mountain. J would have liked another few hours or days at Kraus Hot Springs… some lightning at 1945-2000, then a serious rain a bit later. Everyone takes refuge in tents.

Lots of air traffic today; Twin Otter has gone over a few times and another small plane also. Hope no one is hurt or missing. Plane overhead again at 2030 – later we find out this was a backlog of flights to the Falls, where earlier smoke delayed some flights. More rain overnight.

Tuesday July 20, 2004

Up at 730 or so. Cool, overcast morning. Breakfast is oatmeal and coffee. They are all 2-cup mornings now. Pack up in the usually leisurely way…. And back on the river at about 1000. I row the raft for a while but this does not quite work as J is worried about the raft and I am a bit inexperienced, so J resumes the con after a couple of hours. Fortunately the Queen Mary does not hit any mines or get boarded by desperate pirates on my brief watch.

The river current is still strong, through a stretch called the Splits, where the river braids into multiple channels and then sometimes comes back together. It is not always obvious where the main current runs, or even whether there is a main channel. There are also lots of trees in the river, so despite the lack of white water, some attention still is needed. Once again there is a head-wind at times so the raft requires lots of rowing. Somewhere in the Splits we spot one large bison bull on river left. He is not doing much and is not alarmed by us.

Somewhere around mid-afternoon we leave the Splits behind and are into a delightful series of oxbows of mostly one channel, moving slowly. We float some of this for an hour or so and drift into view of Nahanni Butte. The village is not much to write home about, but the Butte itself is an imposing structure that is on river left for quite a while. We debate stopping at the village site but instead float on the confluence of the South Nahanni with the Liard River, which is very muddy. From here on the river will be a muddy lake moving at a stately pace towards the Mackenzie. A herd of 31 bison shows up on the river bank just downstream of Nahanni Butte on river left side. They plunge in and swim to the other side, with little but their noses showing above water. An imposing sight. A white-throated sparrow has either been following us down the river or there is a good population of them along the river. It sings its sweet summer song every day.

Pull over at 1900 on a sand bar on river right. Good camping spots have gotten scarce. We have a great view of Nahanni Butte across the river. Mosquitoes around but not too bad. The sky has been overcast nearly all day but clear in the evening. Supper is beef stew (freeze-dried) and rice for M, who is showing some faint Buddhist tendencies. Not sure if Buddhists are allowed chocolate bars, beef jerky, peanut butter, cheese, sausage and pilot biscuits, which all figure prominently in the diet. Lots of flights to the Falls because 2 days were lost due to smoke. The tourist companies are catching up. Camp 16 is at 61 3 4 and 123 20 6; we are 58.5 km from our last camp up river and about 40 km from Blackstone. Moose Ponds seem an eternity and half a lifetime behind us.

Bed-time around 2215. J and M report that 4 bison showed up at about 2245 on the upstream end of our sand bar, then swam off across the river. I remember some splashes and snorts but figured it was one of my compatriots. A boat also cruised by at some point in the evening with some chatty folks on board.

Wednesday July 21, 2004

Up at 645. M up early and has pancakes underway. Coffee has to wait as the master chef gives it a lower priority. Possibly because he doesn’t drink it, the bastard. Cool morning, cool enough for a fleece. But mostly a blue-sky day; sun should burn off the low fog. The tents are wet due to condensation overnight.

Leave this last camp-site at about 850; J is already underway with the raft. Paddle for an hour and a half, then float for a while with the fighter craft linked to the mother ship for an hour. We arrive at Blackstone Territorial Park at about 1400. Takes a while to unload the raft, canoes, and gear. We set up for one more night at the campground. M and J leave in M’s Toyota pickup at about 1600 for Ft. Simpson. K and I get camp set up, shower, and spend a bit of time sorting gear. Shower feels very nice indeed. We deflate the raft and take apart the oar-frame. K retires to his tent at about 2000. M and J back at about 2100 with the two trucks. Dusty, tiring drive. The local mosquitoes are a little too affectionate. Lots of raspberries near our camp-site.

THE CANYONS JOURNAL ENTRIES

Thursday July 15, 2004

Up at 715. Breakfast is oatmeal, which is a bit too sweet but does fill the gizzard. Pack up camp. Ferry canoes down-river a few hundred meters. K and I carry the canoes – ok but some serious sweating here. There is one furniture cart, which is very useful in hauling gear. By noon all gear is below the falls, and we’re getting ready to load the canoes and raft. Putting spray decks on takes a while. Leave at about 1315. Cool below falls but a fair bit of smoke and it is a very hot day. First stretch is Canyon 4 – some water with waves, but nothing serious. We have nearly full spray decks on, although M and K both leave sections open at the rear of the craft. I am swaddled in the front of my Explorer with spray deck cloth.

Later on we go through Figure 8 Rapids, where the main river channel goes straight into a wall. A sharp left turn is a desirable thing for those wishing not to hit the wall. There is a whirlpool to the left (clockwise) and a counter-clockwise eddy on the right, which leads to nowhere in particular. M is very proud of our negotiation of this rapid. We come off the wall at the left, into the standing waves on their left side, then a heavy-duty back-paddle to get out of the standing waves, and we slide through the whirlpool with no trouble. J runs first in the raft and rides the standing waves for a bit, then rows out of them into the left eddy. K goes next and we’re no far behind. M says we did it perfectly; no water in the canoe. We find out later that the Germans in the catamaran inflatable canoes hit the wall at this rapid, but unfortunately were not drowned. Later on there is another whirlpool that pulls us left but there are no problems. A very hot afternoon.

There is smoke from the hillside to the river’s right at Figure 8 rapids, but no flames. There is smoke throughout the day but visibility is still several miles. We pull over at about 1700 on a gravel bar island on river left, a little upstream of where the Flat River flows into the South Nahanni. This is Camp 11, 20.7 km below Virginia Falls, at GPS 61 33 35 and 125 24 18. Falls are at 61 3 35 and 125 45 25.

It’s a hot evening; everyone has a bath in the river and washes some clothes. All members of the party are a bit stiff from the portaging, especially M, who lumbers about on two wooden legs. Supper is freeze-dried lasagne and dried fruit (apricots and cranberries). We burn some garbage on J’s garbage can lid. Everyone retires a bit early, but it was a good day. The river is showing us its many faces. K spots a grizzly bear at about 2100 at the north end of the island we’re on, which is about 1 km long. But it wanders off, crosses a river channel, and we have no further sightings of the beast. In hindsight, this turns out to be the only bear we see on the whole trip. This is not a bad thing, although it would have been nice to see some other bears. Bears are best viewed at some distance…. Seems like our days of having the river to ourselves are ended; we will be leap-frogging other river parties the rest of the way.

Friday July 16, 2004

Cool morning but blue skies. Sun does not show over mountains until about 900. It will be another hot day. Fair bit of smoke down river but no more than in previous few days. M makes pancakes and sausages for breakfast and again does a fine job of it. Perhaps out aging muscles need a bit of protein to replace the stuff abused by portaging. A leisurely morning; we’re packing at 930 and underway at 1030.

Reach Hell’s Gate and the Pulpit, part of 3rd Canyon, part of about 17 km of canyons with mostly sheer rock walls on either side. At Hell’s Gate we pull over beside a group from Nahanni River Adventures – 3 big grey rafts, an inflatable Zodiac canoe, plus a big (17 or 18 ft) red canoe. At least 10 people in the group. 1330-1530 – hike up to rock overhanging Pulpit – quite a view! The mega-group also hikes up to the same vantage point, and there is a well-used trail. Apparently we are not the first humans on this river.

Float through more of the canyon later in the afternoon. With the volume of the river and the rock walls, we might expect to be roaring through one rapid after another, but most of it is quite tame, and there is plenty of time to stare up at the cathedral spires along the way. There is some current, though, as we are often clocking 10km/hour or more, based on M’s GPS, and up to 16km/hour.

We pull over on an island not too far down river, at about 1630. It’s hot but a rinse in the river and wet clothes make it tolerable. The big group we ran into at Hell’s Gate passes us on the water, and later (1800 or so) the Germans pass us in their two inflatable canoes strapped together by poles and rope. The Germans do not believe in life-jackets, apparently, and seem to have a general aversion to clothing excluding Speedo swimsuits.

Camp 12 is at GPS location 61 23 33 and 124 57 26. A look at the map tells us that we have covered many miles since the first day where the river was still in its diapers. M says we are now 295 km in a straight line from Moose Ponds and 115 km from Blackstone, where our vehicle waits silently. If we’re 295 km from Moose Ponds by raven’s flight (crows are scarce in these parts), then we’ve surely covered much more with the river’s bends and twists. It is a unique way to know this landscape… I’ve seen much of it from above, by small plan and helicopter, but seeing it all from the water’s surface, with few sounds other than paddle splashes and the unique groaning of Morack’s gerbil oar motion is special.

Supper at 1845 is freeze-dried pasta primavera, and not bad. Wind picks up in the evening, so we need to make sure our tents are tied down well. M and J retire early… Lots of rowing on a hot day for J and M’s intestines are apparently moving things along more quickly than desirable. Have a nice evening sitting on a flat-topped table rock, periodic entertainment is provided by a couple of horse flies with a fondness for my legs. Eventually they go up to the great beyond, little mourned by us. A nice chilled bottle of wine would have enriched the evening, of course, and some sweet young things with good hands would have put us all in heaven.

Saturday July 17, 2004

Up at 715 or so. Slow morning. Two pots of coffee. A two-cup morning, except for those peculiar souls who don’t drink coffee. Cool, breezy. Packing up at about 930. Off on the water at 1010.

Lots of canyon scenery today. We’re traveling through 3rd canyon. A bit downstream from our camp, we pass the big Nahanni River Adventures crew (3 rafts, 2 canoes), then the Germans dressed by Speedo and catamaran.

Lunch 1300-1350, underway, served by Captain Gerbil. Stiff headwind and hot; much work for the gerbil. Paddle on through afternoon to Prairie Creek, which has many small channels into the main river. A crew with 5 red canoes is camped there; we paddle on to Dry Canyon Creek and camp on a sand/gravel bar on the river left side. Pull over at about 1630. It’s very windy so all the tents have to be tied down with large rocks.

Starts to rain at about 1900 and we get a thunder-lightning display for some time, along with the rain. Camp 13 is at 61 15 5 and 124 24 41(that’s all in degrees, minutes, seconds). 49.5 km covered on river today. We have about 4 days of paddling left to Blackstone, and the next target for stopping is Kraus Hot Springs, which is about 30 km down river. Possible plan for tomorrow is a hike up Dry Canyon Creek tomorrow.

Hide in tent at about 2015. Rain coming down heavy. One lightning strike at about 2030, as the thunderclap would have roused a dead man. Rains stops by about 2100. Get a visit at about 2130 from Henry (somebody) – a guide with the 10-man, 5-canoe group camped at Prairie Creek, just up-river from us. He’s scouting a hike up Dry Canyon Creek, and borrows my canoe with a partner to cross water just down-stream of our camp. Poor sleep, for some unknown reason.

Sunday July 18, 2004

Up at 730. Slow morning, with 2 pots of coffee again. Careful analysis has revealed that we have enough coffee to have 2 pots every morning now.

J, K and I hike up Dry Canyon Creek from about 1110 to 1630. Maybe 10-12 km uphill. Not much water in this creek, although it’s clear that at times there is some serious water moving through this dry creek-bed. The guide-book that M has (which he says is never wrong) mentions that there is a hazard of flash flooding in the creek. But not today. There is some sheep sign along the creek-bed – fecals and occasional tracks – but otherwise not much wildlife sign. Lots of interesting rocks along the way. None of us knows much geology, unfortunately. Great views of rock-faces along the way. Near our point of turning around, we run into a few of the 5-canoe tour group camped at Prairie Creek. Back to camp at about 1700.

The Germans come over to visit for a bit in the evening. They are retired and spend much of their time traveling. Must be wealthy as they have a Mercedes equivalent of the Hummer, but bigger. As the Hummer sells for something like $80,000, these folks are clearly not worried about the monthly utility bills. They have canoed lots of North American rivers, including the Hess, and several that J and K have done. The two men flew in to Moose Ponds from Whitehorse, and the leader’s wife joined them at Moore’s Hot Springs. These folks are looking for a ride from Ft. Simpson to Whitehorse. For us it would be nearly impossible to accommodate these 3 and their gear… as it turns out later, our German friends are a bit cheap and will approach us a few more times about a ride back to Whitehorse. The 5-canoe group leaves from near our camp at about 1740, and the 3 raft, 2 canoe group goes by at about 1755. The Germans are camped just up-river from us. A little of the wilderness atmosphere has been lost, downstream of the Falls.

Evening – supper is macaroni and tuna, not bad. Fills ya up, as they say. K’s hernia bothering him some. Clouds gather 2000-2030, and rain starts at 2100. Rains pretty hard for about an hour. More rain in the middle of the night, and cools things down a bit. Bed at 2100 to get out of the rain. This is camp 14, same location as Camp 13. My tent has one small leak, on the seam of a plastic window in the fly… and in a heavy rain, this drips at a slow, steady rate. Fortunately it does not drip enough to disturb my slumbers.

 

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THE FALLS JOURNAL ENTRIES

Tuesday July 13, 2004

Up at about 710. It has cooled off considerably overnight. At 2100 I was on my sleeping bag in my shorts, but by morning it’s cool enough to wear a fleece. Pack up after breakfast of oatmeal squares, which, in my estimation as a camper, is probably the worst breakfast of the trip. It passes by quickly, however, and requires little clean-up. Possibly owing to this gourmet delight, we are on the river today at about 900. J is back in the raft and I paddle with M again. Pretty much all of it slow water today – easiest for M and me, with more work for K and lots more work for J at the oars.

Smoky all day. Sunny but smoke seems to absorb or deflect some of it. J sweats plenty. A few horseflies and mosquitoes on the river, and the raft seems to have a resident population of mosquitoes exhibiting great loyalty to J. Lunch is at about 1400 on the river. The two fighter craft are docked with the mother ship, and the oarsman chef serves up the gruel of the day.

Arrive at Virginia Falls at 1700. The thunder can be heard about a km up-river. Our quiet river-to-ourselves phase of the river has ended. Henceforth we will see other parties on the river. The transition from glassy-smooth quiet river flow to the chaos and rage of the rapids and falls is abrupt and astonishing. We pull our gear out, set up camp in one of the campground places, and put the canoes on racks set up for this. There are several groups camped here at the Falls. There is at least one daily flight in with the Twin Otter, and often several, this being the destination of various tour groups. We walk the boardwalk and trail set up for the portage – something like 1.3km. The boardwalk is in good shape and will save us much drudgery, as the underlying terrain is often wet or hummocky or both. Many feet would also quickly trample the vegetation. There are also trails that allow some wonderful views of the Falls, some from a distance showing a greater perspective and some literally at the water’s edge, where crashing waves shoot spray 15-20 feet straight up and it becomes clear that any canoe, kayak or raft that ventured into this maelstrom would come out at the bottom in small rounded pieces.

Takes J and me 30 minutes to walk from the base of the portage trail (below the fall) back to our camp-site. So we need to allow a good hour for a round trip with gear. Back at camp there are a few mosquitoes but not too many. There are some camp robbers, and a cadre of shameless food thieves dressed up as red squirrels. One of them scavenges M’s candy bag. Our supper tonight is a freeze-dried chicken-rice dish.

Evening – spend some hours exploring the trails around the falls. Words fail to describe the beautiful violence between rocks and water. Water churns, pounds, thunders, all close at hand. It is a marvel. For us there is the added depth of having seen this water grow from a meandering creek and beaver ponds into this muscular raging torrent. We take lots of pictures and J captures some video. But to see it firsthand is an experience you feel in your toes, in your heart, and in your soul. Let this place forever be what it is.

Camp 9 and 10 (two nights at the falls) are at 61º 36’ 25” and 125º 45’ 25”, the Virginia Falls campground.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Up at about 715. Slow morning. Cool, sunny, still some smoke. M makes pancakes again and does a fine job of it. Morning spent watching the Falls from various points, some close to the water. Lots of pictures taken. Lunch at 1330. Fortunately the rocks we stand on are made of sterner stuff. Afternoon is siesta time for J and M. K and I find ourselves individual picnic tables and have a slow read. My table initially has shade but as the sun does its particular rotation in the sky, shade moves and so, of necessity, does my table.

Slow afternoon. K and J wander off down the portage trail in search of a cart or carts to assist with portage work. The search proves fruitless, to their great frustration. Supper is Kraft dinner at about 1900. By this point the absence of cold beer is becoming a serious issue. We may have to charter in an aircraft to remedy the situation.

2000-2230 – We haul two portage loads over the trail down to the river. J and I carry the raft, fully inflated, on our shoulders. This goes ok – not super-heavy but awkward. I carry the raft’s oar-frame on the second round and the other Sherpas haul packs and assorted heavy things. Two more rounds in the morning should get us fully transferred. The evening brings some coolness, thankfully. A park range, young fella named Jathan, stops by to brief us on fires and bears. There is a fire near Figure-8 Rapids downstream but it should not be a problem. Not a lot of bear activity or bear sightings. There is continuing smoke down-river but most of this is from Yukon and AK fires. Bed at midnight… a bit tired and went through some water after sweaty work.

 

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THE SLOT JOURNAL ENTRIES

Friday July 9, 2004

Up at about 8. After long day yesterday, everyone moving a bit slowly. So far solar charger working fine — charge up satellite phone batteries every second evening or so, if it’s not raining. This morning we have a visit from a young cow moose, who seems unwary. We snap a few pictures and J shoots some video of this visitor. We pack up and leave at about 1115. River is much bigger now, but not a lot of white water. A few riffles and the odd rock to catch the unwary. Banks were all rocky earlier; now we are seeing more earthen banks and trees leaning over the river. J takes off early on the river and it takes us nearly 2 hours to catch up. Stop for lunch on a gravel bar at about 1430. Some drizzle early on. Occasional sun, mostly cloudy. Pass a number of burns and one is very recent, with smoke still rising from the river bank. Must have been burning a day or two ago.

River picks up lots of water today — many streams, and a big one where the Little Nahanni comes in. The river is changing character every day. The early trickle has become a stream and now it is a river. Most of the water is silty but not muddy. In the evening we stop at Moore’s Hot Spring but the mosquitoes win the day. Easily the most abundant blood-suckers we’ve seen to date. We scout out other sites near here (well, K does, rousing all the mosquitoes in the neighbourhood) and find remains of a cabin and a boat. M finds a piece of blue plastic that may have come from a raft. In 50 years it will be an artifact suitable for a museum. Moore’s museum. Perhaps Moore was carted off by the mosquitoes? We camp about 400m down from the hot spring, which is not that big a deal — but very green and lush. Pull over at about 2115, so it’s a fairly long day. Supper at 2230 but still lots of sun. The paddling is easier for M and me than for K and J — hard to keep up with a two-man canoe with a light load. J has the toughest day of us. No real white water today. The scenery is gorgeous — the Sapper Range on river left and the Ragged Range on the river right side. Ragged Range gets more and more ragged as we go downstream — towering dark peaks with some peaks and towers only a rock-climber or a falcon could love.

On our wildlife list there is the moose, of course, from the morning, and then a few ducks of uncertain parentage (likely scaup on later check of a guidebook), some shorebirds not in my guidebook, a couple of kingfishers, a bald eagle, many cliff swallows (and plenty of swallow holes in clay cliffs). In general, though, the avian life is limited, and as Parks staff later confirm, there are few fish in the upper stretches of the river. We saw beaver in the first day or two and lots of beaver sign there, but only occasional beavers after that.

Camp 5 is at 62° 20′ 11″ and 128° 7′ 33″, and we covered 69.2 km on the river today. (This turns out to be the longest river stretch covered in a day’s travel on this trip).

Saturday July 10, 2004

Up at about 800. Things moving a bit slowly today, after a long day. Rained last night and there is drizzle in the morning. Packing goes a bit slowly; we leave at about 1110. J leaves a bit earlier in the raft to get a head start. No serious white water today; some waves at Elbow Rapids where the river takes a big bend from NE to SE direction, but it goes smoothly. Lunch on a slow part of the river as the raft and canoes float along together in quiet water. A fairly easy day. The river picks up lots of water today — and nearly doubles in size where the Broken Skull River comes in through several channels.

To the right are the crags of the Ragged Range — beautiful, awe-inspiring, dark and a bit grim. No easy hiking up there. To the river’s left are less craggy peaks but still big rocky mountains, and very impressive.

Camp 6 is a little past the confluence of the Broken Skull and Nahanni Rivers, at GPS 62° 13′ 28″ and 127° 34′ 24″. We covered 50.2 km on the river today. Our weather today is cool, with the odd drizzle. Generally good weather. Some smoke, mostly down-river. A shower in the evening again, predictably as we pitch our tents. K has a 4-man Eureka A-frame, I have a Kelty Vortex 3 to myself, and J and M are the odd couple in a big Eureka tent that has a porch and allows the inhabitants to stand upright. Supper is spaghetti and sauce. Not bad, and besides that, by summertime everything tastes good.

Today gives us our prize wildlife sighting of the trip — 6 black wolf pups playing on a gravel bar on river left, in the afternoon. We are floating by and they seem fairly unconcerned. No adults visible although there is surely an anxious mom not far away. We stop and watch; I would like to get some pictures but would have to fuss with bags and make noise to get it out. J gets a little video footage of the last pup as they toddle off into the bush. Not something we’ll see every day! Fun to watch the pups — still a bit awkward and gangly. Kind of like my puppy Sam in his early months. This makes the day for us… we could do this trip 100 times and not see wolf pups again. A little later we spot a moose calf on the river bank — a ruddy colour that almost looks Herefordish.

Sunday July 11, 2004

Up at 730 or so. It rained overnight again, so my wet clothes did not dry. Usual sort of morning. M makes pancakes — very good. Then the usual routine of packing gear and boats. We get underway at about 940, and J a little earlier to get a head start. The canoes catch up after an hour or so.

We get to Rabbitkettle park cabin at about 1400. There are 2 canoes there, pulled up above the water. M registers us at the kiosk as “M and 3 others”. No excess verbiage here. We have become anonymous generic paddlers, appendages to the great M. Walk a few hundred m to the warden station at Rabbitkettle Lake, which is quite pretty. A crew of 3 fire-fighters hop in a helicopter as we get there. S, a rather attractive park warden gives us a few words about fires and other stuff in the area. M immediately falls in love. Well, in lust, anyway. There is also a party of 4 Americans led by one Bernie from Nevada. Possibly deported from that great state. Bernie is a bit chatty, shall we say. Has been in the Yukon in the past and apparently single-handedly built the mining access road to the Sa Dena Hes mine 40 km north of Watson Lake.

We camp another few km down-river from Rabbitkettle Lake. Camp is on another gravel bar on the river left side. This afternoon and evening we have lots of sun — finally my clothes dry! Almost too much sun. The mosquitoes extend their usual annoying welcome but get scarce in dry hot conditions. Supper is a chicken stew made partly with canned chicken meat; not bad at all. Camp 7 is at GPS 61° 54′ 1″ and 126° 59′ 42″, and 57.7 km from last river camp. Slow evening. Nice.

Monday July 12, 2004

Up at about 715. Cooled off overnight — dew on tents in the morning. Breakfast today is cereal and milk. Sunny in the morning; it will be a hot one. Finally my clothes are all dry.

Pack up and we’re on the river at about 930 today. I row the raft today; J is in my Explorer with M. Quiet water today. We figure J does about 11 paddle strokes all day, and spends much of the day lying on his back with his feet sticking over the gunwales. But J has earned a day of rest. Rowing definitely requires a workout! It’s a hot day and I go through a few litres of water by day’s end. Lunch is at about 1400 on the river; sausage and cheese, served up by Maestro M. They say the idle rich are not happy but I would like to test this theory myself. Lovely to float down-river and do absolutely nothing. Stop for an afternoon break at Flood Creek, which has one channel of very clear cold water.

We pull over today at about 1700 on a gravel bar. There are some aggressive horse flies, which seem to be able to handle the hot sun when the mosquitoes can’t. Yesterday and today will no doubt allow the forest fires to flare up again. We get some smoke on the river every day, but it’s not that bad at the moment. Supper is macaroni and tuna, and J makes a banana cream pie that tops off the supper nicely. We covered 53.2 km on the river today, says M. Camp 8 is at 61° 51′ 2″ and 126° 15′ 23″. We are about 45 km from Virginia Falls, and should be there tomorrow afternoon. The Falls are about halfway on our journey. K and I have baths of a sort this evening. Nice to get that itchy feeling out of my scalp. Not much in the way of wildlife sightings today. Some small ducks I can’t identify, and 3 terns near camp provide an aerobatics display — helicoptering in place and diving at something in the water. The mountains on river left are an imposing citadel that K is quite impressed with. Also spotted 2 wolves a few hundred m up-river, on a river bank we had passed by. One is a tan-grey adult and then a second one, dark or black, also shows up.