Portaging around Aberdeen Canyon

Friday, 03 September 2010 14:17 Written by Dave Freeman

8-24-10

Portaged 2.5 miles

Portage day. We weren't sure what to expect. A book written about the river reported an 8-10 km portage. So we braced ourselves for 5 miles. However a friend at NOLS and the Austrian fellow with the pack raft had told us that it was shorter. So we were braced for 5 miles, while hoping for fewer.

We packed our gear so we could shuttle it in two sets. The plan was to hike with the first load until we needed a break. Then we would drop that load and hike back for the second. Our food was split between the two loads, in case a bear happened to come across one of our caches. Dave would mark waypoints on our DeLorme GPS to ensure that we didn't lose track of our stuff. As it turned out, the portage trail was pretty easy to follow.

In the first load, I carried a Granite Gear Immersion pack filled with the tech stuff (laptops, cameras, satellite phone, etc.) while Dave had his Granite Gear Access backpack filled with food and other odds and ends. The second load was my Stratus Latitude filled with food, rope, the spray deck, and other random things while Dave carried the canoe plus a light Immersion pack filled with sleeping bags and pads.

If you ask me, Dave had a much harder job than I did. Sure, the trail was well-worn and marked with flagging, but we had to push our way through plenty of willows and alders. We had to choose our footing carefully, otherwise we'd end up in knee-deep mud. Getting out of the mud was complicated by that 60 lb pack or in Dave's case, the royalex canoe on his shoulders.

We slogged through. Shuttling the gear was a slow process. We'd hike for about a quarter of a mile before turning around to get the next load. Back and forth, through the tangles of trees and boot-sucking muck. Hard work. Discouraging at times. During our lunch break I was shocked to learn that we hadn't quite gone a mile yet!

We spent the entire day toiling away. Progress was so slow that we resigned ourselves to the idea that we would still be portaging tomorrow if the portage was indeed 5 miles. Around 6 pm we started to look for a campsite. The trail meandered closer to the river bluff. We observed that we were gradually dropping in elevation.  Could we possibly be approaching the end of the portage?

Just before the beginning of a steep downhill we found what might be our best campsite ever. There was a small clearing in the trees right above the canyon. We had an amazing view of the river from here. We set up the tent, so it would dry a bit while we got our last load. We were about to hike back when Dave said “I can't resist. Let's see if the trail actually goes down to the river.”

Down we hiked and within less than a quarter of a mile we were standing on the pebbly beach of the river, at the end of the portage. Dave let out a shout of joy. We would be paddling tomorrow!

Although the trip with that last load of stuff was through some challenging terrain, it went by quickly and easily, because we knew the end was in sight. At 9:30 pm we finally sat down to a pasta dinner on the bank of the river. Each of us wolfed it down, eager to make up all the calories we had burned throughout the day. I gave Dave a shoulder rub, since he had carried the canoe. Then we both fell into a deep, satisfied sleep high above the canyon.

A challenging day on the Peel River

Friday, 03 September 2010 14:08 Written by Dave Freeman

8-23-10

The approach to the Aberdeen Canyon holds several class II and III rapids. (The rapids in the canyon itself are class IV-VI.) Our day consisted of running, lining, and portaging. The water is still high, making some class II spots more like III and some class III spots more like IV.

One spot full of river-wide ledges was runnable for the first half. We did what we could and then eddied out before the bigger stuff. Lining worked well for most of it. Eventually a large drop required a portage. Not bad. I was excited to find fossils here.

As we approached the canyon, the river gradually funneled down. We were able to sneak along the right side, avoiding some of the large wave trains that were in the middle. Canyon walls rose up out of the ground in front of us. While keeping half an eye on the river, we admired the horizontal stripe patterns in the massive rock walls.

One bit of cliff was not so admirable, because it prevented us from lining a stretch of water we weren't entire comfortable with paddling. A 100 meter stretch of whitewater stood between us and a reasonable landing spot. That 100 meter stretch contained two ledges followed by large irregular waves. We stopped on a gravel bar just above this spot to scope it out. It was clear that we had to stay right. It was also clear that this was bigger than anything we had run on the Peel thus far.

I was a bit hesitant, but knew we could handle it. The eddy and gently sloping shore below made a good spot to pull out. Down we went, avoiding the huge waves to the left. We were still tossed around a bit in the three-foot waves hitting us from all sides. I didn't exactly enjoy being in the bow for this. Each time we went over a ledge, I held my breath and felt the water surge over the bow, roll down the spray deck, then my lap, and up into my face.

After those few intense seconds were over we paddled hard to shore. Our North Water spray deck did its job, keeping out most of the water and keeping us safe. Without it, surely we would have swamped. We landed, gave each other a big hug and bailed a bit of water out of the canoe.

From that point on we lined the canoe for the most part, until the start of the big portage. Lining was difficult in some spots, as we heaved the canoe over rock ledges. Another rock wall meant another brief paddle. Fortunately this stretch was not as big of an adventure as the first. We passed a creek, entering on river right. This was our cue that the portage was coming up soon. More lining. Dave controlled the stern while I controlled the bow.

Rock ledges slanted out of the water at a gentle angle, making a nice ramp up to the start of the portage. This would be camp for the night. Rain showers prompted us to put up our tarp. Since the sky all around us looked clear, we sat under the tarp for quite a while, expecting it to pass over any minute. We were waiting until a break in the rain allowed us to set up the tent. The sun came out but the rain increased.

Once the rain finally stopped I pitched the tent on a rock ledge overlooking the start of the unpaddleable part of the canyon. Big water surged below, making a continual roar. A rainbow formed over our camp, ending in the river. This was a comforting sight after an intense day.

Dave made a huge pot of rice and lentils for dinner. We ate with a view upriver, a chance to see the water we spent the day traveling through. The water glimmered in the setting sun and we congratulated each other for the hard work it took to reach this point.

Paddling rapids on the Peel River

Friday, 03 September 2010 13:58 Last Updated on Friday, 03 September 2010 19:09 Written by Dave Freeman

8-22-10

Paddled 25 miles

Waking up was difficult. It was another chilly gray morning. This meant packing a nice, wet tent. To cheer up we ate a new breakfast concoction: hot, cheesy Red River cereal. Yum! We got on the river just as the rain started.

Now that we are on the Peel River, we have more detailed information about the rapids we will encounter. Today, we would encounter a few sets of rapids. The first class II rapids we missed entirely. I mean, we paddled through not realizing that was it. It was so washed out from the high water. No ledges or anything, just a bit wavy.

For the second rapids we had an audience. A female moose was standing in the willows on an island just below the rapids. There weren't many obstacles here, just a bunch of big water. We picked our route to the left of an exposed rock and then down we went. We bounced around a bit but avoided the biggest standing waves. I waved to the moose as we drifted past her island.

Lunch above the next rapids. This was a good chance to study it out. It looked much easier than the previous rapids. There was a ledge to the right, but plenty of room to avoid it to the left.

The next rapids on our plate were class III. Thanks to the high water levels, we figured that it could have qualified as class IV today. Many ledges broke up a 300+ meter section of river. We lined most of it, but had to portage around one three foot drop. The sun came out while we were working through this stretch. I enjoyed glancing back and seeing the cascading water glowing, back-lit by the sun and still gray sky. Eventually, even the gray burned off.

The sun warmed us up for a while. A rainbow formed downriver. Actually it was a double rainbow. It looked like the end of the rainbow was just to the right of the island we were planning to camp on. As we paddled around the corner, the other end of the rainbow was visible just to the left. Well, that made the decision for us-- who could resist camping directly under a rainbow!?

Cheesy couscous with chicken flavored TVP and corn for dinner. Drizzles on and off despite bits of sunshine. We fall asleep to the hum of the rapids we will encounter tomorrow.

A quick trip to the confluence of the Blackstone and Ogilvie Rivers

Friday, 03 September 2010 13:51 Written by Dave Freeman

8-21-10

Paddled 60 miles

So far we have met four people on the Blackstone River. Two groups of two individuals, all guys. We passed Dallas and Julian from Vancouver during our first day on the river. They told us about the crazy rainstorm and watching the water level rise. They have done a ton of hiking. Once they finish the Blackstone, they will line up the Ogilvie River to the Dempster Highway.

The other two folks we met on our second morning. We paddled past their camp and decided to stop and say hi. We had heard from Dallas that these two were using pack rafts, so we were curious. As we rounded a bend, there they were, two tiny rafts sitting next to a green tent on a gravel bar. The two guys from Austria were sitting near a small cooking far.

We got out of the boat and talked for quite a while about our respective hikes. They started hiking from Grizzly Creek, carrying their pack rafts, paddles, and PFDs with. One of them had paddled the Hart River to Fort McPherson two years ago, so we picked his brain about the route. He described the portage around Aberdeen Canyon as easy. We shall see. Nice fellows.

We continued on down the river, flying. We paddled the stretch where the river winds through the mountains. Gorgeous. 30 km of breathtaking views. Cliffs dropping into the water in spots and in others it looked like you could begin marvelous hikes straight up to some of the peaks. Striped rock in all sorts of interesting formations. The only thing that detracted from my enjoyment of this stretch was the fact that several class II rapids lay ahead. Of course, nothing was marked in the map or described in our guidebook, just a mention of class II rapids here and there in this 30 km stretch.

Well, I was nervous for nothing. We had to be on our toes as the river wound around a few turns and that was it. After the mountains, we meandered through the spruces. There were cut banks, gravel bars, and lots of debris washed up.

One braided section later in the day was particularly hairy. We were picking our way through the channels, trying to take the ones with more water in them. The river split several times, winding around little gravel bar islands. We had selected the middle option when we came around a curve and peered downriver. A down tree was blocking practically the entire channel. The fact that we would likely not be able to sneak by registered in both of our heads at the same time and we hurriedly ferried to the side.

We clambered out of the canoe on to the tangle of tree roots and branches that topped this particular gravel bar. Dave walked downstream to check out the sweeper, while I held onto the canoe. Apparently there was a small gap that on could squeeze through, but it would be risky, as most of the water in the channel ran right under the tree. We decided that wasn't our cup of tea.

We lined upstream until we were high enough to cut over to another channel. What a relief to find that detour! Evening was upon us and we had our campsite goal: the confluence of the Blackstone and the Ogilvie, aka the start of the Peel River. We made it there in good time and found a nice gravel bar to camp on.

The Ogilvie seemed cloudier. We also noted that more debris was washing down the Ogilvie, as we watched several large trees float past our camp. We went to sleep, relishing another epic day of about 60 miles.