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HOOD RIVER TRIP
Summer 2002, July 27 – Aug. 11
Participants:
Steve Dunn
David Dunn
Keith Fergusson
Derek Birkham
Marilyn Sprissler
Jack Stefanyk
Day 1 – July 27: Trip Begins in Yellowknife
This first morning we got up about 5 a.m. to prepare for a 7 a.m. departure. The first trauma of the trip was Jack discovering that an important bag of his had been left in Steve’s basement. This was solved by him borrowing Martin’s gear.
This morning we flew in 2 planes from Yellowknife with Arctic Excursions – 2 in a Cessna & 4 in a Single Otter. We (in the Otter) had to stop at a depot to refuel since we had a very strong headwind & used a lot of gas. In addition to all our gear, the plane also carried a large additional drum of fuel for its return trip.
Where we stopped was also a hunting camp in the fall – until late Oct. apparently. There were a few rather decrepit buildings – without roofs. The flying time was much longer than expected – due to the headwinds. Finally, after about 3 hours of flight time, we set down in the second lake of the series (not 414 as planned) because we were concerned about being windbound.
As it turned out, it was the opposite. Blackflies were quite bad already when we landed – the Cessna had dropped off Steve & Jack about half an hour earlier (the Cessna didn’t need to stop for re-fueling) & they already had on their headnets – & then they got worse. Everyone was waving their headnets/bug jackets. It sounded as if it was raining on your head & when you wave your hand it hits tons & tons of the blackflies with every wave. I have to make a huge effort to try & tune out the bugs.
Where we landed & first headed out looked quite desolate – a lot like the top of some mountains when you get above treeline – short scrub & a LOT of stones & rocks tossed all over the place.
The water temperature is unbelievable. I actually swam briefly where we stopped for the night & it was ok – albeit, refreshing! I thought it was about 60-65 ° F. but when I measured it later, I discovered it was 55 ° F. I was expecting from articles I have read that the water temperature would be in the high 30’s, but I expect that with the couple weeks of hot weather preceding our departure, that it had heated the water up considerably.
Day 2 – July 28: Windbound
Today was a shortened paddling day, due to very high winds. We paddled the first half of Cave Lake but it was so extremely slow & difficult, that we decided to wait a bit for the winds to ease. We decided to build a fire….easier said than done! We all hunted for “wood” for about half an hour in order to have enough to build a little fire. Well, we waited from about 10 or 11 in the morning till later afternoon, just lying around & trying to get out of the wind (impossible) & finally gave up on paddling for the day. Eventually, when we finally conceded that we weren’t going anywhere today, we put up the tents & prepared dinner – early rise planned for tomorrow!
Day 3 – July 29: Paddling the Lakes
This was a very, very, very long & exhausting day. My arms & shoulders are totally exhausted. Hopefully I can paddle tomorrow! We got up at 4:30 a.m. & were on the river by 6:30 a.m. The wind was ‘slightly’ less on Cave Lake so we were able to get across it, inch by inch. We paddled till about 5:30 p.m. tonight with a few breaks & a few rapids. We can now SEE our first esker – across a side river where we are camping.
The weather was cold & extremely windy all day – wind out of the north (of course). Temperature at 5:30 a.m. was 5 ° C.
Day 4 – July 30: Still Paddling the Lakes
Today was a bad or worse than yesterday as far as weather goes, & the amount of paddling directly into a northerly wind. I’m exhausted again. We got up at 5:30 a.m. & were on the river by 7:”30 a.m. Today we also saw a bit of snow remaining from last winter.
The weather was cold (4° C & extremely windy all day again).
We paddled for 11 hours today & everybody thought it was the hardest day they’ve ever paddled.
Day 5 – July 31: Grizzly
I can’t remember the details of today except that it was long, cold & windy (hit 0 ° C). We also had snow pellets & flakes & paddled till about 11:30 p.m. We did a couple of huge portages, including the one at Mason Rapids, where we camped, or I should say, were going to camp. The Mason Rapids portage was both long & rugged. Finally everything was portaged with the exception of the canoes so we set up our tents & had dinner underway. We even had caught a few fish when all of a sudden Steve hollered “Bear!” & was running down the hillside (esker) backwards. A large blonde grizzly (we at first thought polar bear of course!) appeared & ambled down the hill. Dave set off a flare, but that only slowed him momentarily. We all yelled, waved our paddles around, banged on pots & pans & generally made as much noise as we could. He wasn’t aggressive, but he sure was curious….either that or maybe we were fishing at his favourite spot? At one point he even stood up (just like in the movies) to sniff the air for about 30 secs. The grizzly came extremely close to us, maybe 30’-40’ away, much too close for comfort! – all who had bear spray had it out. Anyways, finally he decided to leave & little by little, he begrudgingly left.
Everyone agreed that we would rather camp elsewhere, so back across the portage trail we all went (en masse, wearing our life jackets & banging paddles). What a sight we must have been! We portaged the canoes, took our tents down, put dinner away, threw the fish into the river & hopped back into our canoes, paddled down the river a couple of miles & then started the unpacking & setting up process all over again. Finally we ate & went to bed – at 2 a.m., I might add!
Day 6 – Aug. 1: Falls & Falcons
Today was a good day – we started from the first chute before K Falls. Two canoes ran it & it was lots of fun. Then came the 2nd chute, which was a straight-forward long fast tongue. Everybody ran this.
Then a very short while later, we arrived at K Falls, which was truly spectacular. We portaged around it & saw a peregrine falcon ….who definitely did not want us there….it had a nest, I am sure, high on the cliffs of the falls, but we could not find it. He “kee’d” at us constantly & flew high above us complaining constantly.
Keith couldn’t find his raincoat so we all spent about an hour hunting for it. Finally, after I had lent him my paddling jacket, I discovered his raincoat (accidentally) attached to a barrel in a canoe. Disaster averted again!
We then set off again down the river. Finally, we had the wind (ever-present) with us. The scenery is phenomenal – you can see forever. There are huge sand flats several km. Long, jagged rock sections etc. We made decent mileage today, without putting in horrendous effort & time.
We stopped for a while at the confluence of the Wright R. & hiked up to a gorgeous falls. There are also really interesting geologic formations all around & approaching the falls. We then paddled a bit further & stopped for the night.
Day 7 – Aug. 2
Well, we got up again about 4:30-5:00 a.m. & continued till about 4:30 p.m. & would have continued on into the night except that I complained very loudly, that there was no reason to push so hard…..since further down the river we would make up mileage….which we did.
The paddling was good today & we did so many rapids that I lost count. The terrain is pretty well the same, the weather was warmer & there was little wind so, of course, the bugs were bad – both mosquitoes & blackflies. We are at Km. 175 approximately out of a total of 295.
Day 8 – Aug. 3
Today we covered a lot of distance with minimal effort….about 40 km. By 2:30 p.m. So, we stopped early. There is not much wind so flies & mosquitoes are both bad.
Day 9 – Aug. 4: Caribou Rapids
There were lots & lots of rocky rapids today – starting with Caribou Rapids, which was a Gr. 3-4. It was divided into 2 sections which we ran & a 3rd which we portaged around. There’s no way on earth we could have made it.
We stopped pretty early, had a bite of lunch, some of us did laundry – I washed my hair & then hiked up this huge rocky hill. What a view!
This is probably the most beautiful campsite we have had on the river.
Day 10 – Aug.5: Mine
I thought there would be just a few rapids but basically there were rapids everywhere today, both before & during the gravel pans. We stopped around noon because a couple of the guys spotted something that looked like a construction trailer. Everyone took off like a shot, but I decided to lounge. Two hours later they returned – apparently there was a real mess – some mining operation was drilling for core samples & there were many pallets of samples. I now have quite a beautiful one for a souvenir for my rock collection.
While waiting on the shore I suddenly noticed a piece of volcanic rock!!! Just one!! I can’t imagine how it got way up here. Later I found out that it was probably picked up somewhere far away by a glacier & then thousands of years & miles later was deposited here. Amazing!!
Finally, we arrived at the beginning of the rapids leading to Wilberforce Falls. We were able to go about a kilometer closer than normal before having to pull our boats up, due to the low water. This was definitely a plus since it shortened our portage by that amount. However, it made be more than a little nervous as I saw us approaching so close to Wilberforce! We then pulled up the canoes on the shore & walked, first past the large rapids leading up to the falls, then to the brink of the falls. Apparently, there are usually 2 channels that the river follows, but this year the water is very low & all the water is flowing through just the one part of the canyon. The water is unbelievably clear – you can see the ledges that the water is flowing over (5’-10’ underwater!) as it goes over the brink. Where we walked to would be impossible if the river were flowing in both channels.
This is probably the most spectacular waterfalls (& canyon) I have ever seen, including Virginia Falls & Iguazu in Brazil.
Day 11 – Aug. 6 : Wilberforce Falls
Today was basically a hiking day & sit-around day. This morning Derek & I stayed on the side we were camped on (river left) & hiked to the same place we went yesterday in order that the other 4 could cross the river, hike along the cliff on the other side & take photos of the side we were on – using Derek & me to give some sense of perspective.
Then a little later we portaged 2 canoes & some packs & barrels to the bottom of the canyon – quite a long & hard portage with difficult to walk-on terrain. The portage was supposed to be about 5 km. Long, but thanks to the low water we saved over a km. I measured the distance with my GPS & it turned out to be 3.37 km long – felt like 10 km.! The mosquitoes & blackflies were also very bad. If you headed into the wind the flies didn’t seem so bad, but as soon as you walked with the wind the flies all used the lee of your head (& body) to hover around in. Poor Keith forgot to bring his headnet & suffered badly on the portage because of it! And Steve lost his headnet somewhere, never to be found again. Fortunately, I had followed Cliff Jacobson’s advice in his book & brought an extra headnet along, so I gave it to Steve for the remainder of the trip.
After we returned from the portage, Steve took me to a spot where he, Jack & Dave had hiked to earlier. It was in the dry channel & way down in it was a grotto like cave. It was gorgeous….& then we went to this high spike of land that dropped out hundreds of metres below us 360° around. We had to do a scary hop over thin air to access it. But you could see the entire falls area from this vantage point. We got some pretty good movies & pictures from this point.
Tonight the mosquitoes are VERY bad, so everybody is hiding out in their tents.
Day 12 – Aug. 7: Wilberforce Falls
Today we portaged the other half of our stuff to the end of Wilberforce Canyon – in the rain & cold, I might add! It was a bear of a portage – everyone had more to carry this time, but at least we didn’t have the bugs to contend with this time.
We set up the tundra tunnel at the bottom end of the portage to get out of the rain while Derek & Jack went back for the last pack. As I think I mentioned before, this portage would have been much longer than 3.37 km if the water had been higher. As it was, we were able to paddle past the end of the last gravel pan, whereas normally you would normally take out at the beginning of it. I believe we are right now camped at one of Franklin’s Encampments….which is REALLY NEAT. I cannot in my wildest dreams conceive of them trying to go UP this river!
Most of the day we just hung around. I read a bit & snoozed as did most everybody.
Day 13 – Aug. 8: Ragged Rock Falls
More of the same today…with the exception of Ragged Falls, which was beautiful. I personally would have called it “Red Rock Falls”. It was drizzling out & all the rock looked gorgeous red-sienna in colour. The falls is spread completely across the river, which has become quite wide & is about15’ high. The water pours through (between the red rock islands in about 4-5 places forming multiple falls.
It was very slippery carrying over the rock & poor Dave kept slipping – he actually fell into the water! However, it was not caused my slipping on the rock, but because he was standing in the canoe trying to punch a pack into a spot it didn’t want to go!
Weather has been gray & drizzly off & on & today for the first time there was a south wind (wonder of wonders, on our backs!), so I placed the tent accordingly.
We then sat around a fire (built by Jack of course), had lunch & yakked. Now it’s raining again – but I am inside my cozy tent.
Day 14 – Aug. 9: Inuit Tent Rings
Today we encountered no rapids except for a few riffles where we were camped. We zoomed along the river & at one point saw an interesting instrument on the shore. So we hopped out to go up to examine it – it was something to measure the river with – maybe volume of flow, maybe river level….we didn’t know for sure. There was also a solar panel to charge it with.
Suddenly we heard Jack hollering to bring his camera – so we all came running, wondering what he’d found. He’d gone wandering a few hundred metres & discovered 2 Inuit tent rings!!! One was the size I would expect – the other was about 3 times that size, maybe 25’ long x 8’ wide! It was truly amazing! Here are the UTM coordinates: N 88824
E 71220
Elevation: 59 m.
Shortly after this we stopped at the last rapids on this trip. It is about 2 km. From our finish point. We’ll probably stay here for tomorrow also because it’s exposed & less buggy. It’s huge river swept low rocks, which I am sure are normally underwater.
Weather was cold, rainy, windy.
Day 15 – Aug. 10: Bathurst Inlet
Well today was & still is a miserable day. It is foggy, windy, cold & rainy. There’s a good chance that if the weather hasn’t changed by tomorrow that the plane won’t be able to land. That would not be good!
What we did do that was interesting & a big highlight for me (& probably everyone on the trip) was to hike over several eskers to Baily Bay, which is a large bay off of Bathurst Inlet on the Arctic Ocean. We had lunch (cold, rainy, windy etc.), huddled by Jack’s fire & dipped our feet into the ocean. On the return hike we saw a whole family of Arctic Ptarmigan – we scared them up by almost walking on top of their nest.
It is now 6:27 p.m. & everyone is hiding out from the weather in their tents….at least there’s no bugs!
Day 16 – Aug. 11: Waiting Mode
Well….I thought today would be our last day…but such is not to be. After a drenching night we all woke up to wind, rain, fog etc. etc. ….did I mention COLD?
Everything & everybody was wet & cold on our flat rock campsite(especially Derek, whose small single tent was not quite up to the task). Our satellite phone call to Boyd (Arctic Excursions) confirmed what we suspected….everything was grounded at Yellowknife till further notice….so….we packed up & paddled a few km. Down the river & re-set up our tents on a sandy gravel bar – here we could also set up the tundra tunnel (which we couldn’t on the exposed flat rock site) so that at least we could keep out of the rain & eat & socialize.
So….we’ve been passing the time chatting, drinking soup, eating, moving the canoes up – they almost floated away but fortunately we noticed that the water level had risen a lot. At first we thought it was volume of water coming down the river from the rain (& a small amount might have been) but then we realized that we were into the tidal reaches of the ocean. So twice we had to move the canoes, first time we didn’t realize just how far we needed to move them! And so passed eventually a very long uncomfortable boring day. Hopefully we will be able to get off the river tomorrow.
Day 17 – Aug. 12: Off the River
Good news, even though the weather is still crumby, it’s not too crumby to fly. So we packed everything up, crossed the river to our appointed meeting spot & waited. After a couple of hours (& a bit of hiking while we waited) we suddenly spotted a plane. It flew around & then flew off & flew back just scalping an esker. I wish I’d had the video out!!!! We were flown back to Yellowknife (subcontracted) by a different company in a Twin Otter…so we were all together. The pilot very happily, on our request, not only flew right by Wilberforce but did a 360 right around the entire falls & canyon area!! It was incredible! We also saw the only muskox on the whole trip – from the plane we could see several small herds grazing. We also saw numerous caribou all over the place….just not by the river. As a matter of fact, we only saw one caribou on the whole trip. Our start date was too late – caribou were further south for the most part & the muskox had moved to higher ground.