Today was our windiest day. I held my paddle up in the air and was blown the first few hundred meters. The following wind turned into a side wind as we rounded the corner and started a 6 km crossing to Soapstone island. I had warning of the stronger gusts as darker patches of sea rushed towards us, throwing spray into my eyes and trying to whisk off my hat. Our route took us weaving through islands, changing direction so the wind changed angle, giving us a turbo charge from behind, heaving us sideways or almost halting progress as we crashed up and down over oncoming waves. I enjoyed the chance to work hard, and to figure out the best tactics to get where we wanted to go, staying close to shore in a headwind or ferry gliding across a side wind. These mental and physical puzzles are part of the attraction of paddling trips for me.

The others rounded the NE corner of finger hill island ahead of me and I heard some appreciative noises. Following them, I saw three skinny vertical turrets rising up from a steep island topped with a vertical ridge with obvious horizontal layers. A fan of even sized scree formed the understory. Lush green grass covered a flat ledge lower down. It reminded us all of arizona or Nevada. It’s very different scenery to the rest of the trip and equally jaw dropping. Back on the mainland we followed a steep ridge line down into a narrowing channel. Just a few hundred meters wide with towering walls on either side, it felt like being in the Grand Canyon. The wind funneled through the gap against us but we had the bit in teeth and continued for 7km to a tiny land bridge 50 meters wide and 10 meters tall. It’s an amazing feature and is our home for the night. Andrew, our contact from Parks Canada messaged to say it’s one of his favorite spots and one of the polar bears

I have 1st watch tonight and sure enough Andrew was right. About 9.30pm a large white object appeared around a Rocky outcrop 20 metres behind the tent JF was sleeping in. I grabbed the gun and shouted go away. Go away. Happily the beat immediately obeyed and ran into the water and swam away. The boys all heard me and got up to see the bear swimming away. JF shot a bear banger just to make sure he was leaving.

The wind died around 10pm and my flashlight now shoes to hundreds of mosquitoes as I shine it around looking for much bigger predators. It’s day 21 today.