Grassy Island to 7km South of Hornby Point
Distance: 29.5 km – [cumulative total 893.5 km]
InReach: Day 50 On water by 7 to beat forecast str winds Forced stop ~2pm when headwind became impossible Lousy campsite but fresh Jackfish for dinner!
Camp: 63.989°N 103.866°W
Up by 5am to try and beat the strong headwinds we are expecting this afternoon. Cool morning, windy but the mosquitoes don’t seem to mind. The first few kilometres we had sandy shores but from then on both shores were covered with spruce forests, so much for yesterdays observations about trees. The river is incised into a deep valley and often as little as three hundred meters wide, several places were narrow enough to have fast water in addition to the always present current. At places where the river narrows we have been stopping so John could attempt to catch a fish. He was getting despondent after two or three stops with no luck however late morning he caught a nice sized northern pike and after we stopped for the day he added a second northern pike so he is feeling better about stretching our food resources.
The wind was generally uncooperative so early afternoon we decided we were fighting a loosing battle and set up camp in not the most desirable place but adequate for the night. Again we have seen white trumpeter swans, numbers of families of ducklings, several eagles – one a bald eagle the others with speckled colouring possible golden eagles. We were also fortunate enough to get very close to a young cow moose feeding on the edge of the river. Early night tonight. We need to get away early tomorrow to make some distance irrespective of the wind.
Threatening skies over the mighty Thelon River
Young cow moose, we got quite close to her, she seemed more curious than afraid of us – I guess she doesn’t see many canoes!
Jackfish cutlets. Northern Pike have a peculiar ‘Y’ shaped backbone which makes filleting difficult. Fried as cutlets the bones can be easily removed without loosing any meat