Archive for the ‘kayaking’ Category

My first thought was that there was a sheep walking on the rocks maybe 200 metres away. I saw the movement of white and my brain, used to paddling in Wales, grasped a familiar idea! It probably only took a fraction of a second before I realised what it really was, and in the same instant, JF, was pointing and excitedly saying"bear". It's day 12 of our Arctic kayaking trip and I was beginning to forget about polar bears as every other sighting had turned out to be an iceberg or a patch of snow, but here was a real live one lumbering along the rocky shore, head down, maybe looking for food. He looked up now, towards us, nose in the air, trying to smell us but we were downwind so he was spared the stench of 12 day old thermals. I was thankful that we were on the water and he was on land, although we had only been paddling 5 minutes from our campsite. He was heading in that direction and was only a few hundred metres away.

We took photos and exc itedly admired the magnificent animal, again glad he was happily occupied on a different element to us. After a minute or so he walked away, disappearing behind some rocks before reappearing further away. We carried on paddling happily, making the most of a strong following sea to push us in the right direction today. The forecast was for 35 knot gusts and it may have got close to that at times, it was certainly strong enough in the late afternoon that i had to put my mapcase under my bungys to stop it blowing everywhere. We were paddling close to shore at the time with offshore islands close to our right, so it felt safe to harness the power of the wind with a good safety net. We made very good speed and are probably less that 35km from a small Inuit community.

We had a late start today due to a thunder and lightning storm in the morning. At first I didn't believe JF that there was thunder as it was so windy that it sounded to me like the tent flapping, but then i saw the lightning, followed by an unmistakably loud rumble. We waited a couple of hours to make sure it had cleared and launched at noon. That meant it was low tide by the time we landed and we struggled to find a spot. We ended up on a smooth flatish rock, a few metres above a high high tide, with a steep but fairly smooth route up that we could wheel the kayaks up. Its now even windier and we are finally ready for bed at 11pm.

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Rain fell on us last night and at times today, the first rain we’ve had on the trip since our first night. Thankfully our hilleberg Tarra tent kept us warm and dry and its often a shock when we unzip it and find that it’s cold outside. The forecast was for quite strong west then sw winds but it was more NW in the morning which slowed us down for the first 3 hours. We launched at 10.30am which was 3 hours before high water because waiting until 1.30 seemed too late! We risked committing ourselves to a short day, or 12+ hours of paddling if we had to wait until mid tide before we could land somewhere.

We saw quite a few noisy birds of prey with nests on prominent headlands. They made themselves known to us, i guess to tell us to stay clear.

There were a few reasonable low tide landing options today and in the end we spotted a nice step gravel slope leading to a sandy beach. We landed at 8.30pm, an hour after low tide after 10 hours in the kayaks and 30 nautical miles.

We’re at that stage of the trip where days merge together, i forget what day it is and I’m looking forward to a shower whenever that may be! We’re not that far from Quaqtaq, a community which is about our half way point and where we shipped a resupply. Its probably 2 paddling days away.

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We had a day off paddling today. JFs, back was sore this morning, the forecast was for moderate headwinds and we felt like we’ve been go go go the last few days, not having time to stop and enjoy the landscape. So today was about relaxing and exploring. A lone male caribou with a magnificent rack was the first thing we saw outside the tent this morning and we saw many more on our wanderings around the tundra. Sat on a rocky hill we scanned a vast plain of lichen and moss with a scattering of ponds and lakes, and rocky promontaries. We usually spotted the antlers first. Some unseen ducks started squawking loudly, and a pair of loons landed in a pond with a big splash and started wailing in a way I’ve never heard loons vocalize. I love the evocative trill they usually make, but this was like a cat wailing, and made you think they were in deep distress.

We tried fishing in a big lake but it seemed landlocked and very shallow so we suspected there were no fish living there. That’s our excuse anyway!

We’ve devised a way of knowing whether we’ll be surrounded by a swarm of mosquitos or not
If the olive oil is frozen then it’s too cold for our blood thirsty friends and we can go about our daily business without constantly swatting.

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This morning we were camped on such a shallow beach that leaving at high water was desirable! A small push from the ebb current and a wind that swung behind us meant we made quick progress north, playing Russian roulette by taking short cuts inside islands over channels that dry out with alarming speed. Today at least, we got away with it. We stopped for a late lunch of homemade smoked salmon, crackers and dried mango. We were on the rocky intertidal zone for no longer than 30 minutes and the water level dropped almost a metre leaving our kayaks high and dry. It's one of the reasons we chose plastic boats for this trip. We also were dismayed that in the same time the wind had switched direction and we now fought a headwind that increased in strength over the next hour so we were making only 1.5knots progress at one point. Things change quickly here, with no noticeable lull between.

We landed on a small island off Ivik island at pretty much lo w water. A 400 metre portage with the kayaks on our trolley feeling like a better option than paddling on into the wind.

Once on land, in the shelter from the wind, the sea looked like nothing, we couldn't look on it with smug satisfaction thinking look what we battled. We just felt like wimps! But really we knew it was a tiring battle.

The mosquitos are out in force on this island. Bowen inside the tent, i can hear them buzzing outside! I hope i don't need a pee in the night!

The landscape was a little different today, the intertidal zone offering a few more landing options, and the occasional gravel beach breaking up the rocky monopoly.

When paddling, we can identify areas of land that don't get covered by the sea by their black colour, the rocks are covered with a brush of tiny black lichen. Sometimes there is a bed of grass or moss, oftentimes it's just smooth, or jagged, black rock. We are surrounded by birds, pigeon guillemots , eiders, geese, gulls and the occasional loon. We've only seen 3 seals, perhaps because they are hunted here.

On this island there are a few stone circles, obviously made by man, whether in ancient or modern times i don't know. Yesterday our campsite was littered with used toilet paper. There is subtle evidence of man here all around, but we have seen very few people. Its not a well traveled highway and we're enjoying having it largely to ourselves.

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