Expedition Update # 21 - Direct from the High-Arctic! These updates are composed on our sub-notebook computer, which is powered by solar panels courtesy of UNSW, then sent using software from Global Marine Networks, over a satellite mobile phone provided by Landwide Satellite Solutions. Thanks very much to all involved! Date: 8/9/05 Time: 10:30pm Position: 70 deg 44.762 min N, 104 deg 36.173 min W Summary: Race against time - lakes turning solid Location Map: Click the map to the left and a new browser window will open, directed to Google's new satellite maps feature. The map view will be centred on our current location. Zoom in for more detail. Weather: Sun hidden behind mist and rain, rather windy. Temperature: -3.2 deg C and falling Message: Well, I've heard people comment that it can be mighty difficult paddling down rapids. Well, I assure you it's even harder to paddle UP them!! =P Over the past few days we've learnt the hard way why most kayaking / canooing trips seem to go down river. We did indeed escape the salty grasp of the ocean earlier this week - heading inland, we eventually met up with a river that heads inland and.. and.. upwards.. in the direction we need to go. When we came face to face with this river it took us the best part of an afternoon to work out how best to transport ourselves and our PACs upriver. Normally between 5 and 15m wide and perhaps 30cm to 3m deep, flowing quite rapidly in the wrong way... it was a steep learning curve. We tried everything: wading in drysuits, with our PACs leashed behind us (this was too slow, it's hard to walk at all against any depth of current); walking/sloshing though the banks of the river lining PACs behind us (they just kept snagging and grounding on the bank); towing them from a point 1/3 the way back from the bow, hoping to be able to control them a bit like a kite from the banks (well, I did say 'hoped'); paddling full-tilt was about as effective as dropping anchor... Then at last we hit the jackpot - one person on each bank, each with his 30m rope tied to the bow of PAC #1, with the 2nd PAC tied in series behind the first one. Brilliant. We could each walk on firm ground, steer the PACs around obstacles, and 1/2 the chance that the next big bull musk ox will be on your side of the river next corner. We perfected this art of lining up river, even cutting some Arctic Caribou antlers we found up into convenient handles for the ropes. We went to sleep safe in the knowledge that we had this whole river thing sorted, and tomorrow we'd race along it no worries. That night was our first cloudless one we've experienced. The stars burned overhead while countless satellites arced past... AND - something I've been longing to see all my life - the Aurora flared up - the 'Northern Lights'! I stood outside in the icy night from 12:00 'till 1:30 with camera and tripod (and torch to do the odd sweep for bears and wolves sure to be sneaking up on me). Naturally the camera battery kept dying on me so it was a matter of take 1 pic, recharge the battery until I could stand it no longer and take it off charge and take another 1 or 2 pics.. None of them really did it justice - a pale green flickering, wandering flame across the sky, sometimes steady, sometimes waving like a sheet.. It was awesome. So we awoke the next morning and begin smugly pulling the PACs upriver, around the corner, and.. and.. what is this? Rapid after rapid - but never so close as to let you see enough rapids at any one time to make it worthwhile pulling the PACs ashore and converting them to wheel-down hauling mode. The land beside the river was horrendous anyway. So we’d just get in the river and physically drag / grind / inch each PAC up and over the rapids. The novelty of progressing less than a few hundred meters in an hour wore off pretty fast, and eventually, broken at last by one particularly vicious set, we pulled to the shore, heaved them onto dry land and converted to wheel-mode. The riverside terrain was as bad as any, but our PACs have been getting somewhat lighter as we eat, their various repairs holding up, and we have been getting stronger, so we were surprised that we could bite the bullet and actually make ground. We have to pay tribute to our awesome Scarpa hiking boots, with Gore-Tex (r) lining... they have been taking such a mighty beating these past weeks, we've been putting them through hell - the number of times we've felt them hold our ankles upright and in one piece as we slip, slide and fall through rocks, mud and worse... and when we wade through a river knocking their layer of mud off, they look as good as new! Not one stitch pulling, no tears, no separation, no wear... nothing. Cheers for them W.L. Gore! Well recommended. Our trust in creeks and rivers now shattered, we have been hauling beside them for the past 2 days now, while the rapids snigger at us as we jolt past. Little do they know what is in store for them in the next few weeks... the temperate has been dropping, and it feels like Winter is on its way, soon to silence the rapids until next year, while we'll be sipping coffee and indulging back in civilisation... The geese certainly know what's coming, and countless flocks have been honking their way overhead in spectacular V-formation as they head south. Normally South anyway, but it seems our PACs are interesting enough to alter the migratory patterns of some birds - whole V's of geese have flown over from the horizon to gawk at us and then fly off honking excitedly in some completely random direction... There's trouble. Speaking of flying - out here in the middle of nowhere, our solitude is occasionally ruptured by an aircraft way overhead leaving a vapour trail from horizon to horizon.. We stop hauling and stare upwards, trying to catch a glimpse of today’s Air Canada 1st class menu... drool.. we can almost feel their comfy chairs again.. Fingers crossed for our return trip to Australia! The whole flying south for the winter business is a reality, and it has become a bit of a race against time for us now - we have a good few days of hauling and lake paddling ahead of us before we hit a massive long esker (35km long! Can't wait - dry flat ground!). These lakes and rivers will soon freeze, leaving us with devastating diversions around them... So we are giving it all we've got tyring to reach the safety of this esker before freeze-up. Right now it's 3 below zero, and our PAC cockpit skirts have frozen solid, forming a bullet-proof lid over the centre part of our PACs. The GPS is in there, and I'm going to have to brave the Arctic wilds in a minute to grab it so I can let you all know where we are tonight. I hope you all appreciate what I do for you... =P To make matters worse, we both have extra cold-sensitive finger tips now after our frost-nip mentioned in the previous update - fingers have now partly blistered and calloused up, and are now hyper sensitive to cold, I hope this recovers soon..? It wasn't major frostbite, and we learnt our lesson! In other very exciting and unexpected news, we didn't catch any fish today, or yesterday, or any other day for that matter. What is going on?!?!?! Not one fish in 41 days. Only about 24 days left! We've decided not to start writing the list of all the food etc we will over-indulge on when we get out until the # of days left is in the teens, else we will go mad. Things like extra rich hot chocolate, pizza and beer, real coffee, steak, Mexican food, fresh fruit, (damn it Chris... not yet.. don't think about it!). Truth be told, we are not suffering too badly out here on our hiking diet - many many thanks to Masterfoods for sending us that gift of countless herbs and spices before we left to 'spice up our expedition' - the wonders Clark manages to whip up from these - converting plain rice and pasta into a gourmet meal - have to be tasted to be believed. Everything tastes like butter. yum. How does he do it? =P Snow is building up on the ground around the tent, so I’d better go and make that dash for the GPS before things get any more painful out there. Something we forgot to mention many weeks ago - special thanks to Don & Margie McIntyre - 'Ocean Frontiers', our naming sponsors - their sponsorship covering that 2nd video camera (and more). It was day number 2 that we broke the first camera! It's not every day you blow up a $7,000 video camera. It makes you feel quite powerful in an expensive kinda way. So we have been using that backup camera for the 39 days since. Thanks again Don & Margie! =) Cheerio! (The Aurora - Northern Lights burn above our PAC) (Going down rapids is hard enough, let alone going UP them!) Back to updates list To send us a message, please contact us anytime!