Canoeing June 9 2008

Having acquired new glasses, I returned to the river for a short trip and to stash the canoe better. The wind was against me but the sun breaking the clouds was beautiful.

Epic Fail June 7 2008

June 7 2008 was my first decent canoe trip. I left the house at 4:30 AM, paddled the canoe a few hundred yards parallel to 3' wakes and a overcast sky towards the mouth of the river. Once I floated under the bridge, I beached the canoe on the sandy eroded shore next to the large concrete base of the bridge.

The mosquitoes were terrible. I ran up the highway embankment, over the railing and ran down the highway home. I went back inside to get some bug repellent and a bottle of water, then into the garage where I rode my bike back to the river. I set the bike on the canoe, put a 30lb rock in the bow and began paddling down the cold river still swelling from the spring run off.

Paddling efficiently was difficult while being swarmed. The insects weren't completely affected by the bug spray. The sun was rising, ducks were flying across the meadows and the river was glassy with a light breeze.

I intended to paddle a few kilometers down the river to an old mining road where I would stash the canoe nearby, and bike home from that point. I was nearing the road, and had put on headphones, playing Mike Oldfield's Incantations Part 4. I was sitting on the edge of the canoe and it was beautiful. A mosquito landed on my temple and delivered a particularly startling bite. I freaked and hit myself in the side of the head, causing my $400 prescription glasses to be knocked into the river.

My vision without glasses is worthless, I can discern little more than giant blobs of homogenous color of what is around me. I managed to get the canoe to the road, hid it in a noneffective manner and was able to bike home without sight. Scary experience.


Setting off around 5 AM

Macfie May 15-17 & 19-24

Cold and wet weather this year. Fishing was not very fruitful, only 3 lakers were caught. The suckers were spawning in Robbie bay which has a history of being bad fishing time. The truck's rear universal axel got fucked over on the ride home after the first few nights. I made the trail hugging the lake a decent amount further. Getting into dense bush.




Clouds over Macfie




White suckers in Robbie bay


Campsite

Canoeing in Ice April 20 2008

Went out again in the aluminum on April 20, used an electric motor this time. Less ice, river was navigable and flooded substantially. Wind and the wetness in the early spring air made for a chilled ride.

Hundreds of twittering birds occupied a patch of forest and there were plenty of ducks and geese.



Canoe & flooded river


Birds


Sunset

Life-Risking Behaviour April 17 2008

April 17th I took out my less than ideal aluminum canoe out onto the river, which still had 1-2 inches of ice in areas. I neglected to bring a PFD, and was down the river in short order stuck on ice using body momentum to move the canoe. Dumb as shit! The canoe almost turned over with a breaking panel of ice.







Dusk - Deathly cold water

Hike April 16, 2008

After my first attempt at going through the woods in the beginning stages of spring a week prior, I tried to visit an old camp. Although the temperature was 15 degrees warmer, it made the snow covered environment worse for travel and simple being. Despite the beauty of a new spring showing itself in the shrinking masses of snow and cold streams of winter melt, it meant going in and dealing with moisture in the air so thick you can taste it. I left with 20lbs of additional weight & showing signs of the onset of hypothermia. I must like nature having her way with me because I tend to get myself into very similar situations repeatedly without much change in my preparations...




Small networks of spring melt run under the snow in low areas.


My incomplete shelter ravaged by the weight of wet snow

Late Winter April 09, 2008

April 9th, spring was approaching, the snow penetrated by the sun was granulated but a stiff chill still in the air. I had a hike on my mind, but didn't get much further than a kilometer before i ran out of exposed rock and was forced to walk waist deep in slightly wet snow with a snow-cone like consistency. Within a half hour my legs were feeling quite like rubber and my pants and light clothing became soaked. Slightly under freezing temperature, overcast evening with calm winds. Utterly silent.



Some dry lichen and birch bark caught a flint spark easily.

Three times in one day April 1st 2008

A big snow storm blowed through here last night, leaving two feet of powdery drifts and leading to road closings. What better time to take out the snowmobile and start making new trails? I went ripping down a power line and was pretty surprised at just how deep the snow was. I kept on the gas because if i were to stop it'd end there. A while later after being misdirected by a particularly large drift I collided with a small spruce tree. Didn't have the camera, but the snow was up to the windshield and the tree was wedged between my ski and belly pan. I didn't mind digging it out alone in a blizzard and spending a half hour packing a trail so I could turn around and get back on my own track.

At about 7:30 PM i decided to go and check out an old network of hunting trails i had been to last year. Started out well, there was a track ahead of me so I didn't worry too much. However he had turned around a short while in, and I decided to keep going..

Click to Enlarge




DOH.. Quite a while later working in a sweatshirt that turned to this:





And I managed to get it out after working in the pitch black. Wish I had a shovel.

Snowmobiling Continued March 07, 2008

I went out again today with the sled and brought the tripod along. I got a few shots of some water crossing, it was quite a bit colder than yesterday. I put together a short video, the second location was cut off a bit, but you get the idea.

Water-skipping and related shenanigans March 6, 2008

After a long, hard, irritating, useless and completely regrettable day at school, I decided to get on my machine and engage in some early march open water tomfoolery. For the past three years I have ridden my old Ski-Doo Tundra 250cc, I had mastered the control of it in just about any circumstance. I went further down the narrowing and partially frozen river than anyone else I knew. I could literally cross open stretches of water in excess of 40', and often would. It was such a great machine for accessing areas off the trail, for its light weight, reliable engine, and ease of maneuverability. It floated on top of snow whether it was a foot or five feet deep. You couldn't beat it for the price and gas mileage, but it did have its shortcomings: The pistons rattled the machine so badly any attempt at keeping a headlight was futile, it was extremely easy to tip over, it took 43 square miles to make a 360 degree turn on hardpack, and it was as loud as anything. It was the kind of machine you didn't worry about where you went with it or how you treated it. Sadly, I said my final goodbye to it this winter in place of a newer, faster machine.

Until recently I hadn't taken many risks with it. The power of it intimidated me and I also had the thousands of dollars in engine repair if anything went terribly wrong to worry about. Now I am familiar with handling it, and I decided to take a rip down the open stretch of water under the highway overpass. It's been a weird and inconsistent winter weather-wise, and the river hasn't really frozen over like it normally does. There is a nice 70' or so open section that was a breeze to cruise across. It's like riding a jet-ski and turns amphibious on contact with the calm steaming water. I proceeded down into safer sections, frozen over due to the current slowing in pace. I took five at an old power line where I frequently stop in the summer on canoe to take some pictures. There's something about the alien form of the lines that contrasts with the beauty of the surrounding forest that makes for a good shot. Snow was falling lightly, the bright sun was behind a translucent bit of clouds, which made it seem like I was looking at the horizon through a luminous lens. Colour seemed to have more significance. Or was that the marijuana?