June 30 at 4:10 a.m., before leaving camp 10, under threatening skies.
4:35 a.m. eating breakfast in Bug Tent because mosquitoes are so bad.
6:15 a.m., another bad surprise when I carry my first portage load to the next lake. One barrel is tipped on its side; the other barrel is missing! Aie! Not good!
Just behind where the two barrels stood, I almost step on the nest of a small brownish sparrow-sized bird. I talk to the poor mom, frantically calling nearby: "Boy you must have had a real bird's-eye view of the goings on with the missing barrel. Wish you could tell me where it is."
Some of the bush where I look for evidence of the barrel and bear.
I put up a moose bedded nearby, the spot flattened where she lay.
After finishing the second portage, my boots and pants are soaked from underbrush.
June 30 at 2:10 p.m., a very late very welcome lunch at camp 11, on the sheltered side of this small island on a very big sprawling lake, after travelling three km, including two portages, 450 and 220 metres.
A second fireplace I made when camped here previously on the other side of the island, but it is very exposed to the wind and to water spray today. I later pick the fireweed for salad. The white petal-like bracts of bunchberry look like flowers; its berries will not be ready until August.
June 30 at 4:45 p.m., looking on the windward side of the island near the second fireplace, very cloudy and overcast, very strong wind, misty in the distance.
On the leeward side of the island, looking back towards where I exited the second portage, two loons are fishing.
July 1 at 6:15 a.m., the Tarp shelter angled back 30 metres in the bush from the first fireplace, where I build a more sheltered third fireplace, which looks directly out about 20 metres to the lake. It is very damp after raining all last night so my wet socks from yesterday are hanging under the Tarp.
The wind very visibly creates big waves on the other side of the island on July 1.
The tent is situated mid-island about 100 metres from the Tarp shelter.
My boots and jeans not getting any dryer in the wet underbrush.
During lulls in the rain, I cut lots of big firewood and throw it up on the slope beside the fireplace. (Smoke from the fire is visible behind the pile of wood).
A very very heavy rain, my voice in the video somewhat masked by the wind and rain.
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Summary:
Another bear steals even more food, an entire barrel this time containing four weeks grub. Bugs still bad. Very very strong wind and very very heavy rain lead to burning a lot of firewood. Bear spray discussion. Distance travelled three km, including two portages 450 and 220 metres.
June 30:
Camp 11 is on a small island, after travelling three km including two portages, 450 and 220 metres. From my journal (Many 'aie' expletives have been omitted.): "Up at 3 a.m. to Wilson at camp 10 as I was having a good sleep. Calm all night. Don't look outside, just pack sleep gear. When I go outside, very cloudy, not promising at all. Mosquitoes bad! Once everything packed and canoe mostly loaded, erect Bug Tent for breakfast. Hundreds mosquitoes around Bug Tent, only one inside and she stays in, but not alive, my mitt an effective swatter. Put headnet on before I exit. One km paddle to portage and four loads to carry. Wear headnet when portaging, sweat-soaked underclothes, mosquitoes and blackflies bad; very humid. On my first carry, unpleasant surprise. As I reach the upper end of trail, I see one pre-portaged barrel tipped on its side. I see only one ... aie! There is only one barrel, the other missing. Do a quick search by eye from the trail on both sides and in the water. The two barrels were about five metres from lake. Fetch the other three loads, the second load includes the gun which I load and place about 20 metres from the end of the portage. Once all but the missing barrel are loaded in canoe, I take gun (and bear spray), spare slug in shirt pocket. Walk to the left of trail, the 'easy' portion which is just a wedge of open spruce and thick Labrador tea along the lake to the outlet where the creek starts. There is a small bird (sparrow?) nest within 30 cm of where the two barrels stood. If the mother could talk, she'd have quite the story. There are four eggs in the nest, off white, pinkish?-brown blotched. Then walk to the right, along the lake shore about 100 metres, getting both feet wet on the game trail along the shore when I go down over the tops of both boots! Aie! A bit soggy now, I walk back to the portage and head inland into the bush, putting up a moose, which I don't see, but find the flattened bed in the undergrowth beside a spruce tree. Continue on at least 100 metres. Then back to the trail and head 100 metres further inland. No sign, no sign of broken brush ... well no sign of new broken brush; lots of broken brush all over the place of course. I might not be the best tracker, but finding evidence of the heavy barrel being dragged through the underbrush should be obvious. Was also looking for any bits of debris from the barrel. Good sign that barrel is still sealed, but bad for me as I'm looking for a needle in a haystack, albeit, a big blue needle. The only place a bear could grab the barrel is the top lip where the lid seals; I removed the two side handles from all three barrels to eliminate other grab points. One other course is up a steep hill, very thick bush. After one hour, I give up. Canoe up the lake, keeping an eye for signs of the barrel in the water along the shore and into the bush. So now I'm short at least five weeks of grub (one week worth in Food Pack at previous camp, four weeks in barrel). Aie! Moderate wind cools my sweaty body as I paddle to the next portage. Headnet has been off since starting the search for the barrel; the bugs were still bothersome but it would have interfered with clear vision, especially for shooting. The next portage has been chainsawed, mainly at the lower end. In 2018 I had to go over and under several large trees there. Glad that both trails cleared. Still lots of brush (alder and birch) along the trail. The hill at the lower end is a steep 45°, 20 metres long and muddy. I unload canoe and struggle up the slope, careful to avoid slipping in the mud. Aie! The upper end of the trail is very wet; I avoid the worst by tromping on the thick sweet gale brush along the side, difficult walking though. Luckily there is a dryish higher mound under a few birch trees to unload the gear. A light misty rain starts when I reach the end of the portage at about 10 a.m.. Load canoe and push off, greeted by a lone loon. In a short time, even against the now very strong headwind, I make it to the target small isle campsite, 'my' isle where I have camped before. Land in lee of wind. Nothing changed at the two campsites/fireplaces since 2018. Obviously will use the sheltered fireplace, the better one anyway as it is overall more protected. Problem here is the Tarp shelter spot is not near the fire, 30 metres inland, well sheltered from the wind now, but a bit exposed from the opposite direction. Don't think I can have a fire in front of the Tarp, but will check tomorrow. Get tent up and gear in, sleep gear laid out. No unsafe trees and hardly any clearing to do, just a few alders to cut that had regrown, some Labrador tea plants to pull and one small spruce to saw. The gulls still use the nearby small bare rock shoal to nest; must be tough to raise chicks when strong winds and heavy rain. Plan to have lunch with cold LifeStraw® water in Bug Tent which I put up after erecting Tarp shelter. First I clear more dead branches and a few small spruce at the rear and side, so it's neater and cleaner and easier to place Tarp. Use shovel to fetch a big pile of humus from the large fallen dead tree at the side, to level a spot under the Tarp for the Bug Tent. Now I realize since I have stopped sweating from the portage the bugs are less bad; also they are less bad on the mossy undergrowth here on the 'open' island anyway. So start fire and get the four pots on to boil water at the fireplace beside the shore. The rain has paused enough for me to sit near the fire to have lunch; hot water hits the spot. Manage to finish lunch by noon when the misty rain starts again, temperature 15°C, very strong wind. Take the unused Bug Tent down and stash in tent rear vestibule. Using the small spruce trees I felled, I cut boughs to place under the Tarp shelter on the spot around the Kitchen Barrel. I also cut dead lower branches from the front of a large pine just five metres from the fireplace in a nook somewhat protected from rain by the pine branches above and small surrounding spruce. Don't bother with a hot washcloth wash because it is raining harder. To tent early by 7 p.m., sitting in tent in PJ's to update journal after getting ready for bed (Gold Bond® Medicated Extra Strength Body Powder to toes, bum and on toe spacers stored in pill bottle for the night; Vaseline® Petroleum Jelly on lips; Polysporin® Triple Ointment antibiotic to split thumb and to scalded burn on forearm which today I also scraped somehow for a double whammy even though under my shirtsleeve). Also draw compass bearing on map for the portage trail I will need to cut to reach the next target river; although I am wearing eyeglasses, the light is poor and I will need to check in better light to set the bearing reading in the compass.
My mind keeps going back to the lost barrel with 39 kg of grub; I have been naive and complacent in thinking it is 'safe' never imagining that a bear would drag it away. Can get away with a bad process ... until you don't. Already I know that next year I will devise a means of tying each barrel to a tree, farther away from a water body, making it difficult for a bear to move. There is no way I can hoist the barrel, even with a pole like I have done when using lighter Food Packs which I lifted with a small block & tackle; would need a much bigger heavier block & tackle for sure. There's not always suitable trees to hoist barrels, and then would have to do that for two barrels! I have made a 'boxed-in log cache' that worked well; it was mauled by a bear to no avail, but four trees are needed properly situated and have to cut many poles to build the box and use lots of 1/8" rope to lash it. I was worried about losing one week worth of food in the Food Pack, but now four more weeks in the barrel could be a serious problem. [Later, I often think about the lost barrel. The fact that I could not find any evidence of the heavy 39 kg barrel being dragged through the brush, the more I think it must be in the lake closest to where the barrels stood. I did look into the water there several different times, but it was murky and deep enough that I could not see the lake bottom. Could I have probed the water with a long pole? Perhaps I should have taken my clothes off and got in the lake to check? Even if I somehow found the barrel, how could I have retrieved it? Well, an expensive lesson in loss of grub, that I will be sure to never forget.]
Raining heavy with strong wind, so I close the windward tent door, only leaving 30 cm open at the top. Heavy rain and strong wind all night. Too cool in fleece shell, get in sleeping bag by 4 a.m.."
July 1:
Up by 4:45 a.m., Canada Day, 15°C, very strong wind, very cloudy, very damp after so much rain. Everything in the tent feels damp, and I shiver as I get dressed. When I go outside, I notice the tent fly at the back really billowing out from the wind, so tighten the buckle on that corner, surprised that wind-driven rain did not get under the fly and through the inner tent last night. The back tent door was almost closed shut; otherwise perhaps water would have got inside. Hungry, but first I build a third fireplace one metre in front of the left corner of the Tarp shelter, making several trips to the wind blown fireplace to carry enough stones. The new fireplace is built on the moss and humus covered rock face that extends the 30 metres from the first fireplace that I used yesterday. After the fire burns for two hours, I pour two bailers-full of water at the front corner right beside an alder stump with embedded roots to prevent the fire from spreading. Finally at 8 a.m., even more hungry now, I eat a hot breakfast of cinnamon bannock, hot water, parmesan cheese, bacon crumbles ... Mmm good. Sitting on a bed of spruce boughs at the right front corner of the fireplace, the bottom of my jeans get a bit drier, but I soon get them soaked again in the underbrush fetching firewood. Food and a hot washcloth bath make me feel much better. In between getting firewood, I do a number of puzzles, plus chores: cut roots out of fireplace, update journal, mark map, set compass bearing (for cutting a portage to the target river), fix jammed zipper on Miscellaneous Duffle bag (and stitch closed the one faulty end). At 8:55 a.m., thunder and rain start again, very cloudy, very strong wind. From my journal: "If this weather keeps up, it's going to be very difficult to cut the long portage. Don't mind working in the rain but then need the canvas tent and stove to dry. Aie! Pouring rain! Pity anybody canoeing on a schedule. I have a schedule, just a longer one, but don't know if will help! 1:25 p.m. after lunch, geez ... have to take advantage of any lull in the rain to do chores outside camp. Aie! Pouring rain! Burning a lot of wood. I have a new path alternate and shorter to tent after cutting and clearing many firewood poles. 3:15 p.m., lull in heavy rain, but now a steady misty rain. Saw all the poles to one metre lengths. Cut more spruce boughs to place under Tarp shelter as I need to move gear back farther to avoid wind driven rain. Warbler nearby has only trilled about three times today. 5 p.m., sitting by roaring fire, burning green wood as well as dry, also wet and green branches. Have left all tent windows open today, to at least air out the tent and sleep gear. Rain again! Have to move back under Tarp shelter. Start thinking about a log cabin about three km away that I have never visited. If the weather clears a bit, especially the wind and heavy rain, will go there. If I can get in and if it has a wood stove will stay to dry out. 6:15 p.m., after supper, doing more puzzles ... yeah, solved two hard ones that I was stumped on; often, if I take a break, I can get the answer, the mind apparently subconsciously working on it. Before bed, I clean out the well doused fireplace of burned moss and humus and dig out several roots, cutting them off beyond the extent of the fire. The fireplace now is safe, right down to the rock face, with soil at the front. Fill in two sides and bottom with stones from the old windbound fireplace. The back of the fireplace is safe as is, with the 45° upwards slope of the rock face. Pour even more water on and around the fireplace. In bed by 8:30 p.m. in the damp-feeling tent."
Bear spray discussion:
Bear spray is an aerosolized deterrent, the active ingredient being capsaicinoids, 1-2% capsaicin the most common, a component of chili peppers. The belt version is typically bottled in 225g size within an aluminum pressurized container with a trigger locked by a quick-release safety mechanism. The canister is usually carried in a holster for ready access.
It is now recommended to carry bear spray even in the winter if in cougar country. Bears typically den in late November, early December, so by the end of December you are probably safe from bears. When I used to go deer and elk hunting in the Alberta mountains during the last two weeks of November with snow on the ground, I would often see grizzly tracks on top of my old tracks.
The following article sheds some light on the subject.
https://polarbearsinternational.org/news/article-research/bear-spray-effective-in-a-variety-of-conditions/
From: Smith Tom S, et al. An investigation of factors influencing bear spray performance. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 01 October 2020.
Points of note from the above article:
- Do not test spray an in-use can, as that limits the subsequent force of a spray when needed. The first second of spray releases more spray than any other time, ie, carry a fully charged can when in bear/cougar country.
- Spray is effective in extreme cold weather, although spray distance may be somewhat reduced if the spray can is cold.
- If temperature is above freezing, spray is as effective as in warmer temperatures.
- Spray is also effective in windy conditions, ie, do not hesitate to use spray if required, no matter the weather conditions.
- In very cold weather, keep the can warm under your coat (either on your belt or in an inside pocket, but make sure it is readily accessible). When camping in cold weather, take it into your sleeping bag. If needed, the spray, if kept warm, will be as effective as in warm weather.
My experience:
I did not used to carry bear spray, as I felt a gun was "good enough". The following anecdote changed my mind, after talking to an elk hunter who surprised a grizzly with cubs. It took three bursts of bear spray to finally get the charging grizzly to leave. He had his heavy rifle but said he would be dead without the bear spray; at such close range and with the need to aim and hit a vital area he would not have been able to react fast enough or accurately with his gun. With bear spray, after getting the canister out of its holster and releasing the safety catch, you point in the general direction and squeeze the trigger. This also indicates why you need to carry the spray readily available, not in your pack.
After replacing expired bear spray, I test spray the old can to gain some experience if ever needed. One time I held the lever down till all spray was released, which was fairly quick, about 6 seconds; some instructions state to use the spray in this manner. However, now I release in spurts, and I find that the regular 225g can gives about 13 squirts (13 seconds elapsed time). Doing so you also learn something about its use in wind, and the need to wash off any residue on your hands.
As with any safety procedure, you need to be mentally prepared, which includes going through the process before it is ever required. I "practise" using bear spray each year when I start the trip and periodically afterwards: release the Velcro holster fastener, pull the can out of holster (carried on my left side belt, handle forward, because I am right handed), release safety and point (but in the test situation, not squeezing the trigger).