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Day 25 Time: 3 hrs 30 min Distance: 19.8 km (462.30) No rush today, the sun is shining for the moment, the bug are annoying as always. We lay about for a considerable time given the great distance covered yesterday we had an easy 20km planned for today. I tried to call Doug but could not make a connection. We set about the daily ritual of packing while a few short bands of rain passed by. We had everything down to the boats except the hut that was now overrun with horseflies; another shower came so we waited inside until it passed. I left a message for Doug on voice mail; we loaded and were off at 2:00pm into the current, breeze and mix of sun and cloud.
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An easy paddle to the start of the rapids, a CI starts then a CIII, waves but easy (sort of), a CII and swifts made up the 3.5km stretch ended with Death Rapid, preceded by a short gap. We stopped on the right shore to have a look Hap says to stay right all the way but at these water levels center and center left is the drier route, there is some nasty stuff at the bottom that requires some careful navigating. Just a CI remains for moving water today so we stopped for a lunch before paddling the remaining 4.5km to the island campsite. With the high water the site is quite obvious it's in a small grove of trees at the far tip of the island (2 islands actually), not sure how we missed it in '06 but certainly took extra care not to repeat that mistake, there isn't much between here and the coast other than emergency stops.
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We pitched the hut and did the usual bug kill before getting a bit of rest and reflection on the trip. For dinner I fried made some mini veggie burgers with green beans, mashed potatoes and the last red onion. We followed with our last package of cookies. As had become the norm we had some more rain although it was brief. It took a number of tries before I was able to get through to Doug, by the time I got a connection I was once again waking him up! Seems all is good for tomorrow, I tell him to confirm with Jack Batstone that we will be at the coast before high tide and hope he will show up shortly thereafter. We watched the sunset, one of the few of the trip and then made preparations for an early departure in the morning. We are aiming to be on the water by 9:00am, this will be interesting! There is a bit of a breeze, the water moves by the camp at great speed making some sloshing noises as it passes through the bushes that should really be out of the water. It would be a great night for a fire if not for the bugs that are surely still out there by the billions! Steve is out doing the dishes; I'll get a bug report when he returns.
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It always feels a bit odd at the end of a long trip, the idea of hot showers, soft chairs, beds where you can stretch out, toilets you can sit on for as long as you like without suffering bites in places not intended to face such indignities. At the same time the realization sets in that this particular escape from the "real" world will be over soon, there will be the return of people, cars, telephones, TV and the internet, of answering to others and being responsible for the mundane details of regular life. It has not been a particularly hard trip; the conditions have often been against us but there been few true hardships, no serious calamities and no near brushes with disaster. There have been some memorable (of forgettable) setbacks of course, Catch 22 portage, headwinds, cold & rain and always close by the hordes of bloodthirsty insects. I'll need to review this journal to revive these memories the ones that will come to mind on their own will be the good times that were had.
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