Central Saskatchewan 2018 Camp 39 (Sep 18-21)

September 18 at camp 38, I arise in the dark well before 4:30 am and make a hot breakfast.  Packing my gear, I leave by 7 am, dressed in long underwear, an extra fleece shirt and fleece gloves.  The sky is gloomy but no rain and I am determined to get to a camp where I can use the canvas tent and stove.  It takes two hours to make it the five km to my previous camp 22, good time considering battling a strong headwind.

An unwelcome surprise greets me at the campsite.  Aie!  There is a lot of  garbage, thankfully none on my tent sites inland at the top of the knoll.  My inclination is to clean it up right away, but because it is cold and looks like rain, I leave the mess until next day.

The weather remains cool and cloudy the next two days, with intermittent rain and snow.  Temperature drops below 0℃ each night.  Once when the sun shows in the afternoon, I get undressed and walk to the lake to have a bath, but I chicken out when I get to the lakeshore.  I stick with washing in the warm tent from a basin full of hot water.  There is a strong headwind from the direction of travel to reach my vehicle, with several long open stretches to paddle.  It does not look promising for canoeing.

On September 19 I wake up at 10 pm to a very hot tent when I fell asleep with the stove damper open too much.  I am dizzy and nauseous.  The next day I do not eat anything.  Remaining dizzy, I drink water and suck on scotch mints and cannot keep down the water.  Aie!  I phone Jeanette, and she graciously arranges for a motorboat to pick me up tomorrow September 21.  Technology can be a curse, but also very much a blessing.

There is some blue sky on September 21, but it is quite cold with thick ice on the water in the bailer.  Camp is down and I have all gear packed and sitting at shore, keeping warm by the fireplace, sitting on a bed of spruce boughs.  This is the last day of summer, even though it has felt like autumn, sometimes winter, for weeks now.

Thanks to John for picking up me and all my gear and canoe to take me the 15 km to my vehicle.  I am dressed in long underwear, three shirts including a fleece one, anklets (cut off socks), rain gear, balaclava, fleece gloves but it is still a cold ride.

Thanks also to Dan and Donna for providing a safe secure place to park my vehicle, and arranging my motorboat pickup.

On the way home, my vehicle this year has a canoe on top, the "good" one.