It rained a bit during the night but we woke to a near facsimile of yesterday. The wind was again out of the northwest, but not quite as strong so the mosquitoes were noticeable. Dave and Stew went to the lodge to check out the prospects for our food been flown in. The normal pilot could not fly, so we hired another who would. The cost of the plane was $4200. The owner of Treeline Lodge was willing to split the cost of the plan with us, so that meant we only had to pay an additional $500 to what we had on “deposit” so to speak. Gary, the lodge owner, was very helpful and went out of his way to assist us. He said he was going to use this extra flight to bring in fuel for the lodge, but I expect he was probably losing money on this venture. The plane was due to arrive around 4:00pm, but it finally landed around 6:00pm.

It was another typical “duff” day with much eating and some recreation on “our” beach. Shawn, Gary’s son, came over and talked with us for a while. He’s a nice guy, but doesn’t like it much here as there is no one around his age. He had some pretty good stories though! Shawn said a man died earlier this year on the north end of the lake in Barrens when a grizzly bear chased a man into the water. The bear didn’t follow the man in, but the man ended up dieing of hypothermia in the water. Shawn said we might see some caribou and some of the giant tundra hare that Shawn said can stand three feet tall on the hind legs! Now that’s a big rabbit!

Shawn also told us about the lodge’s plane. Treeline Lodge has its own plane and is a bit of rarity. The plane is a Norseman, an eight-seated floatplane sized in between the Otter and the Beaver. The plane was built in 1943 and has cloth wings. It is a rare plane, not too many Norseman are flying, the Otter and Beaver models being much more common. The plane is in immaculate condition and makes the rounds at air shows when no on duty in the wilds of northern Canada.

From our beach we saw the cargo plane arrive and head for its landing at the lodge’s airstrip. Dave, Stew and Scott went over to pick up the re-supply food. The long process of repacking took place while Matt and I cooked dinner. Matt was awfully proud of his dinner, but Greg thanked me as well. Not sure why he thanked me, I was much happier making dinner than having to deal with the tedium of repacking all the food packs!

The cargo pilot came over after dinner to thank Dave, Stew and Scott for their help over at the airstrip. He brought nine Pepsi’s for us as thanks! We were all kinda loopy after drinking the caffeinated sugar drink!

Jim’s condition continues to get worse. We’re really starting to get concerned and discussion has involved the possibility of flying him out.

Day 17

Woke early this morning skies that were once again low and gray. I dressed this morning prepared to duff in the canoe. We all emerged from the tents and started to make preparations to get underway. Jim got up, but didn’t seem good at all. Dave and Stew talked with Jim for a while and then called a group meeting to discuss Jim’s situation. Dave and Stew told us that Jim was in a lot of pain and not improving so they had made the decision to get him off the trail. This was our last chance to get somebody out. Between here and Eskimo Point there are no more remote fishing lodges and no settlements of any kind. If we were to set out and Jim continues to get worse and we were forced to get him out, the difficulty of doing so would be a million times more.

After our meeting, Dave and Stew went back to the lodge to call Lars, the Outpost Director back at Camp Manito-Wish. Lars called a doctor there in the states and suggested we wait another 24 hours to see what changes ensue. Also, there is apparently a doctor here at the fishing lodge who agreed to take a look at Jim as well. So, upon their return back to the beach, we set camp back up and prepared to hang out another day and eat some more food. This will be our third day here, but tomorrow we will be paddling for sure, with our without Jim. This has set us back, we are two day behind schedule, but hopefully we will not have to change routes. We have a shorter option available to us down the Tha-Anne River, but hopefully we won’t have to use it.

This evening, Dave and Stew took Jim over to see the doctor at the lodge. Upon looking at Jim the doctor said it was a textbook case of “shingles.” Apparently shingles is a virus, a form of herpes. It is the same as a canker sore, but the virus is in the blood stream and nervous system I think. The decision has been made to evacuate Jim tomorrow. According to the doctor, shingles will take 2-3 months to run its course.

So our safety buffer has been used. Our group will be reduced from nine to eight. Our trip will have a slightly different feel to it now. We are a couple of days behind, and now we do not have an extra person. We will not be able to afford someone getting hurt or sick. We are preparing to head into the remote part of our route where the weather is harsher. We’ve used two of our buffer days but any more delays and we will have to seriously consider changing our route. At this point, however, we figure that if we can get of Nueltin Lake without any further delays, of which weather is the most likely, we will not have to change our route.

Day 18

Once again there is a low layer of clouds as we emerged from the tents. Dave and Stew took Jim over to the lodge to talk about the evac. There is a good chance the rest of us will paddle so we packed up the camp and headed over to the lodge to see Jim off. He is to fly out this afternoon, drive to Winnipeg tonight and fly back to the States tomorrow. Originally he was to take a buss from Thompson to Winnipeg, but when we got to the lodge, a couple there offered to drive him. The couple has been paddling on Neultin for the last three weeks and was also flying out today.

We could not find the petty cash so Dave and I paddled back to the campsite to take a look around. The cash is supposed to be in his daypack but was not. We could not find it at the campsite so we headed back to the group hoping the cash was in the first aid kit.

The group bid farewell to Jim. I was sorry to see Jim go as I really got along well with Jim. He is a laid-back kind of guy that isn’t as rowdy as some of the others on the trip. He just goes with the flow and doesn’t make any ripples of his own. It was enjoyable when I was paired in a canoe with him.

With Jim looked after, the remaining eight of us set out on the second part of our trip. We were headed north on Nueltin into a slight headwind accompanied but a drizzle. Without the extra person, navigating duties fell to a paddler now. As it had been my turn to duff and navigate, I got the charge of leading us through a series of small islands as well as an open water crossing to a small bay that connect with the main portion of Neultin Lake.

After about 11 miles of paddling we saw the lodge’s fishing boats go by so we knew it had to be around 5:00pm. We stopped for TL! With the evac we had a really late start. Everyone was wet and cold and food was really needed to get energy levels back up.

We paddled a ways further after TL and it included and open water crossing that went directly into the north wind. It was a hard paddle and my back was actually starting to hurt a bit. After the crossing we paddled another ¾ of a mile or so and found a good campsite. It’s been a long and stressful day and the group is pretty tired. We’re about 8mile from the North West Territories and 60º North.

The low pressure weather system that has been sitting on us for the last 4 days seems as though it may stick around for a while longer yet.

If we maintain the pace we achieved prior to reaching Neultin Lake, we will be only one day behind by the time we reach Eskimo Point. That would be well within the buffer we have allowed for us. This assumes no wind-bound days of which we planned for two on Neultin. Most of today’s discussion revolved around our schedule and the fact that we are behind. We don’t think we’re facing any sort of set-back. We’re confident in our abilities and strength to set a strong pace if necessary. However, we paddled into a hard wind today and I wonder how people will be feeling tomorrow. It was a difficult return to paddling after our 3-day hiatus.

I don’t think the group dynamics are going to take a major hit in adjusting to losing Jim and have the group be only eight. But it is kind of strange being in a tent with only two people. Hopefully Jim will be able to meet us in Winnipeg or back at camp when we return. Even if he does recover from his shingles in time, him rejoining us is just not possible.

I’m also looking forward to what fishing opportunities lay ahead. The range of the walleye ended about 80 miles to the south of here, so there won’t be any more walleye dinners! We will also be moving out of northern pike territory in a few days as well. Fish species will be limited to grayling and lake trout, and as far as table fare, having lake trout isn’t so bad!

Dinner tonight was rice with corn, onions, carrots, and turkey. It was probably the worst trail meal I’ve ever had!

My arms and my back ache tonight, so it is time to get some rest. To make everyone sleep a little better tonight, we found the money and the Churchill-Winnipeg train tickets in the first aid kit!

Day 19

Woke to another day of low clouds. It was more of a steady rain during the night though, so we hope that means a possible end to this low-pressure system soon.

We had a quick bowl of granola and were out of camp before what we figured was midday. It was a late morning, but not surprising after yesterday’s ordeal.

The wind was out of the north-northeast. The wind was very strong, but paddleable. We started out with some island-hoping but would have some lengthy open water crossings later. One of these crossing was two, maybe 3 miles long and really tough. The wind and waves had about 10 miles of open water to build before the crossing.

We stopped for TL today on “Boundary Island.” As we pass this island, we cross the 60º North parallel. The island looked like a site used in the past by the native people. There were scattered remains of caribou, a tattered fishing net and what looked like old drying racks for skins or maybe fish.

To the northwest appeared a break in the clouds. The clearing line moved ever so slowly, but gradually got closer and closer. The winds remained strong out of the north-northeast and the resulting waves got to be large enough that we put the canoe white water spray skirts from the bow, as far back as possible. All the gear prevented us from fully utilizing the skirts, but we were able to get the skirts to cover about the front half of the canoes and that was a huge help. This really helped keep the bow paddler dry and warm and kept the vast majority of the water out of the canoes.

I paddled with Chris after TL. Ugh, he really is a weak paddler and probably should not be here. Whatever boat he is in is last, regardless of who he is paddling with. Does he not notice this? Does he not care? Does he realize that we are constantly forced to wait for his boat?

As we continue our paddle north I have noticed the trees are becoming much more sparse, and where there are trees, they are becoming smaller and smaller. Today we really got a sense of what it is going to be like as we move into the Barren Lands. Tonight, we camped on an island that was very bare. In fact, we could not find enough wood to build a fire and were forced to use the stoves.

The sun was setting as we arrived so we quickly got introduced to the mosquitoes of the North West Territories as the wind died.

The clearing line of the clouds is directly overhead now. It was pretty cold today and with the clearing and calm winds, it should get quite cold tonight. The cold should mellow the mosquitoes, and actually, as I write tonight, already has.

Hopefully the winds will not be quite so strong tomorrow so we can cover some good miles. We had a long day today, but only covered 16 miles. Paddling into these strong winds really slows us down. But we should consider ourselves fortunate, this is big water and home to bigger winds, the fact that we’ve been able to paddle at all is a good thing.

In addition to the shrinking trees, another thing I’ve noticed is the water is getting considerably colder. The water is so cold that it just hurts if you are in it for any amount of time. As a result, I had pretty cold hands for most of the day.

The climate in general also seems to be changing on this lake: it just seems colder. To the south, on the Thlewiaza River, it was summer-like weather, affording us the opportunity to wear just shorts and t-shirts. Such attire seems the farthest from our minds here. We were really bundled up against the cold today, I’ve never paddled with so many clothes on! It was fine though, so long as they did not get wet. The cold and the wind were really an indicator of what we were doing, of where we were traveling, of where we were headed. This is a hard land.

Day 20

Woke late morning to a mostly clear sky. The cold of the night sent most of the mosquitoes to the ground. We cooked up hash browns and sliced potatoes for breakfast, and left. We weren’t sitting around this morning. The nice skies and the light winds meant conditions for covering some miles.

The first seven or eight miles today were through the “narrows.” This, as its name suggests, is a narrowing of the lake to river-like dimensions and separates the northern and southern sections of the lake. The narrows also represent the end of the northern pike water.

As we paddled the narrows, the water became noticeable colder still, and the sparse trees became almost non-existent. The wind unfortunately did not remain light, and picked up intensity throughout the day. The wind shifted to the west-northwest, which made paddling very difficult as we were headed northeast, a 90º angle to the wind. The wind was not blowing as hard as yesterday, but the angle made it much more tiring. The strong wind from the port (left) really tried to get the canoe to turn to the left. Therefore the stern man was constantly using lots of J-strokes if paddling on the right side and lots of C-strokes if paddling on the left. The muscles in my arms and back that are used in those strokes became very tired during the last two or three miles before TL.

We broke for TL on a nice peninsula but we didn’t sit around. We covered somewhere around 13 or 14 miles this morning, but as soon as everyone finished eating, we were back in the canoes. I moved to the bow for the afternoon to give some of my aching muscles a rest by being able to paddle a regular stroke.

Tonight we stopped our days travel on another peninsula that is our last contact with land prior to an eight mile open water crossing which we will start out with first thing in the morning. Our campsite is on true barren lands. The only trees we could find was a cluster of 7 small trees down by the shore. These trees were who know how old, but stood no more than 4 feet tall. The area is all lichen and moss with a boulder here and there. It’s fascinating terrain. There is simply nothing growing more than a few inches tall. A nice hill behind the campsite should provide a nice panoramic view of the area.

The weather certainly does not seem summer like, more like fall in southern Wisconsin: partly cloudy, but with the little gray clouds producing short, light showers. As we’re on land, the winds seem warm, but get down on the water, and the wind turns cold quickly. Also, with the group’s current schedule of late starts, we’re getting into camp late as well, about when the winds start to die, meaning the mosquitoes are out to greet us! The bugs truly are amazing here! It is as though every mosquitoes on the tundra is upon us!

I was looking over the maps tonight as Stew wrote the official trip log. I figured we covered about 21 miles today. After a little discussion, Stew agreed to let me write the trip log for the next ten days.

Originally we had planned to make it to Seal Hole Lake today. Seal Hole is just north of Neultin, connected to Neultin by the Thlewiaza.

The mileage we’ve covered the last two days has been very hard. I am quite tired and am confident sleep will feel good tonight!

Today was the seventh day we have not seen any other people.