PNC Days 75-77 – Weather

We dealt with some bad weather the last three days but are starting to get the hang of this thru-canoeing thing! This segment of the trip went through Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis ancestral lands.

Day 75 – CR Mile 80.6 – Storms

This morning we were slow getting on the river. It rained for a bit while we were eating oatmeal for breakfast, which did not motivate us to move fast. We also had three new dry bags to figure out—-one each for our sleeping bags and extra layers of clothing that we put inside of our backpacks, plus one for our food for the day. We then buckled our backpacks and the food dry bag onto the yoke of the canoe and set off. We continued through wetlands today. We did our best to follow the main channel which had a nice current. This afternoon we had a rain storm for an hour or so. The storm started with a strong headwind which pushed us backwards if we stopped paddling, and then came the rain. We were able to paddle through it though with our rain gear on. We found a nice place to camp this evening on a sandy beach. We paddled for 10 hours today and logged 40 miles (10 hours of hiking would have been only ~25 miles). As we were eating chili for dinner, we saw another storm headed our way. Luckily we were able to finish our dinner, get our food hung, and get in the tent before the rain got to us. Now we’re warm and cozy in our sleeping bags listening to a thunder storm. -R

Day 76 – CR Mile 108.4 – Wind, rain and hail… plus 4 bears!

It was raining when we woke up so we decided to take our time getting going — canoeing in the rain did not sound fun if it could be avoided. There were some breaks in the rain when we wondered if we should be out paddling, but we felt pretty good about our decision. At about 10 we finally hit the water. We should have waited longer! No more than two miles in it started to downpour and a head wind blasted at us. Hiking in the rain is uncomfortable, but paddling in this storm felt dangerous. Then it started to hail. We pulled to shore and stood behind a tree wondering whether it not we should set up the tent and hide for a while. After 20 minutes or so it got a little better so we headed back out. It was still windy and rainy, but calm enough that we were only cold, not in danger.

Bad weather continued through the day and it was pretty miserable. On the bright side, the wildlife were amazing — we spotted four black bears, including one in a tree and one swimming across the river. That’s twice as many bears just today as we saw for the entire 1500 mile hiking portion of the trip. The river weaved through a giant wetland all day, and once again the birds were unbelievable. Birds we spotted today (that we haven’t already mentioned) included sandhill cranes, tundra swans, and a small hawk attacking a robin. Eventually Renee pulled out her phone and found a campground ahead with showers, laundry, and a “warming hut”. Woohoo! We had a goal for the night. We got there, warmed and cleaned up, and even charged our devices for a long stretch between towns that lies ahead. For dinner we had peanut butter and veggie rice. Yum! -T

Day 77 – CR Mile 147.1 – Rapids

This morning we left the campground feeling clean with full charge in our cell phones and three 10,000 mAh power banks (which we use to charge our gps watches, headlamps, and satellite beacon in addition to our phones). The landscape changed from wetlands to more of a river with rocky islands and trees. The current has us moving pretty quick. We stopped for a late lunch break on a rocky island and also made sure everything in the boat was tied down. Then we headed towards our first rapids. (We won’t have to deal with many rapids because we’ll have to deal with dams instead.) The river narrowed into a gorge with rock walls and zigzagged back and forth. For a couple of miles we had turbulent water with rapids and some whirlpools but nothing too hazardous (like rocks). We paddled hard and worked together to keep the boat moving the right direction down the river. It was fun and only scary once or twice. Then the river widened again and eventually we made it to Kinbasket Lake—a 70 mile lake behind Mica Dam, our first dam of the trip. The wind picked up this evening and made paddling the lake quite exhausting as we were fighting a head wind and big waves. We called it a night at 7:30 (1 hour and 15 minutes before sunset), which was a little earlier than desired but we saw a good spot and are hoping for calmer weather in the morning. -R