Grant Lake at Dubawnt Canyon - Canoe Point, North End Grant Lake
Distance 13 km [799 km]
Portage 0 [16]
Very Fast Water 0 [30]
Rapids 0 [28]
Listened to the Radio Australia news before getting going and, like every civilised human being, are appalled by the news of the Malaysian civil aircraft that has been shot down over the Ukraine. We had breakfast in the tent as it is bitterly cold with Saturday Night Country in the background. The 12 hour time difference can be useful. The wind has dropped sufficiently to see us packed up and on the water by 9.30am.
We paddled up the west side of Grant Lake, a longer route but better in the wind and arrived at the very impressive Canoe Point in time for lunch. Canoe Point is part of an amazing raised beaches esker system. It is huge, magnificent and extensive. We climbed to the top to walk along it. The views from the top are stupendous and give you a real feel for the vast, open country we are travelling through. The steep hills are a combination of sand, gravel and boulders and there are many tiny flowering plants and lichens.
It was a cold paddle down Grant Lake towards the large and extensive esker system at Canoe Point
Up near the top we came across a series of three ancient boulder circles which were almost certainly man made. The lichens on them indicated they had been there for a very long time. They were unlike the various collections of stones/boulders around them and they were set in small equidistant circles. It is interesting to speculate how they got there and their age.
Canoe Point is such a unique and beautiful spot, John described it as “a wonder of glacial geology”, that being said we decided that although we had not travelled far today we would strike camp early and explore more.
View south along the esker towards Canoe Point and Grant Lake
Exploring the top of the esker
Intricately patterned lichens survive on boulders on the exposed top of the esker
Colourful lichens on the top of the esker
Succulent like plants on top of the esker
Stone circles high up on the southern flank of the esker
Stone circle, just what they were remains a mystery
After the usual house-keeping we did laundry and I did a food inventory to check we were on track with our food use. Then we set out to explore. We walked along the beach and saw lots of animal prints including recent Musk Ox but other than numerous active burrows and the odd “ground squirrel” there were no animals. A point 500m downstream had current and deep water where John caught a nice pan sized trout for dinner. John then walked in the opposite direction to the main esker crossing the channel and climbed Canoe Point proper to marvel again at the views and the geology.
View towards the esker we explored and our camp, taken from above Canoe Point
A perfect pan sized lake trout for dinner
NOTE
Raised Beach: An ancient beach occurring above the present shore line. At Canoe Point these beaches were formed in a large post glacial lake as the continental ice sheet melted.