Now & Then #5

Yesterday we went on our first cross-country outing with the local ski club.



This morning, Calla and I found fox tracks in the cold snow.



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1981 Churchill River Trip cont.



We were up early for a good breakfast before the long 20-mile paddle down the lake. There was very little wind, which was good. There was very little current to help us along, which was not as good. The lake banks were rocky as promised but, since there was little wind, we were able to find one place to stop for a break. It would have been impossible on a windier day.



We found another place to stop for lunch by a bubbling brook. Well, ok, it was a bit more than bubbling.



Just inland from the rocky shore there was a lot of moss in several different varieties.



By the end of the 20-mile day, we were exhausted and ready to sleep anywhere. That was fortunate as the anywhere where we had to camp was rocky.



(To be continued....)

Now & Then #4

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1981 Churchill River Trip Cont.

There were no major adventures, that I remember, on the second day of our trip. We did have some rapids to play with but since all but one of the group were new to white water canoeing and since it was early in the trip, we chose to line them. That is, we got out of the canoes and held on to ropes that were attached to the bow and stern and floated the canoes along the edge of the river while we hopped along the rocks and water at the side. That got up past the rapids slowly but fairly safely. The only problem with this method, other than slippery rocks, was the flies.



Unlike this photo, black flies are very small. They are less than 4 mm long. Black flies, according to the natives of Labrador, come out when the ice melts in the spring and don't disappear until freeze up in the fall. In between spring and fall they are always hungry. The female flies, like the mosquitoes, are the ones that bite. The bite is often unnoticeable until the fly leaves and then the itch and pain starts and the blood starts to flow. It just so happens that the black flies like to lay their eggs in rapid moving water so, when one is in or near moving water, one can count on black flies attacking. They liked me! In my attempt, at the end of the trip, to count the black fly bite marks I gave up counting at 150 bites and that was on my left forearm. Both of my arms and both of my legs were covered with bites and they were swollen. When I got home, the doctor put me on antihistamines for two weeks to help bring down the swelling. Since that trip, I tend to react a lot more to both black fly bites and mosquito bites and get large swelling at the bite marks. That was one part of the adventure that I did not like at all!



Meanwhile, when the flies were not biting, the river was beautiful and at our lunch stop I found an unexpected flower. This Blue Flag is a type of wild Iris that grows in Labrador.



After paddling along rock and brush covered shores for two days, all of us except to the trip leader, were astounded to find a sandy beach waiting for us at the end of the second day's paddle.



We were told to enjoy the sleep on the sand and hope for fair weather as we had a 20 mile paddle ahead of us on day 3. We were crossing a long lake with almost no place to pull off due to the steep rocky shoreline. If the wind was in the wrong direction, the trip leader told us we would have to stay put as once we committed to paddle, there was no safe place to pull out and camp until we got to the other end. Meanwhile, the sunset was calm and wonderful. We hoped for the same weather the next day.



(To be cont....)

Now & Then #3

It was warmer this morning. The temperature was almost up to freezing.



Yesterday, we found this strange bit of green on a raspberry stem. I am not sure what it is but it looks like a bit of fresh moss and part of a new raspberry leaf. But why? Very odd!



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1981 Churchill River Trip Cont.

On our first day one of our group caught a large fish from the river during the lunch break.



Of course we had to eat it on the spot.



We even had desert growing nearby.



Lunch and dessert were the best part of our afternoon as when it was time to set up camp, we could find no good place to pitch our tents. We finally ended up setting up on rocks and small willow shrubs. It was not the most comfortable sleep that I've ever had.



(To be cont....)

Now & Then #2

It's another cool, frosty morning in southern Ontario.



The early morning sunlight captured by the frost looked a bit like winter fireflies.



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1981 Churchill River Trip cont.

As we launched our canoes on that first morning of the trip, it was with excitement, anxiety, and a bit of fear as we felt the river grab our canoes. It was a bit like being on the back of a powerful beast. One knew that it would move ahead and that one had some limited control but also felt that one's control could be taken away with any false move with the paddle. Sometimes when the paddle went into the water there was strong resistance and sometimes, rather frighteningly, there was no resistance at all. It felt as if one had missed the water and only hit air. All day, in the background was the sound of falling water as we passed scores of waterfalls where streams of various sizes tumbled down the steep slopes.



I took very few photos during the day as I wanted my hands on the paddle. The cliffs on both sides of the river came closer and went further away in turns as the waters sped and slowed, eddied and swirled, and sometimes made giant whirlpools not unlike the Niagara River below Niagara Falls. Although we did our best to avoid whirlpool areas, one of the canoes did slip into one. The 17-foot canoe dropped straight down to the edge of the gunnels and spun slowly like a top a full 360 degrees at least twice before the paddlers managed to pull the canoe out of the twisting waters. No harm was done but there was a real rush of adrenaline for all of us watching and for the two being in the whirlpool. Respect for this river kept growing as we paddled.

It was with some sense of relief that we spotted a trapper's "tilt" (aka cabin) at the side of the river; however, when we approached closer, we found it to be quiet, abandoned, doorless, and still miles from where we were wanting to spend the night.



(To be continued.)

Now & Then #1

- 11 C Wind chill - 17 C (12.2 & 1.4 F) at 5:00 this a.m.



The sun is coming up over the neighbour's barn roof.



The Blue Jay was visiting the feeder but flew up into one of our White Spruce trees.

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1981 Churchill River Trip cont.



First camp on the Churchill River....The truck will be driven back to Goose Bay by a friend tomorrow.



The sun sets on our first evening as we look up river from the campsite. The river is much larger than it looked from the airplane. We are about 1 mile below Churchill Falls and the river is moving deceptively fast in spite of how it looks in the photo.



Well, here's the view to the east on our first morning. The water level is up! Our leader estimates it's up 3 or 4 feet above the level it was when he first did the river. It will be his second trip down the river. (To be cont.)