By 7 a.m. I have canoed to the upper rapids. Yesterday I had decided it was best to go up the left side. The pelicans on the far side were witness to my venture. I was able to paddle as far as the boulder jutting farthest into the river from shore (in the middle of the bottom photo). I then put on my wading gear and hauled the canoe upriver about 10 metres. Pulling into the left shore I put on my regular clothes again. Paddling off, within a short time realized I had not waded the canoe up far enough. The current was too fast and I could make no headway, paddling hard to just maintain my position. Aie! Eventually I had to let the current midstream take me back downriver, fortunately managing to land right back where I had first stopped the canoe and not getting hung up on boulders. So now I had to repeat the above process, but this time I waded the canoe about 100 metres upriver well above the fast current. A reminder to be more cautious.
Camp 6, after paddling 20 km, two of which involved a side trip searching for a campsite. The site was directly above a wide set of rapids. I just managed to paddle and pole up near shore against the strong current.
For many days the air was filled with seed fluff from poplar, aspen and cottonwood trees.