Here massive rock formations rise out of deep, cold water; cliffs rise over 500 feet and water levels plunge past 2,000 feet deep. This has always been one of my favourite places to canoe and indeed, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
At this point in the trip, the brief summer we enjoyed was retreating. The tell tale signs of autumn, yellowing leaves and orange speckled willows, appeared along the shore. Temperatures dropped, the days shortened, and nights grew darker. If we started our trip too early then we were ending it too late. Plenty of people had warned us that being out in the eastern Arctic past middle of August was gambling with the weather. As the temperature dropped, the wind would increase, storms could last for a week, pinning us to shore. Sleet could be expected and it would probably snow by the time we reached the Bay. Time was not on our side and we knew we were in a race against winter.
Near the end of August we portaged into the barren lands. Late in the season, this wilderness that was usually filled with vast numbers of caribou, muskoxen and a variety of other animals, was empty. Everyday we were passed by large flocks of geese headed south, a sign that we too should be getting out. Our days began as the first light of the sun began to burn off the frost that had settled over night. We paddled until sunset, often against strong winds, because even if we could only go one mile per hour, and had to work and strain ourselves for that mile, it was one mile closer to our goal.
For a week the weather held, and we paddled long hours over enormous lakes and down the Thelon River, eventually arriving at the community of Baker Lake. Here is where most groups end their tip down the Thelon or Kazan Rivers, but we still had twohundred miles to paddle before we reached the Hudson Bay.
Misty morning on the Nahanni
ThePaddler 135