|
Day 24 Time: 8 hrs 10 min Distance: 34.6 km (442.5) It seemed a bit calmer when I awoke, lacking enthusiasm I rolled over several times, each time the flapping of the hut fabric seemed louder than before. Knowing the inevitable could not be postponed I got up and started packing, Steve had the stove going for tea and oatmeal, as usual he had been up for a while. The water did look better today, we would get in some km's but hard to tell how many. Taking down the hut in the wind was an adventure, we loaded and set off at Noon, creeping up the right shore, at the large island we were able to use the back channel, in that first hour we covered only 2km, actually a bit of a surprise given the headwind, past the island there was actually some current, this gradually became more common, first at some of the constrictions and at other times even at the wider spots. In this long section the width varies from 400 - 2000 metres, as the current became more pronounced the wind seemed to diminish, not sure if real or imagined.
|
|
We were now moving very well although the side wind made for a lot of sideways paddling, in spite of it our forward progress was very good. Sooner than expected we were at 59º N and headed for the big bend, nearing the end of a fairly hard day the section from the start of the bend to the campsite is about 8 km, in spite of a slight semi-tailwind it was a slow paddle. There was once again much more open tundra here, what trees that existed were very small and most likely at this point growing out of a permanent sponge. The maps indicate a "good beach" campsite ahead, I renamed it bad beach as it was difficult to spot even at a very close distance, there was no beach of course and the only indicator was a tiny spot where two paths led up the bank to some open ground. The bugs, which had been thick on the water over the past hour, were even worse here. We quickly pitched the hut, dashed inside for a killing spree. We had a quick discussion on strategy for the coming days, with 35 km done today we are now back on schedule baring any other problems.
|
|
|
We polished off a package of Red Beans & Rice and a Mountain House Veg Stew (still chewy @ dbl soak time). Although the day had started out with dark skies and light rain within a couple of hours the clouds had begun to thin, some blue sky appeared and at times towards the end of the day the sun was actually shinning! It was almost like a nice paddle on a scenic Northern River! Although we will probably have a fairly short day tomorrow we do not stay up nearly as late as has been our habit.
|
