By Joe O'Blenis
June 10th - June 24th, 2004
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Below the Vermillion Chutes
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Once the time came to leave the town of Peace River after a
fun-filled and enjoyable time thanks to Herb and Ray, I was once again back
on the water, heading down the Peace River, one of the longest in all of
Canada.
I was running late by the time we got back down to the boat
launch where I'd arrived yesterday afternoon and it was already 2:00 PM by
the time I got underway so I knew it was going to be a short day,
particularly with dark clouds rolling in and the sound of thunder not far
off. Shortly after paddling away I encountered some rain showers but they
did not amount to much at all and 30 kilometers later, the sun was even
shining again as I pulled ashore to check out what looked like a good
campsite on the riverbank. Sure enough, there was campsite set up there
complete with picnic table and a fire pit, compliments of a group called the
"Peace River Rats," a group of mostly sport fishermen running small outboard
motor boats and jet-boats. The site was just too nice to pass up, especially
with the mostly muddy and overgrown banks along much of this section of the
river. Also, the banks are not quite so high now as they were earlier along
the river. Initially, the banks of the river would go up several hundred
feet. It looked like you were flanked by impressive hills on
both sides but in reality, once you reach the top, you wind up looking out
over the vast Canadian Prairies.
The following morning I was not so lucky. It had begun raining
last night shortly after going inside the tent for the night and it rained
nearly non-stop all night and most of the next day, at times very hard.
Making things even better were the persistently strong headwinds! I made the
best of it however and headed off, determined to put in some decent distance
today as recent "events" have put me somewhat behind schedule from where I
wanted to be by now. Just when I was starting to think about pulling over
some place for lunch I ran into some good fortune, spying a cabin up on the
bank on river left. I had to make my way up through a muddy riverbank, the
first 20 feet or being the worst, sinking about 8 inches with every step.
The cabin was unlocked and had a note attached next to the door, urging
people to feel free to use the cabin when passing by, just to keep it clean
and look after it when you are there. Perfect!
I had a hot meal, followed by
a cup of coffee afterwards. Feeling warm and with a full stomach, I was
ready to continue on. Unfortunately the rain and headwinds were still with
me as well! The rain did eventually end about an hour and a half
before I pulled ashore for the night just before 10:00 PM. I had to set up camp
on a weedy, overgrown, muddy little beach...not much to choose from along
this stretch for good campsites I'm afraid! Despite the rain and headwinds,
I still managed to knock off 100 kilometers today.
The next day, Saturday, the weather was better but I still had a
persistent headwind from the time I hit the river until about a half hour
before setting up camp. The wind could have at least kept howling a bit
longer, long enough to keep the bugs away while setting up camp and having a
late meal! The mosquitoes tonight were terrible, the worst I've seen yet on
this trip. I'm sure they will get far worse before the trip is over.
Guess I'll just have to make the best of it. Good thing I brought plenty of
bug repellent and a good bug shirt! My distance today was down from
yesterday but I still knocked off another 80 kilometers. The winds combined
with the mosquitoes and lack of good campsites had my spirits quite low by
the end of the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, today was not one of
the best days of the trip by far.
Sunday was indeed a better day, mentally in particular. The
headwinds were still there but everything else went great today. I was only
planning to paddle about 70 kilometers down the river today. My map shows a
ferry crossing and picnic site, surely this will yield an improvement over
last night's campsite. Partway through the day I had a great break beside a
small stream, pouring fresh, clear water into the Peace. The water from the
Peace River, though drinkable once filtered or treated, is very silty, the
color of a strong cup of tea. I took advantage of this crystal clear stream
water, filling my water containers before heading off again after lunch and
a bit of relaxation while reading a good book, sitting in the sun beside the
river. I even had free entertainment, watching a beaver swimming repeatedly
up and down in front of me, now and then diving under, splashing his tail on
his way, creating a loud splashing sound each time.
Back on the river and a couple hours of paddling later, I heard
voices and then saw some folks over on the far bank, next to a small
motorboat. I paddled over to say hello and they invited me up on the bank
with them for some lunch...fresh meats, a hamburger, a couple of different
salads, cheese....a very welcome treat I must say! Fifteen kilometers later
I pulled ashore at the ferry crossing and set up camp in a great little
picnic park with fire pits and picnic tables. Even the mosquitoes were not
so bad tonight. I spent the next couple of hours just relaxing in front of a
campfire, reading, having a bite to eat and enjoying 2 cans of beer that I
was given earlier today by the people I met along the river who shared their
lunch with me. A definite improvement over yesterday all in all!
A couple of days later I arrived at the tiny town of Fort
Vermillion, the last chance to pick up supplies for the next 400 plus
kilometers. There was not much I really needed, just a few odds and
ends...hot chocolate, a few snickers bars, a loaf of bread, bagels, that
sort of thing. I spent an hour on the internet at the public library and
later, made a few phone calls before packing up to head back out again.
Heading back out I went through a wide range of emotions for some reason. A
bit sad I guess, missing my friends back in Kamloops, missing my friends and
family back in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and thinking to myself...I
still have over 4 and a half months to go! I was not regretting the decision
to do this trip, just a little down over some of the things that you must
temporarily give up in order to take on an expedition such as this. On a
positive note though, tonight I found a great little sandy beach, just big
enough for myself, my canoe and my gear. It was nice having a sandy campsite
for a change, I found it a nice change from what I've had the last several
nights. This in itself was enough to cheer me up again and put a smile on my
face. Sitting in the sand, barefoot, a cool breeze blowing in off the water
and some great scenery. Yeah, all in all...life is pretty good right now!
On Wednesday, my plan was to put in about 55-65 kilometers and
set up camp just above the Vermillion Chutes, the only major piece of
white-water on all of the Peace River. I found a nice sandy beach after
about 60 kilometers and set up camp here, still about 7 or 8 kilometers away
from the rapids. When the wind died down for the day though early in the
evening, you could certainly hear the rapids. You could not yet see them but
oh, what a noise! From what I knew about what lay ahead, there is a rapid
that goes from one bank to the other, over a kilometer wide. A short ways
downriver from this is the Chutes themselves where the entire river cascades
down over a limestone shelf, 10 feet high! No, I'll not be running that!
Years back when the steamboats used to ply these waters, there was a portage
trail several kilometers long over which all goods had to be shuttled up the
river, around the Chutes and rapids. I'm hoping that it will not be too bad
and I'll be able to run the bulk of it, portaging and lining what I'm not
comfortable with running solo.
The next morning I woke up, anxious to be off. I'd slept last
night without the fly on the tent, hoping to stargaze as I drifted off to
sleep. Being this far north however, and only days from the summer solstice,
it does not actually get dark! I woke up briefly around 2:15 AM and it was
light enough still to easily walk around camp without a light...or to go
paddling for that matter! Once I was back on the water for the day, around
9:00 AM, I headed downstream, listening as the sound of the rapids got
louder and louder.
Once I arrived at the first rapid I pulled ashore on river
right, tethered the canoe securely and went for a little walk, a bit of a
scouting mission! It did not look too bad actually, what I ended up doing
was lining around a couple of logjams close to shore, hauling over another,
paddling in between and then I was in open water. Soon though I heard the
roar of the second portion of the rapids, the bigger of the two by far! This
one was only bad right at the end, the actual drop over the ledge itself.
Everything else was pretty straightforward, again staying all the way on
river right. I lined a little bit and then portaged about 2 or 3 hundred
feet around the drop, reloaded the canoe at the base of a rapid and pushed
off, carefully paddling the last section of turbulent waters, along a
section of river veering to the left, all lined with undercut rocks. Less
than a minute later and I had nothing but open water ahead of me. Not bad at
all, I was thinking it might be much worse than it was. I did happen to see
a lost PFD tangled up in one of the log jams though, not a good sign when
you see something like that!
A short while later I pulled out along the bank near the tiny
native community of Little Red River at a spot that I later learned was a
native run ferry landing. I had some supper here and was likely going to
spend the night here, camped out on the sandy beach, this even though it was
only 5:00 PM when I'd arrived. Two and a half hours later however, shortly
after finishing my meal, I decided that maybe I'd be better off to paddle a
bit further! I'd been debating whether or not to include this in my updates
or not, in the end I decided to at least touch on it. I WAS going to camp
here. That is until the only encounter I've had thus far on the entire
expedition that gave me a bad feeling. The native ferry pulled ashore with
four guys aboard, 2 of whom departed on a 4-wheeler they had with them. One
guy stayed aboard and the fourth, the operator, came over and talked
briefly. It was the 2 guys who got off and left on the 4-wheeler though that
gave me the bad feeling. One of them, carrying a rifle the entire time, just
stared at me when I said hello, looking at me but not acknowledging me at
all. The old saying "If looks could kill"...well...that look said it all!
The guy who came over and talked to me, he seemed okay although his first
question was "Are you just leaving?" Nothing was said or done but just the
overall feeling from this encounter was not sitting well with me so I
decided to just pack up and head downriver a little further rather than risk
a potentially bad incident later on.
Back on the river at 8:00 PM, I paddled until 11:15 before
finally finding a place to set up a quick camp. It was not ideal but it was
somewhat sandy and was about a foot and a half above the river. I set up the
tent, had a hot chocolate and went into the tent, fending off hordes of
mosquitoes all the while. The canoe securely tether to some bushes AND to
the tent itself, it was not long before I was fast asleep, ready to drift
off into dreamland for a few hours before arising to hit the water once more
and see what adventures the river holds for me tomorrow.
The following morning, awaking to hungry hordes of blood-thirsty
mosquitoes, I was packed and back on the water in near record time, hoping
to get away from the pesky insects out on the open water. Soon I was
entering into Wood Buffalo National Park, the scenery remaining very flat,
the riverbanks being low and not much in the way for good looking campsites.
I ended up camped on a muddy sandbar, more mud than sand really but it did
the job. The quick dip in the river after setting up camp certainly made up
for the below average campsite though...talk about refreshing after a long
day's paddle!
Over the next few days the bugs continued to get worse and
worse, the headwinds persisted...one day in particular was really bad, bad
enough to force me to call it quits early. When paddling with a decent
current and you get blown back UPRIVER by the wind when you briefly stop
paddling, you know it is getting bad! One day when having a less than ideal
time......hungry, tired, frustrated....that sort of thing....I was on the
riverbank for lunch and was reading in Explore Magazine about a cycling
expedition to Peru where a lot of things kept going wrong....in spite of all
the setbacks though they still ended up having a great trip and doing some
really incredible mountain biking (biking is one of my other passions).
Their trip turned out great and it made me put my own adventure back in
perspective.
Time to remember why I am doing this trip and how long I've
wanted to do it. When thinking about it, the trip has been awesome so far.
It has had its moments for sure but that is to be expected on any big trip
and I knew that. Reading this article by David Leach just reminded me of
that and put everything back in perspective. When I got back on the water
after lunch, I felt much better and ended up having a great time the rest of
the day. I'll have to send David at Explore an email later on and tell him
this! His article was great by the way and it got me thinking about a
cycling expedition I have in mind myself sometime in the next couple years.
More on that another time though.
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The Vermillion Chutes
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On my second last day on the Peace River, paddling along a
channel between an island and the main riverbank I noticed the front half a
green canoe partially up on the riverbank...makes me wonder what happened to
the rest of it...and to the paddlers! That reminds me, when coming down the
Vermillion Chutes rapids the other day I saw an old PFD caught up on a
logjam. That combined with the broken canoe today makes a bad combination. I
wonder if the two items, the canoe and that particular PFD were part of the
same trip. Scary stuff!
Later in the day I saw 3 buffalo on the right riverbank, we
watched each other for a minute or two and then they bolted off into the
woods, crashing their way through the dense underbrush along the water's edge
on their way. Unfortunately I was too slow on the draw with the camera! This
also happened to be the night of the summer solstice. At no point tonight
was it too dark to sit outside and read, I'm sure of it! From here on though
the days start getting shorter. I'd better start upping the distance pretty
soon in the coming weeks.
On my last day on the Peace, another hot and sunny day, I was
happy to be finally off this river, headwinds and all. It was late in the
afternoon when I turned right, leaving the Peace and heading upriver now on
the Quattre Fourches (Four Forks), which is the best channel for heading up
to Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca. The current was fairly slow, even with
the river at its peak level according to a local I met along the river the
next day. My campsite for tonight though was on the first outcrop of
Canadian Shield rock I've seen on this trip, it was nice to set up camp on
this ancient granite, alongside the river. For the most part, the river
banks along here are still all muddy and overgrown with willows and alders.
The rocky campsite was a nice change of pace.
Many years ago, before the dam went in at Hudson's Hope, this
river would actually reverse its flow in the spring when the Peace would be
in its spring flood stage. This greatly helped in maintaining the immense
Athabasca Delta. After the dam however, the flow rates changed and the
Quatrre Fourches never again reversed its flow. This has been bad for the
Delta according to the local people I met later on. A good example of why
hydro power is not as "clean" as many people think. The added flow from the
Peace, coming up the Quattre Fourches, would help rejuvenate the Delta,
keeping it healthy. Many people's livelihoods and way of life was adversely
affected upon completion of the dam. I'll elaborate more on this in my book
upon completion of the expedition.
Waking up the next day, camped on the granite bedrock of the
Shield, I looked out over a light fog covering the river, watched a beaver
serenely swim by and listened to the chirping of birds all at once. Not a
bad way to start off the day! I paddled most of the way to Fort Chipewyan
today, camping out on a low riverbank just before dusk, only about 8
kilometers away from the town. It was an easy and quick paddle in the next
morning to this historic town of about 1200 people, a town with only a
winter road. The rest of the year it is accessible only by boat or by air.
I'll talk more about Fort Chipewyan in my next report but for now, let's
just say that I was so impressed with the town and with Lake Athabasca that
I am already contemplating another paddling expedition which would see me
paddle from Jasper National Park, all the way down the Athabasca River to
Lake Athabasca, circumnavigate the lake...this is a HUGE lake...and then
paddle back UP the Athabasca to Fort MacMurray. More on that later though!
Cheers…Joe O’Blenis
Editor's Note: Do you have a question you want to ask? Go to Joe's Ask the Pro page on WetDawg.com.
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