Sunrise July 1 at camp 9 (03:43, 04:33), a good start to Canada Day.
Heading down the lake towards a shortcut beside a large island leads to a dead-end of marsh.
After retreating to go around the other side of the island, I approach the turn towards the exit and finally reach rapids which must be portaged.
Landing at the head of the 470 metre trail, I hoist the Rubber and Miscellaneous Packs to walk the path. The latter pack contains the tools to clear trees if necessary.
The view of the river gorge reveals why the rapids must be portaged.
At the base of the rapids there are about 100 gulls who float downstream then fly back to repeat the process of feeding on dragonfly nymphs.
The trail has many steep areas, but the 70 metre long hill is the worst where I can carry two packs at a time by hanging onto the birch tree "handrails". There is no safe way to carry the canoe down the hill so I lower it using the stern painter anchored around trees to slow the descent. At one point I have to pull the canoe using the bow rope past a large boulder. Trees at the side of the path prevent the canoe from sliding over the side, provided I ease it down slowly.
As expected the lower end of the trail is under overflowing water for the last 50 metres, entailing cutting a path off to the side.
Launching is easy in the shallows by sliding out the canoe as it is loaded.
As I paddle down the river past the feeding gulls, I near a mother duck and her brood who scurry ahead.
Approaching the next rapids, I land to investigate.
The high water has flooded the trail on the rock beside the river so I know I will have to find an alternate steep route if I have to portage.
After checking the rapids I decide to run them. I will clear the portage on the return trip. Hopefully I will not have to use the trail to come back to dry out at camp as I did in 2018. At that time I swamped the Grumman aluminum canoe that I was using to exchange for the Clipper which was cached in 2017 before flying out because of forest fire.
Approaching the outlet falls where I plan to camp.
Camp is set up at a large expanse of sloping rock, one of the best sites of the whole trip.
There is a ready supply of firewood from a fallen spruce tree 80 metres from camp.
Looking back to camp across the head of the falls from the next portage.
The falls is a series of four torrents, more than usual because of the high water. This waterfall provided the temporary source of power to build the permanent Island Falls hydroelectric dam 23 km away on the Churchill River in 1928 (hence the remnants of the dam visible as steel anchor bolts in the rock).
Video of the main waterfall taken from the rock shore below where I fish for walleye.
Walleye fillets plus the "wings" (area of lower fins behind the mouth) and "cheeks" (below the eyes).
A salad of fireweed tops, pink rose petals, white bunchberry bracts, bluebell flowers and brown alumroot flowers.
The luxury of clean clothes (shirt, jeans, undershorts, socks).
Cremating the old shirt and jeans. I still have an extra change of clothes.
Shed casings of recently hatched dragonfly nymphs, which is what the gulls were probably feasting on at the rapids on July 1.
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Summary:
Dead-end shortcut adds three extra km to the trip causing me to momentarily feel disoriented. Travel 13 km including a steep 470 metre portage. The latter requires lowering the canoe with a rope tethered to trees. The trail is underwater at the lower end necessitating clearing a new stretch to reach a different landing. At least one hundred gulls feed on a hatch of dragonfly nymphs, swooping into the rapids, drifting downstream and flying back to repeat the feeding frenzy. Run a 200 metre rapid, shipping a lot of water but manage not to capsize even as the canoe turns around. Strong headwind makes for hard paddling even though downstream. Camp 10 is near an eight metre high set of four waterfalls that provides good walleye fishing. The camp is a new one that proves to be the best location the entire trip.
July 1, Canada Day:
Up at 02:50 before the alarm, the wind has kept up all night. From my journal: "Taking the 'shortest' route around a large island, I hit a dead-end of marsh water plants that looks like the end of a bay. How did I end up here? Aie! I'm pretty sure the compass/map orientation was correct. I 'think' I'm where I targeted, but this is marsh that sure looks like the end of a bay. I paddle close enough to see there is no way through. A bit confused, I canoe back out the way I came into the body of the lake and reorient the map; seem to be in the correct place. Paddle across the end of the big isle and then down the other side. Hungry for breakfast but don't stop till I'm sure I'm past the island to make sure I know where I am. When I reach the end it is occluded by thick cattails and reeds. Now that I look closer I see a lone marsh symbol on the map. In my defense I was looking down at the map on the canoe hull; if I had been wearing my reading glasses it would have been more evident. I just went three km extra out of my way on a day that has one tough portage, possibly two. Aie! Disappointing after an early start." Continuing on towards the narrowing outlet, I take a break at some narrow rock along the shore where the banks, as many places in these waters, are steep high rock. Other locations are low thickly forested with no rock exposure and not good places to stop. While I am eating breakfast a beaver startles me with a mighty splash of its tail directly beside me. A bit later it does the same thing again, checking out this invader. Moving onwards when I round the turn I face a stiff headwind. The wind becomes stronger later all the way to the next camp, making it hard to paddle downstream unless in the lee of protected small indentations along shore. Water level is of course higher at the portage landing beside the start of the rapids which are loudly echoed by the canyon through which they run. I am a bit anxious about the lower end of the portage being badly under water. Leaving the canoe tied along shore, I only unload two packs to carry as I check out the path. If required, there is a spot nearby directly on the trail where I camped previously when the trail needed a lot of clearing. I make it all the way on the 470 metre trail without having to lower the packs, just having to deal with some overhanging branches that I will cut with the pruners when returning to the canoe. At the lower end of the portage water flows down the last 50 metres, no surprise but I am glad that is all. I use the saw to move the trail inland around the water. I am pleased that clearing the trail only takes one hour. At least 100 gulls greet me on the lower rapids; they continually float down to eat a hatch of something and fly back to repeat. Later I see the shed casings of dragonfly nymphs along shore so presumably this hatch was the target. When I first arrive there are also four pelicans floating in the rapids. The 70 metre very steep portion of the trail is just as bad as I remember in 2018, but I make use of the birch tree "handrails" going down or up. It would be harder and more dangerous without them. I manage to carry a second pack on top of the load going down the hill. One place near the bottom of the hill is only a narrow ledge, but descending I lean to the left to use the side of the hill and rock as another "handrail". The canoe is the last load but there is no safe way to carry it down the hill. I dismount it at the top of the hill and use both painters to lower or to pull down the slope. I use the stern rope wrapped around trees to lower the canoe slowly in a controlled fashion; otherwise, if the canoe went over the steep slope to the right side of the path it would be tough to get it out of the trees below. One place I have to tilt the canoe on its side to make the turn when it hangs up between the trees and the hillside at a big jutting rock. At the lower landing the shallow water at shore makes it easy to progressively slide the canoe into deeper water as I load it bow to stern, no need to tie the painter.
There is a strong headwind all the way to the next rapids as I paddle past the gulls and a few families of ducklings with their protective mothers. With the high water level I have to crush the canoe into alder brush along shore at the upper left side of the rapids, grabbing onto branches until I tie up. Stopping for lunch, I hope I can run the rapids and not have to clear the trail until my return. I am a bit leery of the rapids because in 2018 when I brought the old aluminum Grumman canoe it swamped when stuck on a boulder midstream. I had to bail out a full load of water below the rapids, then paddle back and portage all the gear to the upper end to dry out at camp. In 2018 I paddled the Grumman in to exchange for the newer Clipper canoe that had to be cached on an island near the Churchill river when I was taking a circle route. Because of a giant forest fire in 2017 blocking my route I had to fly out with all my gear on a float plane that was not certified to carry a canoe on its pontoons. Thirty metres of the upper portion of the portage trail is underwater so would have to go down a steep moss-covered rock hill to bypass the flooded section. After viewing the rapids from the side all along their descent I decide to run them. The water is much higher than the last time so hopefully there will not be any hidden boulders just below the surface, though of course it is flowing much faster now. The Clipper does not have a protruding keel that the stickier aluminum Grumman has, plus the Kevlar®/fibreglass Clipper is easier to control and tends to slide off boulders where the Grumman hangs up. It is not a smooth ride as I hit a protruding boulder, the canoe turns sideways, then backwards but I get it straightened. Fortunately the canoe remains upright and I do not have to take to the water. The canoe takes on about 50 litres of water so I stop along shore in an eddy of the rapids out of the wind, the bow a bit elevated on shore to drain water back to me to bail and sponge out. As usual when running rapids I do wear wading gear and a PFD (Personal Flotation Device).
Continuing on, it is a hard paddle against the wind. I pass more duck families, the young skittering madly away; I always feel bad when instead of escaping to the side they stay in front of me and there is usually at least one duckling who gets left behind. Hopefully the family always gets back together with the mother. Just beside me three huge golden eagles take off from trees and in short order fly high above, catching thermals to soar even higher and several kilometres inland. Awesome! Landing at the next portage at an eight metre waterfall, I check my old campsite beside it but as expected the fireplace area is under water. Also because of more water running over the rock face there are four separate falls too deep to walk across from shore as I did in 2018 so I will have to use the canoe to fish the centre portion. Paddling 80 metres across to the other side about 100 metres upstream there is a large expanse of bare rock gradually sloping up inland where I discover areas for the tent, Tarp shelter and fireplace. The bare rock will be great to dry gear and to string a clothesline. Yay, an excellent campsite, much better than the other across the river. The only downside is that I have to paddle across to continue my trip. Landing at 16:00 to initiate the SPOT™, it has been a busy day. I did use the SPOT™ when I stopped for lunch so my contacts would know where I last was if I ran into trouble running the rapids. Taking advantage of the sun and the still strong wind I lay out damp packs bottom-up on the sloping rock. I give thanks for the good weather and for arriving safely. Next I clear the tent site of brush and overhanging branches and level the ground. Then I make a fireplace five metres in front of where the Tarp shelter will be. There are more than enough stones nearby to do the job. Blackflies are bothersome, worse because I am sweaty, so a smoky fire shoos them away. Pots on to boil water, I erect the nylon tent. With no other place for the barrels I tie them to small trees beside the tent. When I unpack the Clothes Pack I notice some items are damp from the rapids so I will better secure the packed clothes in extra large plastic bag liners. The clothes are packed inside waterproof nylon bags but the closures are weak points if submerged in water. After a welcome supper of macaroni and cheese, I am in bed by 21:30, a long tiring day. I give thanks again for the good weather, safe passage and an excellent campsite, which proves to be the best of the entire trip. The bed is level and I sleep well. I have travelled 13 km, three extra km because of the dead-end shortcut, including the steep 470 metre portage and the 200 metre rapids where I shipped a large amount of water; camp 10 is near an eight metre set of four waterfalls that should have good walleye fishing.
July 2:
Sleeping in I have a late breakfast at 10:00 because I make use of the early sun to lay out gear to dry after yesterday's rapids. It is calm and hot at 21°C, rising to 24°C by noon. I also put up the clothesline to hang sleep gear, some of which got damp yesterday. Luckily there are anchor trees for the line across the rock expanse, but the lower one is a dead spruce whose days are numbered. After cutting out many overhanging spruce boughs from tall trees I erect the Tarp shelter, important not just for rain but most important now for shade against the hot sun. The boughs provide a good base for the shelter. Finally I bake a hot bannock to eat in the shade of the shelter. Taking no chances as gear dries I put it away. I know at least one mosquito gets into the tent as I store items so will light a mosquito coil after all gear is inside. The wading shoes and neoprene socks got wet yesterday from the water in the canoe so they will need to hang on the clothesline much longer. Before lunch at 13:50 I finish several more chores. As I sit on the spruce boughs under the Tarp, several different caterpillars of varying size crawl on my clothing. After lunch I try fishing from shore at camp in different locations with no luck then take the canoe upstream to try various spots also with not a bite. Finally I canoe to the portage and walk to the lower end beside the falls. The falls are amazing, the main waterfall spewing water far out into the lake below, generating a misty spray enveloping the area all around. As expected, I cannot walk across to the main waterfall nor to any of the other three falls, only one of which was running in 2018. I have to clamber over and through the branches of a large spruce on the trail to reach the lower lake. There is a significant waterfall right beside the upper end of the portage, but thankfully it does not affect the trail for a change. I catch two walleye (18", 15"), the first by casting out into the rapids below the closest falls, the second smaller fish in the backwater pool at the base of the falls. After casting out into the rapids several times I drop the hook into the pool just for the heck of it but it pays off. Paddling back to camp I make sure to head upstream on the portage side about 100 metres before crossing. The river speed is deceptively faster than it appears; it would not do to get too close to the falls. Walleye chowder supper is late at 19:10 because of the unexpected time spent fishing. Bothersome blackflies chase me early to the tent for the night. It would be nice to have a bath but the bugs would be too bad. It rains for 30 minutes just after I settle into bed.
July 3:
There is light rainfall when I awake to a warbler's merry song. Temperature rises to 20°C by midday with light intermittent rain throughout the day. I find a ready supply of firewood and stovewood nearby; if I need to use the canvas Tent, there is soil for the stove and enough spruce trees for poles. While I eat lunch two adult Canada geese paddle down the far shore with their single youngster; they stop on shore near the portage landing and then disappear. I think taking the small falls would be a fast journey down the eight metre drop and I am hopeful the gosling survives intact. Paddling to the portage to catch fish for supper, I first spend one hour clearing the trail, taking twice as long as I anticipated because the large down tree was entangled in multiple smaller trees. There are many fireweed plants to pick from for a supper salad. Sweating as I work, blackflies are bothersome so I light a small fire at the lower end of the portage on the sloped rock shore of the next lake. Fishing takes longer than planned trying to get two walleye. After catching a 15" walleye, the second fell off the hook on shore and flopped down the slope into the water almost taking me with it in pursuit. After releasing three pike I settle for a 20" pike, so could have just kept the first one. After getting rained on three times before leaving camp I am glad there is no more until back in camp. Looking forward to a bath, the sky is darker and the wind stronger and cool. I hang all my clothes on the line and head to the river to bathe but rain starts again so retrieve my clothes and carry them to the Tarp shelter. The rain and wind feel good though cold as I finally bathe, all clean for new clothes tomorrow. After eating supper, the mosquitoes are bothersome and I consider using the Bug Tent. Having lit a mosquito coil earlier, I realize it would be better to head to the tent early because the later I wait the more chances of taking mosquitoes inside. In the tent I kill one mosquito that I assume came in with me, and hope that is the only one. "If you think one small thing can't make a difference, you've never spent a night with a mosquito (anonymous, African proverb)."
July 4:
Up to a rain shower after a restful night I start to eat breakfast under the Tarp shelter but the blackflies and mosquitoes are bothersome. Moving out to sit in front of the fireplace the bugs are still bothersome but less so. Replenishing firewood often is a necessary task as the dry spruce deadfall burns quickly. Dressing in clean clothes feels great ... for awhile. I burn the old dirty jeans that I have worn for five weeks, not because they are worn out but because they are uncomfortable; I bought carpenter jeans which have extra pockets and loops that I do not like. I also burn the light shirt which is definitely beyond redemption. There is still one spare set of clothes. The problem with the light long-sleeved collared shirt left from my work days is the size; I will purchase extra large size for next year. A ladybug keeps me company on my journal and then my pants as I eat. Something is crawling next to my skin so I jump up to remove the shirt and shake out two huge ants; at least they did not bite as is often the case when stuck somewhere they do not want to be. Today I paddle to the centre island beside the main waterfall where walleye fishing should be more successful. Water has flooded onshore filling holes in the rock so I have to take big steps over two spots. The walk through a small copse of spruce, birch and alder leads down a quite steep moss-covered slope. There is a narrow area of flat rock along the shore from which I catch a nice thick 19" walleye on the second cast. The rock continues to slope steeply below the lake surface so I do not want to make any rash moves. I find a safer area to walk up the hill between large trees. On my return trip I will definitely fish here as it is better than at the portage.