It has been a day. The waters of the aptly-named Maligne were high and fast. So much water trying to get through such constricted areas. Our portage out of Keats proved manageable. We fought constantly against current. Rapids and fast-moving water is constant. The whirlpools and eddies make it difficult to pilot the canoe. We could use a keel. Once we got to Shelley the land was burned out, and the portages hard to find or nonexistent. On the third narrows (which is not a marked portage on Mckenzie or Garmin inReach) we saw fast water but believed we could make it through. We could see a little elevation change but no rapids. Once we powered into what turned out to be the mouth of the chute the V grabbed the bow and turned us violently to the right, with the main force immediately capsizing the canoe. I came up holding the canoe in one hand and, unconsciously, my paddle in the other. I saw Jon doing the same. I instantly assessed I wasn't hurt or caught. I had no idea what we had lost but it was of momentary concern. Jon and I yelled at each other to make for the south shore though it was a rock ledge. This was made more urgent by the power of the whirlpool working to bring us back out into the current. The canoe was under water but upright, and from my many times training to right-size and re-enter a submerged canoe I knew the best thing to do was to fight like hell to get a hold of land first. Though filled with water the canoe was heavy but moveable. I told Jon we had to get out of the whirlpool so we flutter-kicked and pushed. The lifejacket was keeping me afloat and I was thankful the water was warmer than usual. I got hold of the ledge. We assessed everything as we carefully but quickly exited the water. All was soaked and we hoped our dry bags held. We had lashed the packs to the boat. The extra paddle too. The only items that had been lost were our fishing poles. A huge disappointment but also the most expendable of our gear. We bush-whacked and straight-lined along the 30-foot rock ledge. Luckily, the fire had made some areas relatively passable. As we looked down at the chute we realized that, had we seen it from this perspective, we never would've chanced it. We set up a cairn at the mouth and two cross-branches as a warning. Next time I'll throw a roll of blaze orange marking tape in my pack.

But we weren't done yet. The next portage was hard to find due to burn-out. The put-in was too close to the in-flow of the rapids so we bushwhacked a little farther up. We paddled through fast current narrows until we reached Kawnipi. We stopped to drink some water and eat something. Three ladyslippers.

We continued SSE across big water with relatively calm wind out of the south. We did come across a site with some guys base-camping out of Indiana. We sheepishly asked if they had an extra rod we could buy off them - they did not - in fact, they had left two at a portage in Agnes! Bad luck. They had been considering a trip to the NW from whence we came, but our account of the water quickly changed their minds.

We set up camp on an island south of the pictographs and dried out. I am thankful it was Jon and I that tipped together. Neither of us panicked, but we should've bushwhacked rather than put ourselves at risk. I believe I had a premonition of today's events. I prayed for protection the night before during my rosary. Betsy and the kids (and Danielle, Ruby, and Fitz) deserve their husbands and dads home and not in a watery grave in the wilderness with Voyageurs long since broken at the base of falls. But, none of us deserve another day. I'm not sure what the Falls Chain has in store. +JMJ

Route: Keats; Maligne River; Shelley; Maligne; Kawnipi