PNC Days 81-83 -Getting stronger

The past few days we continued heading south and enjoyed the beautiful views from the river. We paddled through Sinixt & Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis ancestral lands.

Day 81 – CR Mile 287.8 – Tim’s birthday

Today we celebrated Tim’s birthday on the water. I made the coffee today and packed out some extra chips and candy for him. We had nice weather all day. We went swimming during our lunch break, and Tim went swimming again at camp this evening. First thing tomorrow we have another dam to portage. Then we’ll hit the town of Revelstoke to resupply. This has been a long, beautiful, and pretty remote stretch. -R

Day 82 – CR Mile 312.7 – Portage #2

We woke up at 4:15 today (like always) and we were quicker than usual getting out of camp; we were paddling at 5:50, before sunrise. We had a big unknown ahead, our second portage of the trip. We haven’t had cell service since well before our last portage, so we didn’t do a great job preparing for this one. We weren’t sure which side of the river would be best to take out on for the easiest route, but our maps made it look like the west side of the river would be better so we went for it. It worked perfectly. Like the last portage, it was just under 3 miles on low-trafficked roads. We took a break every mile and were back in the water less than two hours after getting out. Below this dam we had a heck of a current! At one point we were flying along at 12 mph! (Our average speed yesterday was 3.3 mph.) We quickly arrived in the town of Revelstoke, where we bought groceries and went out for tacos for a continued celebration of my birthday.

We got back on the water and were disappointed as the current slowed dramatically. We are entering our next lake. But, it’s not totally gone yet so maybe we’ll have a bit of help for part of the morning tomorrow. We found a great beach to camp on and enjoyed PB pasta for dinner. Yum! -T

Day 83 – CR Mile 345.8 – Smoke

We woke up today with low visibility due to smoke that blew in from nearby wildfires. We felt quite good today—we must be getting stronger! There were some other boaters out on the water, including some kayakers. We had a nice chat with one of the kayakers who was out fishing. The river has been even lonelier than the trail was! We had nice weather until evening when we started getting a headwind, which made the paddling harder. Then the waves picked up, so we decided to call it a night a few miles earlier than desired. Oh well. The extra sleep will be nice. -R