Mountain River

The map shows the general Mountain River route. The extreme west and south waypoints are the bush plane bases for Alkan Air and Kluane Air respectively.

The blog includes activities on the drive up and down.

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Mountain River 2022 20220714

Breakfast was had at an OEB restaurant in Calgary. We drove to the Kananaskis water park. I agreed to shuttle while Bill and Jim paddled the park and onto Seebe takeout just north of Hwy 1. We then found our campsite at Jack Bar near Minnowanka Lake just north of Banff.

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Bill and I emerged from our tents at 5AM. We loaded into the truck and drove the 58km to the Lake Louise shore parking lot. We secured the last one before people started wandering back from watching the sunrise on the lake. We ate breakfast with coffee on the tailgate while cars circled looking for parking spaces at 6:20AM. Our hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse began. We stopped many times listening and looking for birds. The hike took us along the north shore of Lake Louise then climbed gradually up near the muddy inlet creek with it’s cascading waterfalls. After about five miles we arrived at the teahouse. The upstairs corner table was free and we sat down to enjoy tea biscuits, spiced chocolate coffee, apple cake, and curry soup. The hike had started at 5 Celsius but was climbing toward 25. We paid the $28CAD bill and hiked higher to the glacier overlook. We returned to the teahouse to enjoy coffee and chocolate cake sharing our table with a young infatuated couple. He was Canadian and she a strong willed Columbian. We left them trying to pay their bill with no cash or credit card as the ‘tap’ feature of their phones was not supported at the remote mountain restaurant. A Montana man, Russ Tuckerman, approached Bill having recognized us as the guys with the canoes on the truck. Turns out he knows Pete and Susan’s dad in Bozeman. We made the hike back to the truck. The crowds at the end of the lake made walking an exercise in dodging. We drove back to camp to find Jim resting on the ground soaking up the sun. He said he was feeling a little better, but not much. He hardly ate anything for dinner after consuming chips, salsa, and an IPA. Jim and Bill found their tents by 9PM. I returned Evelyn’s call and chatted with Reed. Carol is in Frisco.

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We broke camp at Minniwanka and left by driving by the lake/reservoir before driving north on Trans hwy 1, We stopped at the lake below the Crow Foot Glacier for a quick look and hoping for some coffee at the lodge. We stopped at a couple of other places for casual views before arriving at our first serious destination at Parker Ridge. The parking lot was full, but Bill worked wonders and grabbed a space as a car exited. We hiked the 1.5 miles to the ridge for views of the Columbia ice field and the Saskatchewan Glacier. The wind was blowing very hard and I took shelter in one of the stone wind breaks. I invited a couple to join me. They turned out to be visiting from Glasgow. We visited the Glacier Center. We visited the Athabaskan and Sunwapata falls. We camped at the Wapiti campground just south of Jasper. We enjoyed a free shower. Firewood is free. Many people have fires making the air quality miserable.

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Bill raised the troops this morning. I was still sleeping at 6:40AM with the thoughts that it had rained during the night requiring drying things out and we planned to have breakfast in Jasper. It turned out the days drive would be long and we needed to get moving. I hurriedly back gear. Late today as I climbed into bed it became apparent that despite putting the wet tent rainfly in a plastic bag, it transferred moisture to the sleeping bag. We had breakfast in Jasper at one of the few restaurants open at 7:30AM. After fueling the truck, we spent the day driving until arriving at Buckinghorse River campground. Bill and I had stayed here with Ken and Judy in 2015. Alan was waiting for us. We had dinner together and assorted discussions before heading to bed. The mosquitos at this campsite are almost as bad as they were many years ago. My sleeping bag smells of a wet dog.

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What time zone are we in? Officially we awoke in the pacific time zone, but my head was still in Mountain. Bill had finished his cup of coffee before I’d emerged from the tent. It was another quick packing job. Early birds greet the day first. The challenge is compounded by being so far north the sky is light at three AM. This serves to encourage early risers to rise earlier! The. Mosquitos felt worse and Alan commented to that effect. Jim rode with Alan on the drive to Fort Nelson. The vehicles were feed with diesel, Bill jumped in with Alan, and we continued on to Stone Mountain. Jim stayed with the trucks while Alan, Bill, and myself did a 1.6 mile 1000ft (seemed much less to me) elevation gain hike. It sprinkled lightly on the way down and we found a couple of water slides with potholes at the bottom that would be fun with the right amount of water. It was my turn to ride with Alan as we finished the last leg to Liard Hot Springs and campground. The mosquitos here made Buckinghorse look like a mosquito desert. It alternately sprinkled followed by waves of mosquitos. I put DEET on my face and they bit my lips. The campground water was not potable. Both Jim and Bill struggled to get their gravity feed water filters to work. Alan helped by explaining that until the filter is saturated it creates an airlock. After eating my dinner in the tent to avoid mouthfuls of mosquitos, we walked over and enjoyed the Liard Hot Springs. The mosquitos attached during the undressing, but eased while we soaked. The two pools swirled with hot and cold water. The cooler water was generally on the bottom. At times the hot could be almost scolding. Wandering about and drawing up the cold water gave the springs a must do experience. It was 8PM, but we all headed for tents to avoid the blood sucking insects and their itchy deposits.

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Today’s travels brought us to Kluane Air’s dock on Finlayson Lake shared with Yukon Bg Game Outfitters. For this leg, I rode with Alan leaving early so we could do laundry in Watson. We did it at the Downtown RV and were able to take a shower as well. Bill and Jim had taken a morning dip in the Kiard Hot Springs catching up with Alan and myself for lunch at the Nugget Chinese restaurant in Watson. We visited the Sign Post place seeing the one Alan put up with his family in 2017. The drive from Watson to Kluane Air took just under three hours. There was no one there and the gate was locked. Alan found the key under a rock next to the gate. We grilled hamburgers and Alan boiled corn-on-the-cob for dinner. We unloaded gear at the dock on the inside of the locked gate. We spent the night amongst the broad assortment of guide service debris. Just as were bedding down a message on the Inreach from Warren said he was having plane repair issues and wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow afternoon instead of 9AM as originally indicated.

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All packed up and no plane. By 4PM there was no word from Warren. It’s apparent we won’t be flying in today. We’ve thrown rocks at the gun target, I sat in the dilapidated front end loader reading away from the mosquitos, Alan flew his drone, and Jim went for a paddle on the lake. No flying today. Some time after 7PM Warren sent Bill some Inreach text messages saying there were problems with the propeller repair. He asked that we drive up the hill and ask to borrow Dorothy’s land line phone. She is a Native American studying Big Horn sheep. I met the young playful dog while Alan obtained the details from Warren. The variable pitch control was not allowing the prop to reach the desired rpm. The mechanic is to work on it tonight and hopefully it’ll be working tomorrow. If not then Warren would help us try to have Elkan Air out of Mayo fly us in. We’ll know more in the morning. Jim went for a long hike and then paddled way across the lake and started downstream at the lake outlet which would have been exciting if he hadn’t been able to paddle upstream. The fish in the lake were biting around 8PM. The outfitters arrived and started to put the camp together for expected customers arriving in the next week. One was a pipe fitter in the oil patch and the other a butcher of wild game. Both were from Longview Alberta. The mosquitos remain awful, but with the frequent application of DEET and tolerance to the buzzing about the face, we all are managing to live with them. Today was supposed to be our first day at the river.

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We continued to hang at Kluane Air on Finlayson Lake waiting for word from Warren about the status of the propeller repair. He reached out toward 11AM saying a technician was flying up from Vancouver and he could not fly us to the river. Using Dorothy’s phone again, Alan and Bill secured us a flight with Allen Air out of Mayo. So we made the 350mile drive to Mayo arriving about 9:15PM. Adam the pilot and owner was there to greet us and start planning which plane and how to load it. Then it was past bed time.We’d stopped in Carmacks for desiel and food. Best place in town was a fry joint - everything was deep fried or grilled.

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We woke to untold numbers of mosquitos on the tent. Some of the worst yet. They were both uncountable and voracious. They found ways into my clothing I thought were secure. I ate breakfast in the tent. There was relief down on the dock. We placed our gear in large bins and Allen Air weighed it. Total including us was 1700 pounds. The raft material was only 100 pounds. The decision was made to fly us in using the Otter and pick us up in the Caravan. Both are single engine planes. The Otter flys slower with poorer fuel consumption but all three canoes fit inside with our gear. We departed for Dusty lake around 11:45AM. It was wonderful to finally be on our way. We flew east from Mayo and landed on Dusty lake in the Northwest Territory in one and a quarter hours. Jim sat in the “co-pilot” seat - all the controls had been removed. Alan, Bill, and myself sat single file next to the gear. Adam handed us earplugs that I was happy to wear. The skies were mostly cloudy with patches of rain and sun. The Otter landed in less than 200 meters. Wearing our dry suits we hauled gear the 10 meters to shore in knee deep water. Alan tried to capture the Otter taking off with the drone, but was not fast enough. The weather was mostly overcast, but dry. I removed my dry suit and had lunch before starting to portage gear to the Mountain River. A previous party had placed plastic flagging along the trail from Dusty Lake to the river so we followed that route. I assembled the raft frame. We saw several different kinds of water fowl, but they were too far away to identify even with Alan’s spotting scope. I did see a white crowned sparrow. This is their mating area. After dinner a rain storm moved in chasing us all into our tents at about 7:30PM.

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It rained cyclically through the night. I emerged from my tent about 7:30AM during a lull in the rain with everyone else in their tents. I made coffee and breakfast. Folks started getting up. I identified one of the ducks with Bill’s help on Dusty Lake as a Surf-scoter. Jim later said he was up at five and saw a moose. I spotted two moose across the lake. One stared at us continuously for a long period before the two cautiously moved into the brush. It took me two loads to complete the portage. I started inflating the raft. With other’s help we finished rigging and loaded the raft. There was a ground squirrel with an entrance to it’s home immediately where we had to stage the boats. It treated us as odd curiosities seemingly trying to stay out of our way while attending to it’s chores. It was only a few feet from us. Alan, acting as director, obtained drone footage of Bill, Jim, and I launching. The water was an opaque burnt orange color due to iron rich material in the water. A stream at our backs. entering from the left was steel in color and the blending along the eddy line exhibited tornado swirls of the contrasting colors. We floated 17.6 miles stopping a couple of times for breaks and lunch. It rained on us during the early period followed by sunny weather later on. The wind could be strong at times but was almost exclusively at our backs. I dragged on the sharp shale bottom rocks a few times. I hit a cliff on a sharp right curve as I was pinched between shallow water and the cliff. There was a braided section to navigate and some river debris to dodge at times. We saw fresh animal tracks in many of the black sandy sections adjacent to the river. The prints included caribou, wolf, moose, and bear. We camped on a large gravel bar adjacent to a small creek. The mountains up and downstream were spectacular. Alan played his quitar and sang. I later found a tick on my pants which gave me concern and a reminder to check for them. 261 m^3/s

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I’m uncertain of the time. It’s either mountain or pacific, but I don’t know which. Either way the sky stays light all the time. I woke up at 5:40AM Pacific and quickly started packing. Once emerged from the tent, one could see everyone else was still asleep. It was the coldest morning so far. There was frost on things and ice on the cooler. I stood waiting for the sun to rise enough to warm where I stood next to the river and the boats. Bill joined me after about an hour just as the sunlight started to warm my cold back. We discussed setting a 7AM Pacific waking time. After a leisure breakfast and packing we pulled away from the shore near 11AM. This stretch of the river had a beautiful narrow deep canyon that required some quick maneuvering. Alan hit a submerged rock rolling sideways and cutting a finger in the shallow when bracing himself. That was a clue for me to go a different route which posed some careful moves. We had lunch at the confluence with the Blackfeather creek. A very short two miles later we reached our stopping point at Grizzly Meadows. A nice campsite with clear creek water and massive vistas of mountains all around. 255 m^3/s

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Alan and I climbed a sub peak west of Grizzly meadows. It was about 2500ft of elevation gain in 3 miles. The sky was blue with scattered clouds and a strong wind from the west. The height afforded us views of distant peaks. Alan shared that wanted to have four children and did. Cody was born in just a few contractions being delivered in the ambulance in Denver. His other three kids were born in Longmont. He sent an InReach message to his family while we were on top of the mountain. I was faster on the climb up the very steep slope of razor sharp limestone shards, but on the descent I couldn’t match Alan as I nursed my knees. We swung northeast once back to Grizzly Meadows to visit the outfitter cabin. It was unlocked and supplied nicely. Hunters had written what they’d killed. It included caribou, moose, and wolves. A spring exits the hillside adjacent to the cabin. It was high in minerals leaving read and white streaks. Alan and I both found it to have a slight mineral flavor. After returning to camp, I gave myself a bath and washed clothes in the cold clear creek next to camp. 244 m^3/s

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We woke to a beautiful morning. I’m finding the happy bottom sprayer makes cleanup after pooping easier and more thorough. We packed and loaded the boats. This stretch of the river became very braided. The canoes sailed through, but I had to make many tight maneuvers and occasionally dragged bottom and rubbed up against branches. We pulled out on river left where a stream flows down the valley that spans from the Stoneknife to the Mountain rivers. We couldn’t find suitable campsites. We continued on down river sticking to river right looking for a stream. The goal was to camp in this stretch to hike up a small sub peak to look over toward the Stoneknife valley and fish a lake. The last ditch effort channel on the right was almost a ditch. Again it was fine for the canoes. I however had the toughest moves yet and reached a point where there was no choice but bounce off a log and immediately after do the limbo under a small tree sticking horizontally over 60% of the channel and frustratingly the deepest part. Alan was immediately beside me working to help push me away. I cleared it save for it hitting the guitar slightly. We never found a creek on river right later ascertaining that it was dry. Shortly thereafter we found a gravel sand island looking possible for camping. We barely had time to put up the tents and it started raining in earnest. Bill was determined to put up the wing. So he and Alan worked in the rain to put it up. I elected to stay warm and dry in my tent. Eventually the rain stopped and Bill came to my tent inviting me to the fly. I dressed and came out to make dinner. Barely had I finished than it started raining and a powerful gust of wind ripped one the wing stakes out bring the wing down. Alan struggled to save his dinner while Jim and I grabbed parts of the wing as the wind ripped out more stakes. We had to lay the wing down as the wind blew and the rain came. Alan and I rolled up the wing and stuffed it in the raft. Bill had raced over to secure his tent which had blown over. Alan helped him while I loosely put Bill's dinner things into bags. Then I took my stuff to my tent to get out of the rain. I enjoyed my dinner in the tent. After a spell the clouds broke and the sun came out and we all emerged from tents. It turned into a lovely evening. We dried out the wing a degree and put it away. The cool wind blowing up river eventually encouraged us all to head for sleeping bags. 236 m^3/s

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The day started out sunny and quickly changed to grey and windy once we set out on the water. The river braided a little yet the volume of water has increased and the splits were easily navigated. At one point Alan and Jim went right and Bill and I went left. We joined up a half mile down river. Once we reached the “moonscape” teamwork eroded. Alan refused to share any thought or opinion. He was expressing his frustration with Bill’s method of selecting campsites. We became strung out on the river. I pulled over because I can’t maneuver the raft like the canoes and decided it better to follow their lead. Bill and Alan were having a discussion and then Bill walked his boat up the left shore and ferried over to me on the right shore. No decision had been made. After a short conversation, I suggested we group up with Jim and discuss a plan of action. Jim suggested we examine a spot on river right not far down river. Bill, Jim, and I agreed to this. Alan remain silent. The spot looked ok so the three of us agreed to stay. Alan just went along. The moonscape marked on the French maps looked more like alluvial fans. However, on river left there was a feature that resembled that seen on the Bonnet Plume of a thick pile of debris like a landslide. Our campsite was immediately across the river from this feature. Alan and I considered that the features could be related to glacial action. Jim suggested a walk up the alluvial fan behind camp. Alan headed in the same direction by himself and then up to a ridge line above the cut the other three of us walked up a ways. Back at camp we ate and chatted. Alan kept to himself, but did show me a nice rock sample of an ancient coral head which he put in his barrel to bring home. It was windy and cold so we all headed to bed early. 309 m^3/s

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Bill and Alan talked through me this morning. Bill said maybe this was the last trip they would take together. They had different ideas on how to select a camping location. It was an easy day on the river. The current was steady and the river wide with minor braiding at the beginning. I suggested three possible mountains/hills to climb. When we arrived at the one I thought most likely to suit Jim, he declined. Prior to that we came upon a tufa mound and I spontaneously asked that we stop. Everyone enjoyed the short climb and excursion to see water bubbling out of the side of the hill and forming a large area of mineral deposits. I would have missed our campsite at Cache Creek if not for Alan pulling over. Bill was angry that we hadn’t stayed extreme right at a river split as the French notes indicated. We had to wade the raft around a gravel bar and then I ferried it across a braided river section to arrive on the right shore. The other three canoeists all did the same individually with their canoes. It was a heavily used but nice campsite. Bill and I hiked up to two cabins not far away tucked in the trees not visible from the campsite. There is an unusual waterfall into the river here. It turns out the cabins are on a tufa mound that is now heavily vegetated. The associated cold spring mineral water is the source for the waterfall. Tension is easing between Bill and Alan though they don’t talk. 274 m^3/s

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We all slept in. The sun eventually rose over a high peak in the northeast and warmed the air slightly. I hiked up to the Cache Creek tufa mound waterfalls separate from the falls entering the Mountain River. These were spectacular and the most unusual waterfalls and rock formations I’ve seen. The water is cold and very clear with some form of plant life or bacteria growing in it. I spent the rest of the day reading and trying to stay warm. It hailed on us at one point before the sun came out. The wind seemed to blow incessantly. Both Jim and Bill caught fish. One was an Artic Grayling and the other some type of trout. They cooked them for dinner for themselves. I wish I’d brought my down bag instead of this synthetic one as I’m chilly at night. I rinsed out some clothing after the hail storm and the sun emerged. The wind blew even the towel dry. I found myself weepy a few times today. I wish someone had wanted to love me even for my faults. My faults must be rather bad. I wish I’d the wisdom, calm, and determination to hold onto any of the relationships I’ve had. Reflecting that as a male, I feel little more than an object for procreation which drains my spirit. I lay here in the tent, the sun still lighting the sky at 10:30PM, the creek and river creating white noise, and the wind still blowing lightly. 256 m^3/s

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Bill and Alan are not talking and each refuses to talk with the other unless the other talks first. Sigh... Alan did his first serious drone flight following him paddling through the canyon immediately below Cache Creek. The canyon was beautiful in the morning light. It was flat water. I keep expecting rapids at these canyons. The days section of the river passed through a broad valley with high mountains, forests, and stunning geology. Geological beds formed a sloping wall with the water flowing along it. The beds appeared to have been a shallow water environment. One bed almost appeared to have dinosaur tracks - my imagination was over active. We paddled many class II rapids with smooth quickly flowing water between them. We averaged about 5 mph. We had lunch at the first confluence with Etagochile River. People had camped here. The last few miles were against a strong wind that persisted into the evening even as I type. We eddied out river left just past Battleship rock and immediately above the entrance to Third Canyon. The camp is on a large island formed by a braid of the Mountain. Some is gravel but some is sand that penetrates just about everything thanks to the wind. The island has not been explored and does include large areas of vegetation. The skies have been clear of rain and most clouds today. A couple of planes flew up and down the river today at Cache Creek. One passed around 5AM! A total of four passes were counted. At the Battleship Rock camp, I invited Alan to join Bill, Jim, and myself for dinner to “meet the neighbors”. He refused. Jim talked to Alan suggesting we do the Indian practice of passing the talking stick or 'stone' has Jim suggested. Alan refused. Bill also refused to talk with Alan when encouraged to do so. Alan feels Bill is inflexible and unable to process new information. I spoke separately with each and the next morning’s plan is for a very short paddle looking for a campsite on river left. Bill and Jim will explore Stone Knife River and Alan and I will attempt the summit a peak on river left. 234 m^3/s

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Today was a short river mile day. We paddled all of 1.7 miles. Jim took an unusually long tome to pack. Alan had the drone follow him through what I’m calling Third canyon. There was a moderate ledge drop in the river toward the end of Third Canyon that was easily skirted on the left. Bill was unhappy about the campsite, but seemed to settle in by dinner time. Alan and I summited the peak south of the campsite. It was 2.3 miles and 2200 feet of elevation. Bill and Alan still aren’t talking. Jim doesn’t want to be involved in the planning. Alan only has one more goal for the trip and Jim is on board for that short climb near Fifth canyon. 228 m^3/s

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Bill and Alan still aren’t talking. I had breakfast with Bill and Jim. In attempting to place the aeropress on a flat stone I managed to dump the coffee over the ground and the stove. Alan was the last to be ready this morning - most uncharacteristic. We reached the confluence with the Stone Knife River very soon. The canoes all took a braid that required them to exit their boats and drag them a bit. At the last merging of the two rivers there existed a knarly wave as the two flows intersected perpendicularly in a tight space. All the canoes managed it without a problem. I was having trouble gaining purchase with the oars in the shallow class II rapid immediately above the intersection of the rivers and ended up about three feet off my mark. I rode to the top of the wave formed by the converging water, sat there like I was on a pedestal, and then slid perfectly down the exit flow - it worked out nicely. The up river wind was a bit tiresome. The valley here is wider and peaks not quite as dramatic. The river color is a beautiful green with some turbidity. There were no rapids of consequence after the confluence with the Stone Knife. We pulled out after a large gravel bar on river right and everyone was very happy with the campsite proposal. I did some laundry and a very cold water bath. Alan and I discussed the plans for the remainder of the trip. 222 m^3/s

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Bill and Alan still aren’t talking. I’m loosing my patience with them. Bill has added problems because he refuses to communicate to anyone his preferences instead moping about. The four of us kick rocks and sit on the gravel waiting for someone to make a decision. I tried flipping a stone to get an outcome, but then just said we’re not staying here. We went two miles further down river looking for a site. Today was very windy. It made it extra hard for me. We passed through Gate Keeper and Fourth canyon. The rapids were easy enough to slip by on a side. We did not scout as discussed as their wasn’t a need. Jim caught our attention when he came close to a long wall. He paddle along side with some concern on his face but cleared it. We met three members of a Quebec group of ten camped just downstream at the exit from Fourth canyon - our planned site - dang. They put on at Norseman Lake and take off on the 7th. They said they saw another group in yellow canoes. I had a horrible dream about Elise and someone she was seeing. 217 m^3/s

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Rain incessantly pitter patters on the translucent tent rain fly. A mosquito found refuge from the cool rain in the gap between the inner tent and the fly and cleans her wings with her hind legs. I lay on the, what do they call it? That I can’t remember the name brings tears to my eyes or is it Celine Dion playing through my earbuds? Or is the avalanche of feelings from all my lost loves lying just under my aging skin? This morning a steady rain falls keeping us huddled in our respective tents. Four guys. Four guys all seemingly preferring being alone, eating alone, paddle their own boats, sleeping in their own tents, and preparing their own meals. That stands in contrast to the French group yesterday sharing meals, paddling tandem canoes, and enjoying a shared pot of coffee over an open fire. The rain let up and at twelve thirty we started breaking camp and loading boats. It was a brisk ride down river at eight mph. We passed freshly downed trees and river water over running the banks. There was the sound of fireworks or gunshots as the water adjusted rocks in the river with an exploding sound quality. We made it to Fifh Canyon and entered. Perfectly placed was a sandy gravel bar campsite. We took it. As time pasted, the river was seen to be rising. There were multiple sticks placed to measure the rising water being swept away or drowned by the river level rise. Tents were moved. A backwater gradually filled requiring a long hike up river on the gravel bar and then thrashing back down river through a forest to get to the raft which was now separated from the campsite by the backwater. I went to sleep anxious. Periodically checking stakes over the next hour as the river continued to rise, I finally decided my risk tolerance to the prospect of being swept away as I slept in my tent had been exceeded. At around midnight, I told Alan I was moving my stuff to safer ground. He assisted me. I told Jim and Bill. They decided their tents would be ok and went back to bed. We found out that river rose from about 8000cfs to over 17,000cfs. I finally slept peacefully higher above the side of the river with a clear escape route up the wooded hillside. 487 m^3/s

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I got up late and slowly. The river level was dropping. Alan wanted to move his tent back to the gravel bar away from the mosquitos. So we did so using the raft to transport gear across the backwater lake. We had a four person gathering to briefly discuss the day's plan. Both Alan and Bill commented. This was a shift! Later the four of us hiked up the 900meter hill next to camp. Bill positioned himself not to engage Alan. Jim gave me a half candy of MJ. I’m blato. 388 m^3/s

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I dozed on and off until 7AM Mountain Standard time. (You see, Bill is on Mountain time and Alan is on Pacific time.) We broke camp and launched onto the river. The start required attention with a left turn against a wall and a big return eddy on the right. Then it was past the gauge and a right turn against another wall with flow perpendicular into the wall. That all went smoothly except in took considerable work. I was already perspiring in the drysuit. After a few hundred meters there was the final left turn against a wall and a very intense boiling whirlpool preventing taking the turn on the inside. If I’d been paying better attention, there was a braid to the left that skipped this turn that Alan tok. I decided to move closer to the wall to avoid the big whirlpool eddy on the inside of the turn. It worked out just fine. Jim came in right behind me and got partial caught in a boil whirlpool combination. Bill tried to go to the extreme inside but none existed. He said he was trying to row uphill and then was swept into the boil whirlpool. Both Jim and Bill escaped the whirlpool by taking my route. Alan was the smart one because he took the different braid and missed the entire mess. The next 27 miles involved picking the correct braid, rowing, and perspiring profusely. We arrived at 6th or 7th canyon depending on who’s counting. It’s almost flat water. We focused on finding the warm springs. And we did! They are delightfully warm and immediately adjacent to a good campsite. Even though Alan had slipped a couple of times today and spoke to Bill, I had to confirm with Bill that he wanted to spend two nights here. It was unanimous. I took a long bath and washed clothes. Small fish nibbled on my bare skin. After dinner Bill and I walked down to the confluence with the Gayna River. Our route took us along tracks made by a pack of wolves that must have passed this way since the rain a couple of days ago. 324 m^3/s

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Today is a layover day. Good thing as it was raining in the morning. Bill asked if I’d help with the fly wing cover at 9AM. He, Jim, and I pitched it in a light drizzle before making breakfast. I just hung around camp all day. Alan climbed up to the ridge above camp and flew his drone. A helicopter passed overhead twice. The sun did eventually come out in the late afternoon. Alan talked to Bill! I looked to see if Jim noticed. If he did there was no acknowledgement. 314 m^3/s

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Bill had commented the previous evening that there was no rush to rise early, but there were he and Jim chatting away at 7:30AM MST. I skipped a regular breakfast. I don’t want to do red beans and rice again. I long for oatmeal with honey and fruit or granola and yogurt. I did enjoy a cup of coffee. All four of us tried to walk into the small patch of trees at the same time for the morning sabbatical. We were paddling on the river by 8:50AM. After a couple of knee stretches with a lunch thrown in, we stopped on a gravel bar with some vegetation for the night. The bar was clearly sculpted by higher river flows. We’d traveled 19 river miles at a brisk pace exceeded 6mph in under four hours with many splits and braids in the river. The days paddle from the mountains onto the flat boreal forests before the MacKenzie brought more waterfowl than we’ve seen: two sandhill cranes flying together, many green winged teals, maybe blue winged teals, sand pipers, a possible belted kingfisher, osprey. I also was greeted by a beaver as I floated backward. It slapped the water and then poked it’s head out briefly. We’d heard a plane go by and suspected it was Adam of Allan Air picking up the Quebec folks from the confluence at the MacKenzie. Bill set up the water filter with the oars and Jim collected the water. Then Jim collected wood and started a fire. Immediately after the flames rose up it started raining. It was one of the steadier and wetter rains of the trip. We took shelter in tents and the spritely fire was doused. After a couple of rain hours Jim, Alan, and myself visited into the early evening on the damp sand in our chairs. Bill went to his tent. 250 m^3/s

20220808

A wet tent fly loaded with mosquitos at the apex greeted me this morning. Jim and Bill were already eating their breakfasts when I joined them. It was a cool morning with mostly blue skies. The increasing distant mountains to the south were painted with swatches of sun. I surprised myself by being the first ready to paddle even after needing to pump the raft up at little. Alan was helpful loading as he has been. We watched Jim go through his ritual preparation and loading of his canoe. He is meticulous with a detailed process that takes time. We paddled the next 21 miles through braided and single channel sections of the Mountain River. We could see the East Mountain as we paddled acting as a beacon at the confluence with the MacKenzie. The course made a series of large turns toward the end before it opened up on the ocean of the MacKenzie River. It is almost one mile wide at the confluence. There are a system of red and green buoys down river on the MacKenzie to apparently mark a path through the rapids on this normally sleepy river. There are also large markers set up in pairs around this area presumably to help with navigation. Two small boats with outboard engines passed by far from shore during the evening spent sitting on the shore. Everyone helped me break down and clean the raft. Jim misunderstood a communication using Alan’s InReach thinking that Adam with Allan Air would be able to pick us up this afternoon. He sat next to his packed gear expectantly. When he asked how far into the hour plus flight to our location the float plane was, Alan explained to him that it won’t be arriving until tomorrow afternoon. I had a pleasant chuckle about the misunderstanding and the idea that flights like this could be booked and changed spontaneously like calling for a taxi in New York City. Alan thanked me for my understanding and patience with the debacle between he and Bill. He was very friendly and we chatted for some time after Bill and Jim had gone to their tents. 515 m^3/s

20220809

Today Adam is expected to retrieve us for the return to Mayo. 447 m^3/s