Bloodvein River Solo 2015

Wednesday Aug 5 – Day 10 Time: 6 hours 40 minutes Distance: 20.1 km I got up around 10:00am, another cloud covered day! I took a few things down the hill to the rocks where I left the food bags last night. Tea & cheese wrap for breakfast and got out some snacks for later. Back up the hill to take down the hut and bring the rest of my gear down to the water. I loaded up and set off just after 12:30pm, there were a few moments of faux sunlight over the next hour or so but that was all for the entire day. Rapid #15 was a simple little CI, the next 4km or so is very nice easy paddling, fairly narrow with a mix of rock, marsh and cliffs on alternating sides with only a barely discernable current at the constrictions.

Coming up to #16 I was hoping not to do the portage on RR, HW indicates the possibility of lining on RL. Like the other “rapids” so far these are mostly just various sizes of ledges, usually just one, difficult to really see much from upriver. This one didn’t look like much so I pulled in to the portage on RR to scout. The well worn trail was a bit overgrown but not at all “rough” as HW comments. There were several spots to view the rapid, I wasn’t going to run it of course but at these levels it was an easy line/paddle down the right shore. I went back to the take out, set up the GoPro and started down, no issues, portage avoided!

#17 was next, a super short and dead straight path on dirt and grass; I took out the two heavy bags and pulled the boat over. Nutcracker Falls #19, HW has odd ideas on what one calls a “falls”, this one is just another ledge drop, two channels split around a small island (with picnic table and fish cleaning table). I walked the short trail on RL then lined the top ledge and dragged through the bottom one, another portage avoided!

Next up is Bushey Lake, there were two fishing boats stored on the nearby point, no sign of a cabin or similar shelter; must be for fly-ins or perhaps fall moose hunting. Bushey feels big compared to the river; the east side is fairly flat while the southwest has granite cliffs. I paddled across to the cliffs and in doing so missed the turn to the northwest exit. It did give me the chance for a second closer pass along the vertical rock shore!

Back into the “river” on the way to #19 Bruiseasy Falls….oh Hap! I was fooled as are many no doubt by the obvious portage takeout on RL, it’s a fraud, maybe at flood levels? There was a second takeout about 2/3 of the way so I paddled down to it and slightly past to a large outcrop. Here I unloaded the 2 heavies and pulled the boat up and over, another easy time other than getting caught on a couple of submerged rocks as I paddled away. A few drops of rain started falling; I quickly paddled over to the rock wall on RR, a pictograph site and one of the better ones.

The rain was light but discouraged picture taking so I headed on the CII #20. I was a bit shaky on this run; I should have been more to the left for the “ledge” such as it was. The sky was a solid light grey, the drizzle might continue for some time so I set my target at the first part of Stonehouse Rapids where a small campsite was marked at the portage. When I finally entered Stonehouse Lake the rain picked up, I had my dry top and bottoms on so I was ok but not too inspired by the idea of paddling until 8:00pm or later to get to what was likely not a very nice campsite. The “lake” is really just a widening in the river to 300 – 500 metres, lots of high rock along the shore, would make some nice pictures if the late day sun was shining…..it wasn’t! I began to scan for possible campsites; a few spots looked ok but would probably involve a hike up steep rocks to maybe find a flat area. At about the 1/3 mark along on the left there was a narrow point; I could see the low rock ahead and hoped something useful might be found. I pulled in; a fire ring tipped me off, just back of it was a decent if not great grassy spot. I quickly set up the hut, moved my stuff in out of the rain and settled in.

It was 7:15pm when I arrived, by 8:30pm I was munching on a Sierra Chicken miab, sitting in my chair dry and protected from the elements. While I sat there a blue salamander slithered though, tried to get a picture but it was far too fast. I spent some time studying up for tomorrow, mandatory portages and all. Eventually I passed out to the sound of the steady rain. I woke around 3:00am, just a few drops now after 9 hours of steady precipitation.

 

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