George River Solo 2018

Day 22
Start Time: 8/5/2018 1:16 PM
Duration: 4:33
Distance / Total (km): 17.7 / 276.5

I woke at 8:30am; the sun was starting to bake the tent. I moved over to the Pod for tea & oatmeal then started packing up my bedding and the Marmot. Inside the Pod the temperature hit 32°c, there were a few bugs so I burned a piece of coil although it was not really necessary. I had a bit of trouble deciding what to wear, with some R3’s coming up the full dry suit seemed appropriate, on the other hand if it was going to be this warm it would not be very comfortable so I went with my standard semi-dry pants and splash top. I sorted out the loads that I needed to move 275m down to the canoe. It was sweaty work, almost certainly the hottest day of the trip so far. It seemed as if I went a slightly different route each time, not sure I ever found the best route. Once I had everything down to the top of the cliff I went through the process of lowering down a load by rope, then climbing down to load it in the boat, rinse and repeat! Then I had my “where is X?” moment which meant partial unloading and searching for missing items.

Finally I was underway, it is here the gorge empties into the east channel of the George River, next time I would like to take that route from Lac Resolution, there is not the single really big drop like the route I used, instead many smaller rapids and shallow sections. I drifted past the cabin, past the middle gorge and then the third gorge. The latter two do appear to have less water than the gorge with the portage.

There is fast current to the sharp turn to the northeast where the river slackens leading up to the left turn and first rapid of the day an easy R2. Just past Pohl Creek, there are some small-unrated rapids and then into the main section of action for the day. R2 – R2 – R3 over 2.5km, the map indicates of second R3 but it does not exist. I have a great run successfully missing the bigger pour overs and riding the waves. I ended the run with a considerable amount of water on board; a stop for bailing, pumping and sponging was required.

I headed north with some current and a tailwind towards the abandoned hunt camp at the far end of this wide section of river. It was pretty much as I remembered, the main building had a broken window as it did in 2010, it seemed like the inside was more trashed than on my last visit. I checked out the row of cabins, the last one, probably the guides cabin was in the best shape so I moved my stuff up from the shore and settled in. My criteria for cabin selection are simple, a) bug proof? b) ventilation? Other accoutrements are secondary although a bed and a table are nice features as is a view out a decent size window.

I made a bag of Pasta Primavera (Mountain House), after tossing in some crushed chilies its pretty good for a veg meal. I swapped the usual ear buds for my portable speaker, there were a few annoying mosquitos so regular coil burns were needed to lounge in peace. A new weather forecast indicates a mixed bag, some chance of rain, a little cooling off and perhaps some wind issues. My plan for tomorrow is for a short distance, paddle to the R2 – R3 combo just downstream, another short paddle to the next portage and carry the portage, camping at the far end. It is a distance of less than 5km paddling and an almost equal distance backpacking the portage given it will take five trips!