George River Solo 2018

Day 25
Start Time: 8/8/2018 2:29 PM
Duration: 5:37
Distance / Total (km): 12.8 / 315

I woke up around 8:30am; I was already starting to bake in the Marmot, snoozed for another hour until I could not tolerate it anymore. Over in the Pod I needed to burn some coil to tame the mosquitos. Sat for a bit then out to “wash” some of my most stinky river clothes, totally clear sky, very bright sun. It was 11:30am by the time I finished my tea, oatmeal and far too many cigarettes. I can see I am going to have another late start! I started with the camp takedown process. While putting away the Marmot and moving a few things down to the canoe at the water’s edge I picked up a few bites, if not for these buggers it was a truly beautiful day.

I had started to have zipper issues with the Pod, in 2017 on the last camp of my Albany River trip I had total zipper failure, the cost to replace the zippers would have been astronomical so I settled for replacing the pulls. So far, so good but the last couple of days I was dealing with wet sand and last night there were the beginnings of “issues”. Today I will take extra time to ensure the Pod is completely dry and I will attempt to clean the zips of any residual grains of sand.

I left around 2:30pm, I ran the ledge just downstream via the river left channel, the middle channel looked like it might be easier but hard to get to because of a myriad of current and eddy lines created by the small islands of exposed rock. It is a short distance to the first “waterfall”, there is a short and easy portage over open rock. the rapid itself is a solid R4+, not that I would consider it I still walked over to see if there was a line, no way for a dry run here. This whole area from my camp at the ledge through the three marked “waterfalls” is extremely scenic but I must move on.

It is another short paddle to the second falls, I pulled in on river left to have a look, my guide indicates a portage here. The falls is actually several drops between narrow gaps in the rock, it is maybe 200m to get past but I can find no signs of a trail or even a relatively safe route to bushwhack. In 2010 we had avoided this spot by using a small overflow channel which starts from a lagoon on river left just upstream from the falls. I went back to the canoe and paddled into the lagoon, at the far end was a beaver lodge and just as had happened in 2010 the occupant “welcomed” me with a huge tail slap! (This would be the only beaver or beaver lodge I would see on the entire trip). I muttered to him/her to chill out as I was only passing through. The water was a bit lower than in 2010, this does not make my traverse through these ponds very easy, in spots I had to “dredge” by tossing rocks and dragging the loaded boat through twisty channels while battling invasive clumps of alders. In a few places the there was no water at all and here I had to make short carries. After 2 hours, I emerged back on the main river well below the falls. In retrospect, perhaps the portage at the falls would have been easier than the side channel but it is something to ponder another day as I am through and possibly finished with portaging for the next three weeks. There is one last ledge (falls?) up next, for the first time this trip I stopped upstream and got out to scout, it was a significant drop but there was a clear path tight to the left shore that I ran without difficulty. There was another small ledge up ahead that I ran on the right side of the left channel, following this is a section of calmer water leading to the final R3 at the narrows. This drop is short with big waves; I went to the right of the bigger ones and had a smooth run.

This was the end of the rapids for the day. I still have 8km to the next marked camp, as the sun drops lower I paddled hard with strong current moving along at a rapid speed until I found I was slowing. I was mystified about what was going on, had I simply run out of energy or was there something else that was slowing me. I paused to have a look at the map, now I am drifting backwards! Consulting the GPS I could see that I had missed the sharp left turn and was paddling into the oncoming current of a large tributary of the George. I corrected course losing more time in a somewhat desperate push to reach camp before dark. Still 6km to go, I paddled hard to the small R2, from thereon the current is very strong, I am doing +/-10kmph while keeping my eye on the GPS to make sure I don’t miss the camp. I am paddling directly into the setting sun the glare obscuring the left shore ahead. Reaching the waypoint I scan the shore but see nothing other than a wide swath of riverbank covered in thick alder, now I can sense the pull of the R4 up ahead, I must stop now! I spotted a small pile of rocks and drove the boat over them while leaping out. Smashing my way through the brush I finally found a couple of very small moss covered spots where the trees began to replace the bushes. No doubt, beyond this, there would be some larger clearings but looking back towards shore and the distance involved did not thrill me. I made my way back to boat. The rocks where I had beached the canoe created a tiny little space, somewhat lumpy there was just enough space to set up the Marmot, a couple of the corners were hanging over the edge and with the fly on, the entrance was just inches from the water. The bugs were horrendous; the sun had now set so I grabbed some stuff and crawled inside. After changing out of my river clothes, I organized enough that I felt somewhat safe to use my stove. Cooking inside a small tent is not a recommended activity, when doing so I always end up staring at the warning tab inside the tent that explains that either the CO2 or plain old fire will certainly cause my death. I never was good at taking orders so I bring out the stove! I am using an MSR reactor, as stoves go this type is about the safest as there is no exposed flame when the base and pot are mated. I made a mug of tea and a bag of Chicken Gumbo (Alpine Aire) one of my favorites! I am feeling very tired, I will be able to sleep easy tonight no matter how lumpy this spot is.

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