1km Above - 5km Below Hawkrock Rapids
Distance 6.5 km [744.5 km]
Rapids 1
Portages 0
Slept in. Up at 7am, cold and breezy but patches of blue sky promised better things. On the water by 8.30 and through Hawkrock Rapids before 9am. Paddling the three kilometres to Hawkrock Rapids was hard going as we were going directly into a strong headwind. Our plan for the day was to do Hawkrock followed by a long and more serious rapid about nine kilometres further west then to make some real miles towards the end of the river which is only two or three days paddle away. However best laid plans of mice and men….. the headwind got stronger and stronger, the waves higher and higher, every paddle stroke was hard won. By 10.30am we were forced to stop as it was now not just difficult but dangerous.
Patches of blue sky promised a good day, but it wasn’t to be!
John was in a state, he is now tired and frustrated and sick of the responsibility of constantly having to navigate through white water, and just wanting to reach Black Lake. He constantly worries that we will experience wind problems on Black Lake which is large and open. Having waited for several hours we made another attempt to get going but once again were forced back by the wind and waves. We sat on shore waiting and giving it another hour then another but by 2pm we gave up and set up camp. Fortunately we had pulled in at a camp site noted by Laurel Archer, not the world’s best but sheltered from the wind which continued to get stronger.