I'm going to finish my stories of the Rae with a song that I wrote ( honestly ! ) during the trip. Dave is hopefully going to put it to music for me, but in the meantime you can make up your own tune ! The song was inspired by Gene following the unfortunate swim on Smell a Whisky Falls. Gene was wearing 'normal' clothes in the canoe and was obviously pretty cold quite quickly. Later on that evening we were chatting about the day and questioning Gene about his choice of apparel. ( Sorry Gene for picking on you here but its such a good quote ) Gene replied 'well I didn't bring my front line clothes because I thought - it's just the Rae"...anyways...here it is...
An English girl got a Churchill Grant, signed up for a river with David Plante
She was looking for a wild adventure
Flew up to Yellowknife one day, then on they went to the River Rae
Little did she know what held in store
Chorus
Just the Rae, Just the Rae, Just the Rae, Just the Rae
You know it's just the little ole River Rae
Artic Circle here we come, un-chartered rivers to be run
But what the hell, it's only the River Rae
Now Dave he is the coolest guy, with a beaming smile & a twinkle in his eye
He's a gourmet cook and a crackin' paddler too
Mark - he is the king of faff, but he's really strong and he's a darn good laugh
And Gene is such a charming sweet old guy
Chorus
Hooper Creek was push and pull, down The LaPlante, it was real good fun
We portaged Damiens' Falls along the way
At Merganser rapids we got some luck, then were put to shame by a paddling duck
With Dave & Sarah singing all the way
Chorus
Now the Polish boat didn't think it was risky, until they swam the Smell a Whisky
And Gene didn't have his front line clothes today
The Anglo- French team nailed it, but with some small confusion
And what does left or right mean anyway ?
Chorus
Dave, Mark & Sarah took a hike - Gene stayed at camp, they went out of sight
Pepper spray and bangers in their bags
Big old grizzly was taking a nap, Dave saw him first said 'guys get back'
'Get your bear bangers out lets chase this fella away !
Chorus
Fresh artic char and muskox steak, creme caramel and apple crisp bake
And Gene said he was here to lose some weight
Eggs Benedict and strawberry crepes, pancakes too, now don't be late
For the finest keylime pie in the Artic North
Chorus
Kugluktuk came into sight, it was here we'd spend our final night
Looking over the Coronation Gulf
The sea was calm, the sky was blue, our dreams of the River Rae came true
And now we say farewell to the midnight sun
Chorus
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Posting Comments on BLOG
Apparently a few folk have had difficulties posting comments - my Dad has sent the following information...
To post comments on the blog you must first set up a profile. To do this go to the block named "Followers"
Click on "Follow "
this will open up a new window. in that window
click on " create a new google account"
fill in all of the requested details i.e. email address; password; age etc then
Complete the "word verification" then accept the google terms to create an account.
This will open up another window which allows you to either sign in and become a follower with a picture (or just a profile) or sign in private (this just means that you do not post your name in the Followers list. But when you leave a post it will automatically register your email name)
To leave a Comment
Click on "Comments" This will open up the window in which you can write the comment.
When complete select the "Google account " in the "Comment as" drop down window then follow the prompts to sign in.
Click "Post Comment" then complete the "word verification" and that should be it.
To leave future comments you only need to carry out the instructions from where I have written To leave a Comment
PS.
I forgot to mention - to post a comment you must first sign in in the Followers window. Your name will then appear where the word FOLLOWER was.
Also it is sometimes necessary to click on Post Comment twice in order to get the Verification box. Don't for get to sign out (by clicking the drop down arrow next to your name).
To post comments on the blog you must first set up a profile. To do this go to the block named "Followers"
Click on "Follow "
this will open up a new window. in that window
click on " create a new google account"
fill in all of the requested details i.e. email address; password; age etc then
Complete the "word verification" then accept the google terms to create an account.
This will open up another window which allows you to either sign in and become a follower with a picture (or just a profile) or sign in private (this just means that you do not post your name in the Followers list. But when you leave a post it will automatically register your email name)
To leave a Comment
Click on "Comments" This will open up the window in which you can write the comment.
When complete select the "Google account " in the "Comment as" drop down window then follow the prompts to sign in.
Click "Post Comment" then complete the "word verification" and that should be it.
To leave future comments you only need to carry out the instructions from where I have written To leave a Comment
PS.
I forgot to mention - to post a comment you must first sign in in the Followers window. Your name will then appear where the word FOLLOWER was.
Also it is sometimes necessary to click on Post Comment twice in order to get the Verification box. Don't for get to sign out (by clicking the drop down arrow next to your name).
Friday, 23 July 2010
The Rae River - Chapter 6 ( John Rae, The Coronation Gulf & Kugluktuk )
John Rae
If you visit Westminster Abbey you will find a a marble bust of Sir John Franklin on which is inscribed "the discoverer of the North West Passage", and not far away at Waterloo Place you will find a statue which proclaims the same. Also inscribed on the bust is the addition that " here also is commemorated Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock (discoverer of the fate of Franklin in 1859 "
I have learnt a lot in the past few weeks about the quest for the North West passage, the search for Franklin and the Artic journeys that took place in the early- mid 19th century, both from my paddling companions and also the book 'Fatal Passage' by Ken McGoogan - a gripping read. Incidentally, Sir John Barrow ( the Hoad in Ulverston is a monument to him ) was a leading figure in the 1840's who were obsessive in pushing the drive for the NW Passage.
The book is definitely worth a read but the short version is that John Rae, born in the rugged Orkney Islands of northern Scotland, in 1854, actually discovered both. He is considered by many to be the greatest Artic explorer of them all. He was the first to afford the local Inuit and Native Americans the respect which they deserved and in contrast to ( I think I can say ) every other explorer before him ( and many that went after ) adopted their ways of living in order to adapt to the harsh conditions in which they lived. When he returned to England after discovering what had happened to Franklin (and the missing link in the NWP) he told the truth. His investigations ( later proved correct by science ) led him to report that the last remaining survivors had resorted to Cannibalism in order to survive. However, Franklin's wife, one of the most influential people in this era was not about to have her husbands name tainted and with the help of Charles Dickins set about a campaign of denial and vilification against John Rae.
The book tells the story much better than I can and definitely worth a read.
The Coronation Gulf
You may recognise the above figure - an 'Inukshuk' - since it was the symbol of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. The original Inukshuk are figures of stone erected by Inuit and are unique to the Canadian Artic. In some places the traditional meaning was to act as compass or guide for safe passage. Today they have been adopted as symbols for such things as leadership, friendship, safety & nourishment, trust & reassurance.
The Inukshuk historically guided people over frozen tundra and gave them hope in barren places to handle the difficulties they encountered.
"May the Inukshuk be your guide for a safe journey throughout life's travels
May it always guide you home"
Kugluktuk
Kugluktuk is the small Inuit hamlet on the Coronation Gulf and where we finished our trip. Formerly known as Coppermine, it was renamed Kugluktuk when the area of the North West Territories - now Nunuvat - was handed back to the Inuit people. Kugluktuk means 'place of the falls' - after Bloody Falls on the Coppermine River.
Now Kugluktuk has got its fair share of problems, but what it can't be faulted for is the incredible friendliness of the locals who live there. Everyone who passed our campsite came to say hello - word of our arrival had gotten around because canoeists don't generally come in from the West. [ The Coppermine River east of Kugluktuk is a very popular river though ] The two older boys on the left were avid fishermen and were out hoping to catch Artic Char. There was a local fishing Derby coming up at the weekend with a prize of $1500 - when Dave asked what they would spend the money on they replied without hesitation 'fishing hooks !'
The three cheeky looking chaps on the right - Tyson, Danzel & Kevin - came down to the beach to investigate our campsite. After answering a few hundred of their questions we skimmed stones for a while ( kyak, kyak ) and I taught them to play giants, wizards an dwarfs - they loved this game and we tried to come up with a Inuit version involving Grizzly bears, Caribou , Muskox etc. but since the Grizzly clearly wasn't defeated by anything we gave up.
If you visit Westminster Abbey you will find a a marble bust of Sir John Franklin on which is inscribed "the discoverer of the North West Passage", and not far away at Waterloo Place you will find a statue which proclaims the same. Also inscribed on the bust is the addition that " here also is commemorated Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock (discoverer of the fate of Franklin in 1859 "
I have learnt a lot in the past few weeks about the quest for the North West passage, the search for Franklin and the Artic journeys that took place in the early- mid 19th century, both from my paddling companions and also the book 'Fatal Passage' by Ken McGoogan - a gripping read. Incidentally, Sir John Barrow ( the Hoad in Ulverston is a monument to him ) was a leading figure in the 1840's who were obsessive in pushing the drive for the NW Passage.
The book is definitely worth a read but the short version is that John Rae, born in the rugged Orkney Islands of northern Scotland, in 1854, actually discovered both. He is considered by many to be the greatest Artic explorer of them all. He was the first to afford the local Inuit and Native Americans the respect which they deserved and in contrast to ( I think I can say ) every other explorer before him ( and many that went after ) adopted their ways of living in order to adapt to the harsh conditions in which they lived. When he returned to England after discovering what had happened to Franklin (and the missing link in the NWP) he told the truth. His investigations ( later proved correct by science ) led him to report that the last remaining survivors had resorted to Cannibalism in order to survive. However, Franklin's wife, one of the most influential people in this era was not about to have her husbands name tainted and with the help of Charles Dickins set about a campaign of denial and vilification against John Rae.
The book tells the story much better than I can and definitely worth a read.
The Coronation Gulf
You may recognise the above figure - an 'Inukshuk' - since it was the symbol of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. The original Inukshuk are figures of stone erected by Inuit and are unique to the Canadian Artic. In some places the traditional meaning was to act as compass or guide for safe passage. Today they have been adopted as symbols for such things as leadership, friendship, safety & nourishment, trust & reassurance.
The Inukshuk historically guided people over frozen tundra and gave them hope in barren places to handle the difficulties they encountered.
"May the Inukshuk be your guide for a safe journey throughout life's travels
May it always guide you home"
Kugluktuk
Kugluktuk is the small Inuit hamlet on the Coronation Gulf and where we finished our trip. Formerly known as Coppermine, it was renamed Kugluktuk when the area of the North West Territories - now Nunuvat - was handed back to the Inuit people. Kugluktuk means 'place of the falls' - after Bloody Falls on the Coppermine River.
Now Kugluktuk has got its fair share of problems, but what it can't be faulted for is the incredible friendliness of the locals who live there. Everyone who passed our campsite came to say hello - word of our arrival had gotten around because canoeists don't generally come in from the West. [ The Coppermine River east of Kugluktuk is a very popular river though ] The two older boys on the left were avid fishermen and were out hoping to catch Artic Char. There was a local fishing Derby coming up at the weekend with a prize of $1500 - when Dave asked what they would spend the money on they replied without hesitation 'fishing hooks !'
The three cheeky looking chaps on the right - Tyson, Danzel & Kevin - came down to the beach to investigate our campsite. After answering a few hundred of their questions we skimmed stones for a while ( kyak, kyak ) and I taught them to play giants, wizards an dwarfs - they loved this game and we tried to come up with a Inuit version involving Grizzly bears, Caribou , Muskox etc. but since the Grizzly clearly wasn't defeated by anything we gave up.
The Rae River - Chapter 5 ( Portages & Flowers )
Portages -
Portages spoil a good canoe journey. There is no fun to be had in lugging heaving gear in the rain or heat with mosquitoes bugging you along the way. No sooner have you begun to enjoy the river then you had to unload everything again and carry your stuff for 100s ( sometimes 1000s) of meters across rocky boggy ground. They are a pain in the proverbial and not to be planned into any canoe trip or encouraged in any way.
OR
Portages are an exciting part of a journey across a land full of lakes and rivers. They make exploring remote areas possible. They are an opportunity to stretch your legs and work some different muscles. They open your eyes to the beautiful wildflowers which cover the barren lands. They are sometimes hard & challenging but when it's over you look back and feel good.
Like most things, your attitude determines which it is...I hope you enjoy a few of the flowers I saw along the way...
At some point I'll get around to looking all of these up and finding out what they are called
Portages spoil a good canoe journey. There is no fun to be had in lugging heaving gear in the rain or heat with mosquitoes bugging you along the way. No sooner have you begun to enjoy the river then you had to unload everything again and carry your stuff for 100s ( sometimes 1000s) of meters across rocky boggy ground. They are a pain in the proverbial and not to be planned into any canoe trip or encouraged in any way.
OR
Portages are an exciting part of a journey across a land full of lakes and rivers. They make exploring remote areas possible. They are an opportunity to stretch your legs and work some different muscles. They open your eyes to the beautiful wildflowers which cover the barren lands. They are sometimes hard & challenging but when it's over you look back and feel good.
Like most things, your attitude determines which it is...I hope you enjoy a few of the flowers I saw along the way...
At some point I'll get around to looking all of these up and finding out what they are called
The Rae River - Chapter 4 ( The Wildlife )
The Wildlife
The wildlife we saw was incredible and at times I felt as though I was at home watching a wildlife documentary. There are a few reasons why we may have been so lucky - traveling in a small group meant that we could stop and investigate where we wanted without having to push on to a schedule, it may have been the remoteness of the area and lack of people who travel this way meant that we saw the things we did, or we could have just been lucky. Whatever the reason, it was wonderful... ( Daves' wildlife photos are far better than mine but these will have to do for now ! )
Little mountain squirrels ( or siksiks ) are cute little creatures that pop up out of their holes to
watch us paddle by. They are also known as 'bear snacks' and we found lots of evidence of grizzlies having dug up their colonies.
We saw lots of birds - bald eagles ( above )and gyr falcons ( above ) as well as golden eagles and peregrine falcons. One day we saw nature in action, straight out of national geographic - we were so mesmorised that we don't have photos unfortunately. We were watching a golden eagle soaring and circling high above and stopped paddling, quite close to shore to see what happened next. Before long the eagle made a vertical dive down towards a family of geese with several goslings. Much flapping of wings and squawks of distress ensued and we were left with the eagle landed on the banking - looking quite pleased with himself and a ( seemingly ) dead gosling which had not quite made it to the river. Within seconds a raven came from no-where, almost dive bombed the eagle and led him high up into the clouds. We watched these two for 5 or 10 minutes while the raven tormented the eagle in a display that the snowbirds would have been proud of. Meanwhile, the little gosling ( who we now realised had only been playing dead ) toddled off to catch up with the rest of his family. We were totally stunned. Was the raven a buddy of the geese? Was the raven angry with the eagle for a previous mis-demeanour ? Or did he go after the eagle just because he could ? Perhaps we'll never know...
The ptarmigans allowed us to get really close, I was only a few feet away from the one on the left (above )
We saw dozens of caribou on our trip and when we started meeting local Inuits it was one of the first things they asked us about. The caribou in our area is know as the Bluenose East herd. They have been the subject of much research and controversy lately as the numbers have dropped dramatically in the north and in some areas a hunting ban has been put in place. There are many theories as to why the numbers have dropped but feeling I got from folk I chatted to was that at the moment no-one is really sure as to the reason ( or reasons ) why and more research is needed.
We saw several wolves but only one pair and a small herd of muskoxen. We were able to stop and watch the creatures for as long as we wanted. They were as curious of us as we were of them - after all they had probably not seen people before !
And now let me introduce, Mr G R Izzly...
OK, so we saw a great looking grizzly early on in the trip whilst we were paddling. It was really cool, I got an OK photo and with a bit of exageration I could have made a good story, it was at a safe distance and I was happy.
Then we had a day off and decided to go for a hike. Gene stayed at camp and despite his protests of 'I don't think there will be any bother with bears today' we insisted he kept one of the pepper sprays. We had the other one ( which I slept with ) and bangers in our bags. Not more than 500m from camp we sat on the top of a rock outcrop and chatted away, looking through our binoculars and enjoying the sunshine. After 10 minutes or so we continued on our walk and after no more than a minutes walking Dave said ' guys back up there's a bear'. There was no doubt in my mind from his tone that he wasn't joking. 'Where ? where ? I said as backing up 'I can't see it' - 'you nearly frickin stood on him' was his reply. [ I should point out that this does not need any amount of exageration to make a good story ] Oh my goodness, then I saw him - asleep on the rocks ! We spied our escape route, loaded our bangers, all in hushed tones and then I have no shame in telling you that I retreated to a distance which put two good meals ( see photo above ) between me and the bear. At this point I assumed that we would be leaving the 'sleeping bear to lie' and retreating without waking him but his proximity to our camp ( 500m ) and the fact we were staying their that night meant that Dave & Marks theory ( they are vets ) was to scare him away. So Dave set off a 'screamer' - sounds like a firework. That only succeeded in waking him up - Oh my goodness, I am thinking, now we have a grumpy bear ! There followed a short discussion between my two companions ( something about throwing a rock versus setting another banger off ) before Dave set off another banger - which sounded like a gunshot and scared the bear away.
But it wasn't over yet !
As we watched the bear run away we notice two other animals - and one of them was Gene ! A wolf was running away from Gene { who had set off for a hike by himself ! ) and the bear was running towards him ! Thankfully Gene came to some large boulders and decided to turn back whilst the bear ran round the back of the boulders - phew !
When we eventually made it back to camp Gene was blissfully unaware of his near miss and was feeling clean and refreshed after having just enjoyed a rather nice bath in the river !
Remember - Take bears seriously and always have protection at hand !
The wildlife we saw was incredible and at times I felt as though I was at home watching a wildlife documentary. There are a few reasons why we may have been so lucky - traveling in a small group meant that we could stop and investigate where we wanted without having to push on to a schedule, it may have been the remoteness of the area and lack of people who travel this way meant that we saw the things we did, or we could have just been lucky. Whatever the reason, it was wonderful... ( Daves' wildlife photos are far better than mine but these will have to do for now ! )
Little mountain squirrels ( or siksiks ) are cute little creatures that pop up out of their holes towatch us paddle by. They are also known as 'bear snacks' and we found lots of evidence of grizzlies having dug up their colonies.
We saw lots of birds - bald eagles ( above )and gyr falcons ( above ) as well as golden eagles and peregrine falcons. One day we saw nature in action, straight out of national geographic - we were so mesmorised that we don't have photos unfortunately. We were watching a golden eagle soaring and circling high above and stopped paddling, quite close to shore to see what happened next. Before long the eagle made a vertical dive down towards a family of geese with several goslings. Much flapping of wings and squawks of distress ensued and we were left with the eagle landed on the banking - looking quite pleased with himself and a ( seemingly ) dead gosling which had not quite made it to the river. Within seconds a raven came from no-where, almost dive bombed the eagle and led him high up into the clouds. We watched these two for 5 or 10 minutes while the raven tormented the eagle in a display that the snowbirds would have been proud of. Meanwhile, the little gosling ( who we now realised had only been playing dead ) toddled off to catch up with the rest of his family. We were totally stunned. Was the raven a buddy of the geese? Was the raven angry with the eagle for a previous mis-demeanour ? Or did he go after the eagle just because he could ? Perhaps we'll never know...
The ptarmigans allowed us to get really close, I was only a few feet away from the one on the left (above )
We saw dozens of caribou on our trip and when we started meeting local Inuits it was one of the first things they asked us about. The caribou in our area is know as the Bluenose East herd. They have been the subject of much research and controversy lately as the numbers have dropped dramatically in the north and in some areas a hunting ban has been put in place. There are many theories as to why the numbers have dropped but feeling I got from folk I chatted to was that at the moment no-one is really sure as to the reason ( or reasons ) why and more research is needed.
We saw several wolves but only one pair and a small herd of muskoxen. We were able to stop and watch the creatures for as long as we wanted. They were as curious of us as we were of them - after all they had probably not seen people before !
And now let me introduce, Mr G R Izzly...
OK, so we saw a great looking grizzly early on in the trip whilst we were paddling. It was really cool, I got an OK photo and with a bit of exageration I could have made a good story, it was at a safe distance and I was happy.
Then we had a day off and decided to go for a hike. Gene stayed at camp and despite his protests of 'I don't think there will be any bother with bears today' we insisted he kept one of the pepper sprays. We had the other one ( which I slept with ) and bangers in our bags. Not more than 500m from camp we sat on the top of a rock outcrop and chatted away, looking through our binoculars and enjoying the sunshine. After 10 minutes or so we continued on our walk and after no more than a minutes walking Dave said ' guys back up there's a bear'. There was no doubt in my mind from his tone that he wasn't joking. 'Where ? where ? I said as backing up 'I can't see it' - 'you nearly frickin stood on him' was his reply. [ I should point out that this does not need any amount of exageration to make a good story ] Oh my goodness, then I saw him - asleep on the rocks ! We spied our escape route, loaded our bangers, all in hushed tones and then I have no shame in telling you that I retreated to a distance which put two good meals ( see photo above ) between me and the bear. At this point I assumed that we would be leaving the 'sleeping bear to lie' and retreating without waking him but his proximity to our camp ( 500m ) and the fact we were staying their that night meant that Dave & Marks theory ( they are vets ) was to scare him away. So Dave set off a 'screamer' - sounds like a firework. That only succeeded in waking him up - Oh my goodness, I am thinking, now we have a grumpy bear ! There followed a short discussion between my two companions ( something about throwing a rock versus setting another banger off ) before Dave set off another banger - which sounded like a gunshot and scared the bear away.
But it wasn't over yet !
As we watched the bear run away we notice two other animals - and one of them was Gene ! A wolf was running away from Gene { who had set off for a hike by himself ! ) and the bear was running towards him ! Thankfully Gene came to some large boulders and decided to turn back whilst the bear ran round the back of the boulders - phew !
When we eventually made it back to camp Gene was blissfully unaware of his near miss and was feeling clean and refreshed after having just enjoyed a rather nice bath in the river !
Remember - Take bears seriously and always have protection at hand !
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