SW side Selwyn Lake - Island, SE side Selwyn Lake
Distance 17.5km [146 km]
Portages 0 [11]
Up early on the longest day of the year. John had not slept well overnight worrying about which direction we should take to avoid the lake ice. After some discussion and reference to the weather bot which predicted east winds up to 15kph we decided on a change of plan. Instead of heading up the west side of Selwyn Lake through the maze of islands with the strong possibility of becoming ice bound we set off in perfect still conditions paddling due east. We felt the east side of the lake gave us the best opportunity of finding a lead between the ice and the shore which would take us north.
Heading east across Selwyn Lake under mill pond conditions, the entire lake to the north of us is still frozen
The edge of the ice was quite irregular, we were often paddling right along its southern edge in warm perfect conditions
The first couple of hours were surreal, the water was glassy with an expansive sky containing a few wispy clouds and there was a beautiful white ice-shelf running the whole way across the lake immediately to our left. At one point the candling ice dipped down across our path but we were able to break our way through. The ice makes a continual tinkling sound like wind chimes as it breaks away and forms large rafts floating about the lake.
View from the front of the canoe
We had been making good progress but about 10am a strong east wind blew up and we needed to paddle hard to reach the shelter of a beach on a small island. We had planned on reaching at least the east shore but the wind was so strong we were forced to wait several hours for it to drop. We had lunch and filled in time doing laundry and using the opportunity to have a very quick bath in the freezing water. By mid-afternoon there was no sign of the wind dropping and as it was a good camp site we struck camp planning to leave early the next morning.
View NE from the top of the esker revealed an open lead extending as far as we could see up the east shore of Selwyn Lake and a strong east wind was helping keep the ice edge off shore
Our camp on the esker, Selwyn Lake
Small solar panels charging a lithium battery power pack which in turn can be used to recharge the InReach satellite communicator or Kate’s Kindle
How to put up a Hilleberg Nammatj GT
Lay out the groundsheet (ours is double thickness for extra protection from sharp rocks)
Place tent on groundsheet with front and back correctly oriented, in strong winds, rear of the tent should be upwind
Position tent on the groundsheet and peg rear corners
Insert the three poles into the sleeves (black stripes)
Pull the tent up and then secure all guy ropes
NOTE
The Weather Bot is a link via the web and our satellite communicator to the information from specific weather stations, in our case the automatic stations at Stony Rapids, Dubawnt Lake and Baker Lake