Cabin in McLeod Bay
Icebound: [Cumulative total remains 254 km]
InReach: Day 15 Strong NE winds with rain Cold with big waves & swell Far too dangerous to canoe so again the only safe thing to do is wait Cheers J&K
Camp: 62.611°N 111.520°W
Another disturbed night, our tiny cabin mouse manages to sound like a heard of elephants during the night. After putting up with it for ages John finally broke and about 1 am launched an all out attack involving much crashing, bashing and swearing resulting in mouse 1, John 0. It continues to be miserable, raining, freezing headwind, large swell however on the plus side all signs of ice have gone. With the ice gone the water has taken on milky hue, a light grey/green and appears to contain a fine sediment.
As this is now our eighth day stuck in the cabin time is weighing heavily on our hands, there is only so many times you can reorganise the gear, read or play patience. To combat the intense cold we have zipped our sleeping bags together to take advantage of our combined body heat, a task that was an intelligence test in itself. Whilst doing it we spotted the number one enemy, “tiny mouse”, and this time our combined efforts won the day, RIP tiny mouse, we felt bad but perhaps we will sleep tonight. Later in the afternoon a second mouse appeared and the hunt was on, the score is now mice 0, John 2, though he felt a bit of a murderer.
It remained bitterly cold however the rain eased in the evening and the wind lessened. We have received weather reports from Wayne and Kendra [the Ontario back up team] and this has given us some hope of clearing by the weekend, at the moment the plan is to leave tomorrow afternoon and paddle into the night. Meanwhile, more reading, discussing route, “patience”, and a snooze to try out the double sleeping bag. It is definitely warmer so it looks like an early night just to keep warm.
In the time we have been in the cabin the Labrador Tea and a number of other plants have come into flower. The Arctic hare put in an appearance this afternoon.
The pack of cards was in the cabin, Kate made good use of them!
Wind driven icy rain on the window as we wait
Sunset glow on the black spruce held out hope for better weather