I am huddled under the tarp for a minute, my rain jacket,pulled tight around my face. It’s raining for practically the first time in two weeks. I’m grabbing brief moments of shelter in between scanning for Bright Eyes with a bright flashlight. Its time to go out, check on the fire and walk around the inside of our bear fence shining the light. its 2:30 AM., the thermoses are full of hot water, our wild rice, breakfast is rehydrated ready for tomorrow.

We rounded cape white handkerchief today. The first Cape with any sort of conditions. as we crossed the valley before it, a hot wind lasted us from the side. It was like being in an air-conditioned room in a hot country, and suddenly opening the doors. The warm gusts highlighted how frigid it’s usually is. . The wind and waves were in our face, and the kayaks bounced down into the chop water splashed up into our faces, and we had to dig deep. It was a beautiful place to work hard. A steep cliff towered up above us, Brown rock injected with vertical black stripes. Once around the Cape, the wind dropped but the sea remained lively with waves rebounding off the cliffs. I enjoyed the energy I love being able to make small course corrections, using the waves and the view got even better. A long line of tall steep mountains lay ahead of us. ribbon waterfalls tumbling down onto icebergs below. Smooth granite type rock on one Headland, a block sized black intrusion on the next. A lone, male polar bear sat on a rare grassy patch on a less steep section. He stood up as we saw him and strode along the cliffs in our direction catching I was sent he turned towards us and sniffed before continuing on His way. Visibility was a little better today. there was some texture in the sky with a few clouds visible. We could still only see a detail a few miles ahead. It had the effects that we could only appreciate the beauty of our immediate surroundings. New delights revealed them selves all day. It was like we could only open our presents one at a time. we stopped after about 34 km as the next decent beach was over 10 km further.

It’s starting to get a bit brighter outside but I still need the light to scan. Time to wake jf for his shift

I woke up hot this morning and had to take some layers off. It actually felt warm getting ready but the sun was hidden behind a veil of smoke. It could have been fog but we think it was smoke from forest fires in Quebec. The sky was an even vanilla color like parchment paper. The sun barely shone through as a small pink disc. For our first 10 km we paddled alongside a flat plain with steep mountains rising behind . We spotted several small caribou, their white winter coats, giving them away now that the snow has mostly disappeared. We paddled under the sun’s reflection through small waves flecked with shiny copper. Visability grew gradually worse. We had to make a 5 km crossing from Murray head. We could barely see the mountains we were aiming for a small band of gray appeared on the horizon, followed by the dull gray shape of the Headland. 15 minutes later, a few snow patches appeared. It wasn’t until we were right under the cliffs that we could make out vertical bands of rock and grassy slopes scattered with scree. I’m sure other beautiful mountains lay beyond hidden to us by the heavy air. It was warmer today despite the haze limiting the suns affect. I didn’t put on my storm cag at lunchtime. The wind blew up in our faces around the headlands, but gently without malice we were able to make good progress to a small bay we’d identified on the chart. Our total distance over 13 days is about 430 km so far. tomorrow we pass the highest mountains in the park. I really hope the smoke clears so we can enjoy that majesty.

We had to work a bit harder for our progress today. The steep boulder beach we landed easily on yesterday was being hounded by meter high waves this morning. Larry launched first. He pulled his kayak from the sloping rocks where he’d loaded it into the sea between partly submerged boulders. By the time he was in position, a big set was rearing up a few meters in front of him. He had to hold his kayak steady while white water sprayed up all around him. After three large waves passed, he jumped into the cockpit and pushed away from shore. Once on the water, a headwind turned yesterday’s mill pond into a dynamic mogul field. This part of the coastline is indented with many long fjords and we needed to paddle across several large openings of 5 km. Our kayaks bounced up and down on the chop, waves crashing over the bow. The forecast claimed it was 16°C today, but it doesn’t account for the wind over the icy sea which makes me shiver whenever I stop paddling. There aren’t many easy places to land without going several kilometers up inside a fjord. After 20 km we found a tiny strip of sandy beach for lunch, and immediately pulled on our storm cage and wooly hats. We still had energy in the tank, but stopped a couple of hours later at a beautiful, red sandy beach. because the coast ahead looked rocky and uninviting for as far as we could see. Its a gorgeous spot, a swathe of sand backed by an oval lake. Towered over by a jagged triangular peak with a giant cleft down the middle. The red color, apparently comes from garnet eroded from the rocks.

I was going to write that we didn’t see a polar bear today, but my blog writing was recently interrupted with one wandering close to camp. A lot of shouting and a flare gun sent him running. Everyone got up and we watched him wander far away. We think he was just passing through. On day twelve, the bear watch had paid off.

“Bear”, JF was pointing high up the mountain. I thought I must’ve misheard him, but I glanced up the steep slope, and there he was, striding limberly across the loose rocks on the ridge. He looked just like another snow patch until he moved. Seeing him there dashed my hopes that we wouldn’t see bears far from the sea. He must’ve been about a kilometer away and two or 300 m high. We stopped paddling and watched him gracefully lumber over treacherous terrain.
He weaved his way down the mountain, reaching a large Snow patch. He turned onto his belly and slid down like a kid. I couldn’t help giggling. Over 10 minutes he got gradually closer. We lost sight of him as he reached a flat low plain, until paddling around the corner, a small ice floe in the water caught our eye. It didn’t move. Only two gleaming black eyes and a shiny black nose gave it away. The bear saw the four kayaks and started swimming away. It was amazing to watch the powerful animal, so at home in the frigid water. We watched him head towards the valley we had camped in last night. He looked more and more like a tiny ice floe as he got further away. I paid a lot more attention to every speck of white on the water after that magical encounter.

We woke up yesterday to bands of fog lingering just above the horizon. The towering mountain peaks stood proudly above, but their bases were hidden from view. The fog thickened and shifted over breakfast and we wondered if we would lose all of our view. On the water, we took a slightly longer route close to shore, hoping to see some wildlife before the mist cloaked everything. JF spotted a herd of six or seven female caribou on a low grassy plain. We landed to watch them feeding until the chill started to run through our bodies. Warmth here is fleeting and fickle. The sun has the power to warm us to the core but a breath of North wind, or a large cloud instantly removes the comfort. The only consistency is change. I have just enough warm clothes, and I usually wear all of them when on bear watch. Last night we had enough driftwood for a fire, which provided more wonderful, fleeting warmth.

The only good thing about the low temperatures is the lack of bugs. A few hardy mosquitoes appear when the sun bathes us but a few swats is enough to keep them away. Tomorrow is meant to be 19°C which could turn the tables in their favor.

I’m writing this at 6 AM. It’s my turn to have the last bear watch. I’ll wake everyone at seven and before that I’ll make hot drinks and have the oatmeal ready to go. We’re having a relatively late start today because we landed on a beach with large boulders which are slippery at low tide. We’re having amazing weather with very little wind the last few days. Yesterdays fog dispersed by the afternoon revealing yet more stunning mountains, piercing the sea. Perhaps we should be making more distance, but we want to enjoy this beautiful place.