One to Seagull, one-way
by noodle
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
06/03/2023
Entry Point:
Lake One (EP 30)
Exit Point:
Seagull Lake (EP 54)
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
1
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (6 messages)
Day 5 of 6
Wednesday, June 07, 2023
Morning of day five. Still no appetite. I'd probably averaged under 1k calories per day, not great in any circumstance, especially not great when on a trip like this, but this wasn't a conscious effort, I just ... didn't feel like eating. And even if I held food in my hand, it didn't feel like there was room in my stomach to eat it. I was still cycling liters of water through me every day, most of it coming out as sweat, and knew I had comfortably ten days of food just in case... but wtf? It wasn't just the lack of social ritual of eating food, it was completely different. I spent more time thinking about this than I did about the solitude, because I was either breaking camp, paddling, portaging, resting on a portage, or setting up camp.
Another big day crossing Ogish. Today I had to get to Alpine, because Thursday was another no-wind day, and Seagull lake was another some miles across, and crossing open water on a windy day was something I'd always want to avoid. One portage up and past the small rapids between Ogish and Kingfisher.
Kingfisher to Jasper, then paddling north on Jasper looking for the portage that'd get me to Alpine... and I could hear the roar of water ahead of me. And then I saw that there was a very, very distinct horizontal line beyond which the water disappeared. And that, being unfamiliar with this area, I wasn't sure if I missed the portage because I started to feel a little more apprehensive here; maybe later in the season this would be more trivial. Getting this close to the end of the trip, maybe 90% of the way, the last thing I wanted to do was something exceedingly stupid here, too.
I thankfully landed at the portage, made it down, and took a picture of the falls from the other end. All the way down the portage, still triple-portaging, and onto Alpine. I got to the site on the east end, by the long portage to Seagull, and it wasn't even noon. I napped, I woke up, I moved to the shade, I napped, I woke up, I moved to the shade. It was a perfect afternoon.
Daily distance: 7.8 miles, 6.2 paddling, 1.6 portaging. Total 53.7 (40/13.7).
Morning of day five. Still no appetite. I'd probably averaged under 1k calories per day, not great in any circumstance, especially not great when on a trip like this, but this wasn't a conscious effort, I just ... didn't feel like eating. And even if I held food in my hand, it didn't feel like there was room in my stomach to eat it. I was still cycling liters of water through me every day, most of it coming out as sweat, and knew I had comfortably ten days of food just in case... but wtf? It wasn't just the lack of social ritual of eating food, it was completely different. I spent more time thinking about this than I did about the solitude, because I was either breaking camp, paddling, portaging, resting on a portage, or setting up camp.
Another big day crossing Ogish. Today I had to get to Alpine, because Thursday was another no-wind day, and Seagull lake was another some miles across, and crossing open water on a windy day was something I'd always want to avoid. One portage up and past the small rapids between Ogish and Kingfisher.
Kingfisher to Jasper, then paddling north on Jasper looking for the portage that'd get me to Alpine... and I could hear the roar of water ahead of me. And then I saw that there was a very, very distinct horizontal line beyond which the water disappeared. And that, being unfamiliar with this area, I wasn't sure if I missed the portage because I started to feel a little more apprehensive here; maybe later in the season this would be more trivial. Getting this close to the end of the trip, maybe 90% of the way, the last thing I wanted to do was something exceedingly stupid here, too.
Daily distance: 7.8 miles, 6.2 paddling, 1.6 portaging. Total 53.7 (40/13.7).
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