A perfect day's rest... And man did we need it!

Howard writes...

Tired boys today!

You haven't been hearing about our 'distance to the Pole' and our passing of 'km milestones' on this trip! I said it would be very different, but I still can't  help myself hey, so here we go....:

Earlier  today we reached our virtual half-way point, also the most southern point we will go in the park. We were some 38 km as the crow  flies from our day 1 start point. With our tortuous route this is definitely a helluva lot shorter than the distance 'as Imi and Howard paddled and portaged'!

After the challenging rainy weather that I described in the last post, and the wonderful campsite we had found, we decided to take a rest day yesterday. And what  a special day it turned out to be.... Probably the clearest warmest day of our trip so far, and we just embraced the opportunity this provided: swimming, reading, lots of discussions, and exploring a  nearby island by canoe. In its pristine, unspoilt, wooded solitude, this park is very special. Even the wildlife put on a show for us. We were sitting chatting, when next thing there was this commotion in the bushes near us, then a lot of splashing in the water, with the horse-like grunts confirming moose. A mother and a calf had decided to leave our headland and swim the 400metres to the nearby island following the same course we had paddled. Its just great to see them swimming, and the clear relief on reaching land the other side.

Sunset was perfect, with not a breath of wind, and a lone swimming loon, creating an ever-expanding 'bow wave' that provided witness that we weren't staring at a huge, man-made perfect landscape painting.    

When we decided too take the rest day, it was conditional on today being another big paddling and portage day. After all, we have a huge circuit to cover, and it's not just about holidays! In discussion yesterday Imi did say how satisfying it is to have both the rest days but also a challenging, 'circuit purpose'. He went as far as saying that if he had set the goal of this trip alone, he probably would have not had the circuit goal, but he can see how it enriches the experience. Those that know me well, will know I believe in goals, and challenging ones, and Imi's conclusion was great support for this concept. I do believe, well it's fundamental for me, that having a stretch goal and yet allowing for a lot of pleasurable 'now' journey time is the ultimate. As my description of today, below, will hopefully show, we have a great balance of challenge and pleasure for this trip.

Well today started at 5am, with a perfectly clear and still dawn. Wow, our first real perfect start to a paddling day. Then the sign of what lay  ahead came just as I had breakfast ready. Imi had just finished packing up his tent, and was on his way to our spiritual eating 'rock' next to the mirror like water.

Just finished making tea, I now had the milk for our cereal heating in a saucepan on the stove. I thought I'd place Imi's freshly-brewed tea right next to his favourite spot on the rock and when he got close by, I'd go meet him and lead him to the tea. So simple, and I was doing my very best to try to make it a great breakfast for him, so what did I do wrong..?

Next thing Imi asks me to please look for a T-shirt he thinks he left near the water the night before. I have a quick look, but no shirt; he is approaching the eating area, I run back to meet him, then suddenly the milk boils over, extinguishing the stove, pouring milk everywhere, so I run to solve that. Just fixed that and as I turn around,  Imi walks straight into his full tea mug, knocking it over,  spilling all the contents. Hmmmm, he feels bad, apologises profusely, I tell him it's not his fault but mine. I'm cross with myself for letting myself get distracted with the T-shirt search, and eventually all we can do is laugh about it. The stove doesn't relight properly until cold again, so I gave him my cup of coffee, saying: "The person responsible for the problem must pay the price, so here is my coffee!" This is the hugely rewarding human side of doing these adventures with Imi: One is humbled like no other adventures can deliver. And to think Imi was apologising for knocking over his tea!

With that start, it was clear the day was going to be special, just how special we were to find out!

Our longest day yet 'out there', we spent 7 hours paddling and portaging, and both of us reached the end of the paddle with just enough energy to build our tents. All in, there were 5 portages, two very long ones, but all of them extremely challenging for Imi, which meant it overflowed onto me. The challenge was in the terrain, and we had everything from huge boulders, knee high, 'shoe stealing' mud, slippery green moss, to mini vertical rock cliffs. We started with the same portage formula, but as the terrain took its toll, we agreed Imi should slow down and have no carried weight, and just focus on getting himself through the portage in one piece. I could see giving up his bag was difficult, but we both knew that today it was the right decision. This left me with the choice of three instead of two trips, or I'd have to carry one bag plus the canoe on my shoulders. Always up for the challenge, and hating repetitive tasks, the latter was my choice.

Well, first go saw me sink up to my knee in this shoe-stealing mud, with canoe on my shoulders, my head mushroomed in the upside down hull, providing limited vision, and the huge food backpack on my back! I laugh about it now, but it was quite a dilemma, and any attempt to try and step out of the knee  high mud felt as if my shoe would become a permanently buried piece of human trace, and I'd be left a hopeless, one-shoe canoeist! Just mustering the power to try and lift my body with all the weight on it was a major challenge itself. I literally dug deep and 'somehow' managed to get myself free without dropping the canoe nor the pack, but I could feel the battery power it consumed to move through the full 15 metres of this narrow mud swamp. I went back to guide Imi through this devilish new obstacle, and we used some dead tree poles to form semi bridges across it.

I must say, as slow as Imi was, I honestly don't think I could have done three of the portages today if I was not sighted. Every portage I took time to understand the enormity of what he had to overcome and what he personally achieved today. Imi, you are bloody amazing, man!

Camping places aren't easy to find in this densely forested Quetico wilderness, but thanks to Jim, the canoe outfitter's info, we have another great site tonight, at the end of a small island. We had just enough time for a late lunch, a swim and nap, before the thunder clouds moved in. Now we are both back in our tents, rain teaming down, a huge electrical storm on the go, with the lightning real close by. What a truly extraordinary day it's been....

As I type the rain on my tent is so loud that I won't be able to talk to Imi, so his blog will have to wait till the weather clears....

That's all from me..I'll sleep well tonight, snug in my bag, can't wait....

Read Imi's blog post from the same day.
Read Howard's previous blog post.