The Rae River - Chapter 1 ( The Team & Getting to the River )

The Team
First of all, let me introduce my paddling companions...

Dave was my paddling partner and right from the start we got along like a house on fire! A vet from NY state and a guitar player in a band in his spare time - ours was the singing canoe ! Dave has many years experience kayaking and canoeing and has also worked as a guide for Wanapitei Canoe. Although this was not a guided trip, Dave did the bulk of the planning for this trip, which included, organising the floatplane, all the food, first aid, repair kits, safety kit etc. ( more on all the kit we took later ) Although we helped out with camp chores it is only fair to say that he did the bulk of the work and organisation and was incredibly generous with his time and experience. Dave - you're a super cool guy, thanks a million for having me along, I certainly couldn't have done it without you !

Mark is also a vet from NY state and has 5 or 6 years of remote northern canoe tripping with Dave. He was also instrumental in helping Dave plan the trip, brought along his canoe and I am very grateful to him also. Mark is a really strong guy, easy going and very fun to be around. Mark was our weather man and wildlife specialist! He gave us weather forecasts every morning and had an ability to 'sense' animals well before we saw them. He was in charge of 'bear patrol' each evening and would give us updates regarding the safety - or otherwise - of our current camp perimeter. Mark - I've really enjoyed your company, you've been super fun, thanks !














Gene is one of the most courteous & charming gentlemen I've ever met. I'm sure he won't mind me telling you that he is 77 years old ! He is a retired urologist, originally from Canada and he now lives in Santa Fe. He has completed somewhere in the region of 15-20 canoe trips in the Canadian North. He has an incredible passion for canoe travel and has a story for just about every river. He is a shining example of how to grow old gracefully and without any loss of enthusiasm. Gene, if I live to your age and have half your energy I'll be a very happy woman. I'm very grateful to have been able to share this journey with you, thanks !

Getting to the River

Now what you have to understand is that my paddling companions, although looking forward to our river journey, were pretty old hands when it came to flying out to rivers and landing in the middle of no-where. I, on the other hand, was like a small child on Christmas Eve, I was so so excited ! I couldn't sit still for a moment in the Air Tindi waiting room, checking on every plane arriving (- is this one ours ? )and bouncing around the place. When our plane finally arrived and Trevor the pilot came into the waiting room I was beside myself.

The controller of Air Tindi pointed out on the map to Trevor where we were heading to which the pilot replied ' that's not on my map ! '- I just about squeeled with excitement, oh my goodness, we're off his map !!!!

On account of it being my first trip in a float plane - I was allowed to sit in the co-pilots seat, yipee !

The flight was incredible. We flew for about 3 hours, above the Artic Circle and saw nothing but thousands of small lakes and rivers. It was unbelievable.

We weren't able to land on the lake we had originally planned, as it was too shallow. We spotted a couple of other possibilities but they were too 'glassy' [ if the water is glassy then it is difficult for the pilot to judge where the top of the water is, apparently they sometimes throw apples out the window to create ripples ]

We finally found a suitable lake and Trevor was able to land safely although it was somewhat of a boggy landing zone !

Then came the moment when the plane flew off and we were left totally on our own. I had been anticipating this moment for months, wondering how I would feel - Scared ? Nervous ? Excited ? Apprehensive ? Lonely ?

Actually I felt none of those things. The truth is that I felt completely at home and totally contented - I was exactly where I was supposed to be.