Outlet Bay - Dubawnt River
Distance 24 km [754km]
Portage 0 [14]
Very Fast Water 0 [30]
Rapids 1 [25]
Late start, then we set off across open water with a mild quartering tail wind. We reached Tukto, an outpost fishing camp, by mid-morning. John had been optimistic we would get a cup of coffee there however it was in a poor state and doesn’t look as though anyone has been near it in years. Many of the door and window covers had been ripped off by animals or the wind and we were able to go into the storeroom. It was a mess with very out of date food and the last indication of habitation a 2010 calendar. We decided to go with the concept of northern hospitality and took a packet of Red River Cereal that is only twelve months out of date and will mean I can extend our cereal supplies to make it to Baker Lake.
Part of the seemingly abandonned Tukto outcamp
Caribou antlers, Tukto outcamp
Ridges of massive ice pushed boulders close to Tukto outcamp
From Tukto Camp we continued across open water finally reaching the entrance to the river. It was good to be off the lake and back into the relative shelter of the moving river. We ran the exit rapid RR easily and set up camp on a small island after a late lunch. Trout for dinner, the fisherman is certainly doing his duty. The Black flies were intense so in the tent early to listen to Radio Australia, do the maps, write this journal etc. Not cold tonight.
Camp on a very low island back in the Dubawnt, 3km downstream from Outlet Bay, kichen and food drums are down by the canoe, the tent and other gear 100m away on the only flat, non bouldery spot we could find